Cat Fleas : What Works?

[Sledgehead]

We had a huge flea infestation in our carpets. I found that 'Raid' cockroach killer sprayed on the carpets worked well.Fly killer does not.

You can test your carpets by putting a cup of warm water on them and leaving it there for a while, soon the little buggers will jump in.

Jeepers , you're making me itch! Still, "Raid" sounds effective. Are there any issues with cat poisoning you remeber off hand? I know I could look this up, but I'm trying to get "wisdom" asap.

If you use 'Frontline' on the cat every month, it becomes a walking death bomb for fleas. I have heard that just by doing this, it will eventually clear the house of fleas but have not tried it alone.

As the cat slept anywhere it fancied in the house and outside, its deadly presence soon finished off the fleas.

Interesting.

Disinfecting the outside is a waste of time. Other cats and dogs, mice, rats, birds all carry fleas.

He has a small patch of earth ( wtf? ) he seems to like lying on. I'm hoping ants will help me out there - apparently they love flea eggs. I take your point about other environmental vectors. Also insecticide could be counter-productive wrt ants. You can see why I'm asking you guys rather than just reading marketing speil!

Thanks again.

[Sledgehead]

Go easy on general pesticides. They kill bees. and may damage dicky birds. too many animals carry fleas and you don't disinifect the bird house, do you?

I don't think you'll have a problem with fleas outside, and the 'Frontline' type squirty on the neck will do for him.

Best line of attack is changing bedding. Old newspaper is warm and can be binned easily.

Yeah, I heard about the bees in my searches. Apparently Germany has banned a particular nicotinamide because it has been found to "disoriantate" them.

I did think about using boiling water on paved areas he likes to dose on during the day. Reasonable?

[Sledgehead]

How strange! I found that the Dr. neck stuff didn't do a thing in our case, and having the 'flea collars are rubbish' attitude mean't that I didn't try that either. When I eventually tried a collar out of desperation, all fleas cleared off within a week!

I was waiting for somebody to say something contrary! Oh well, I guess there had to be an element of trail and error! Either way thanlks for the input.

I'd fight shy of collars for this old boy simply because he already has a 1cm bald strip around his neck (I'm guessing this isn't a regular cat thing! ). Any point in putting cat collars in his sleeping bedding?

[tigsrenting]

The best stuff for the cat is Stronghold from the vet. Just squirt it in the back of his neck, but if it looks like he's already been given a dose of some cheap stuff from his no good owner then wait a week or so.

Now this is the question, this cat is close to 100 cat years. Are you willing to look after him and let him enjoy his short time left if the answer is yes then I can inform you further on all the most expensive foods he will enjoy as his teeth wont be up to much either.

[Sledgehead]

Put it in a sack with a brick and drop it in the river.

Try to remember this isn't a "new-mums" surgery at your practice.

[Sledgehead]

No, doesn't work and I have tried it. It's good but not that effective.

blast :angry:

[Concrete Jungle]

If only I could do that to the patio before any eggs hatch. Will boiling water do on areas he kips doown on during the day??

[Sledgehead]

When my two moggies were alive I found Frontline to be the best.

Great. Brand recommendations are exactly what I was looking for. If the owner is applying it (which I believe he is) would it be wrong to 'double dose'?

Just squeeze the pipette contents on the back of the neck (the cats neck not yours!) and the jobs a good 'un!

Doh!

Perhaps it might be worth seeing if he's willing to rehome the animal? It sounds like the poor cat is being a bit neglected. Some smaller local animal charities can often rehome older cats to a fosterer or long term carer who will love the animal.

The owner of a local catery ( ? ) I spoke to told me she was full up, as was everyone else she knew (she's also a vet so I guess she's been phoning around). She also says the rspca are also full, something I already knew from the news. Still, it was a reasonable suggestion.

You sound like a kind-hearted soul Cats are a very good judge of character!

Ah, but I'm a master of disguise! I'm only in it for the pelt and cat meat!

[Sledgehead]

...funniest thread I've seen in a while...

That's cos you're not a cat! :angry:

( )

[Sledgehead]

Hmm. Interesting. Does this work for genital lice?

[tigsrenting]

Put it in a sack with a brick and drop it in the river.

If that had come from someone else well...........................

How's it going down under?

[Concrete Jungle]

Hmm. Interesting. Does this work for genital lice?

I don't think so, but *apparently* submerging your meat and two veg in diesel will get rid of crabs.

[Scunnered]

Goodness gracious.

[blankster]

The only thing that I found that worked is the little tubes of organophospate you squirt onto the back of their necks.

We use neck squirter tubes that are non-organophosphate. They are effective but only for a few weeks and the treatment is expensive.

Organophosphates, even in small quantities, gave me a tight head feeling and affected my breathing. If they did that to me, they must have had an even greater effect on the cats.

Flea zapper electric combs do work to some extent but they are time consuming and there's no guarantee that the cat will tolerate being combed!

It's unlikely you'll eradicate cat's fleas completely for any length of time - it's more a matter of population control.

[Sledgehead]

We use neck squirter tubes that are non-organophosphate. They are effective but only for a few weeks and the treatment is expensive.

Organophosphates, even in small quantities, gave me a tight head feeling and affected my breathing. If they did that to me, they must have had an even greater effect on the cats.

Flea zapper electric combs do work to some extent but they are time consuming and there's no guarantee that the cat will tolerate being combed!

It's unlikely you'll eradicate cat's fleas completely for any length of time - it's more a matter of population control.

So I've been led to understand

Still, "zapper combs": never so much as heard of them!

[deadman]

[SarahBell]

Speak to owner so you don't end up duplicating stuff.

Flea stuff like spot-on works but only if the cat has a flea free home. If the house is crawling then almost pointless.

[Guest happy?]

We had a huge flea infestation in our carpets....

Exactly how large were these huge fleas?

[Byron]

Exactly how large were these huge fleas?

Sorry, a huge infestation of fleas.

[The Ayatollah Buggeri]

We use neck squirter tubes that are non-organophosphate. They are effective but only for a few weeks and the treatment is expensive.

I don't know if this is the same stuff as I use, but I get a squirter tube of something called Frontline from the vet, applied just underneath the ears (so that he can't lick it off). It ain't cheap, but it really does work. I find that even for a long-haired cat, this is only really a problem in the height of summer.

[fleabittenmoggie]

We've used Frontline on our 3 existing cats and on all our past cats. Works brilliantly. If the cats and house are Flea-free in the summer, then you've got nothing to worry about over the winter as the fleas are not active when its cold.

Collars do work preventatively, but you have to replace them quite often, and even then they arent much good if the cat has already got the fleas.

Ive found that younger cats are more liley to pick up fleas (roaming, catching infested birds/rodents etc..) so once they are gone from this oldie, they are much less lilely to come back.

I think that people tend to overdo things a bit with the whole special dietry stuff. Most cats love nothing more than a bowl of something raw and fresh, beef, ham, prawns, tuna whatever. Use these as treats inbetween a standard cat food diet and an old cat will happily live its days out without a problem.

[Sledgehead]

Speak to owner so you don't end up duplicating stuff.

Flea stuff like spot-on works but only if the cat has a flea free home. If the house is crawling then almost pointless.

I here you SB. Willco.

[Sledgehead]

I don't know if this is the same stuff as I use, but I get a squirter tube of something called Frontline from the vet, applied just underneath the ears (so that he can't lick it off). It ain't cheap, but it really does work. I find that even for a long-haired cat, this is only really a problem in the height of summer.

Frontline is the name that keeps coming up. Cheers TAB

[Sledgehead]

We've used Frontline on our 3 existing cats and on all our past cats. Works brilliantly. If the cats and house are Flea-free in the summer, then you've got nothing to worry about over the winter as the fleas are not active when its cold.

Collars do work preventatively, but you have to replace them quite often, and even then they arent much good if the cat has already got the fleas.

Ive found that younger cats are more liley to pick up fleas (roaming, catching infested birds/rodents etc..) so once they are gone from this oldie, they are much less lilely to come back.

I think that people tend to overdo things a bit with the whole special dietry stuff. Most cats love nothing more than a bowl of something raw and fresh, beef, ham, prawns, tuna whatever. Use these as treats inbetween a standard cat food diet and an old cat will happily live its days out without a problem.

Well, that's it straight from the horse's mouth. Or is that cat's mouth. Anyhow ...

More votes for Frontline. wrt the environs, when he's round my gaff he likes nothing more than to crash out in a hastily constructed box I replaced the seed tray (his original 'bed') with. I reckon he spends ~80% of his time there, so, as I see it, if I keep replacing this, so long as his owner keeps up their end of the bargain, we should have the problem licked - forgiv ethe pun!

Talking of diet, I've heard of tablets that produce a systemic effect and make the flea eggs unviable. Anyone any comment on that?

Cheers again FBM

[swissy_fit]

I'm with DYIV up to a point.

Everyone seems to think the best thing to do is fill the house with organophosphates, what kind of solution is that? You're treating the symptoms not the cause. Those chemicals are not without potential problems for you.

Cats are fleabitten disease-carrying predators with mouths full of really nasty bacteria, you don't want one in your house or garden. If you're not man enough to do the necessary then put food out for it a suitable distance from the house, you'll need to somehow stop other cats nicking it.

Of course you could always try and get the neighbours new lady friend to fall for it, ladies often seem more vulnerable to cats charms. As long as the old chap isn't dumb enough to say that the cat belonged to his wife.....