The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Pets & Working Animals => Cats => Topic started by: plumseverywhere on July 31, 2012, 08:52:30 pm
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Snowball has been riddled with fleas for a while and despite trying spot on's she's still spreading her friends through our carpet. All of us have been nibbled on ::)
But...today we turned a corner and I had to share how simply wonderful Frontline combo (from the vet) is. I've put the first dose on and we already have very drunken looking fleas falling off of her :thumbsup: then they just die!
Have got some Accord spray coming from amazon so we can treat the house, really feeling quite relieved. The vet did say that this year (in our area so possibly across the UK?) there has been quite a challenge to beat the flea problem due to the weather.
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Glad your getting on top of these little critters :thumbsup:
It will take several months to irradiate a bad problem so remember to treat again every 4weeks for at least 3-4months.
Fleas are part of the tapeworm lifecycle so remember to treat for tapeworm too.
My poor brood are treated regularly to protect them as unfortunately I bring fleas home on me,from work, at times :o , we get some really badly infested soles in every now and then almost bald they've been living with the problem for so long.
I don't know what I'd do without fro line. Oh I do.... Scratch.
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We seem to have gotten off lightly this year and have just had our first fleas since spring, so have hit them with the Frontline combo. Great stuff.
Remember to hoover up regularly, especially in the corners, by the skirting boards etc, fleas love dark places.
If I remember rightly it's 5 weeks before you can do another frontline spot on but I may be wrong.
Dans
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Says on pack 5 weeks - have put my little sticker on the calender.
What do you recommend for tapeworm? would you say Panacur for cats (that's what I used on our goat kid when he had it Baaaaad) - that' is probably vet only is it? or countrywide... hadn't thought of tapeworm so thank you for the heads up :thumbsup: [size=78%] [/size]
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plums, your vet will supply Milbemax or Drontal for worms. Now you have sheep it is essential you keep any dogs and cats well wormed; it's the only way to stop your sheep picking up tapeworm.
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We use Drontal tablets as they cover roundworm and tapeworm. We buy online in bulk as the expiry dates are good (and we have five cats to treat). They have stickers for your calendar too Plums! Milbemax tablets are recommended by the vets but they are a bit pricey for regularly treating five (even with previous staff discount!) hence online. If Snowball isn't good at taking tablets there is always the spot on wormer but they aren't quite as effective. Panacur is good too but when I worked at the vets we were always told to push the Milbemax as it was the most effective. It wasn't a profit making ploy, they genuinely did think it was the best and it is prescription only medication so you could buy just one tablet at a time.
Frontline is definitely the best treatment for fleas - we used to sell loads of it every day. You are doing right getting the Acclaim too - most effective for the house IMO.
Oh, and of course, good old fashioned calamine lotion at bedtime for the itchy ankles!!
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Drontal it is then - thanks everyone.
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Hi, :wave:
I use front line combo and its excellent but it will take a few months to fully catch those in the carpet that will continue to develop. The spray will help but so will creating a warm, humid enviroment and vibrations which stimulate the fleas to develop. Make sure you let the cat go in all the rooms she normally goes in so the fleas will jump on her ( instead of you) and die. I flea treat once a month which has eradicated my flea problem but it took about 3 months.
I use milbemax wormer which is also very good. Polly has hers pushed into her mouth and then gets a hand full of cat treats as a reward after. Toby just eats the tablet from his dads hand because he thinks it is a treat, but then he is a bit unusual ;)
Mine hunt alot, (polly killed and ate 4 mice in 45 mins yesterday, our lunch guests were appalled ::) ) so with milbemax they can be wormed every month to stay on top of the tape worm. Those that dont hunt can be wormed every 3 months.
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Buffy, you can treat the house with Acclaim, rather than having to wait until the cats have picked up all the fleas hatched about the place. Acclaim continues to work for a long period, stopping eggs developing for up to twelve months as well as killing adults and larvae when you spray. (Sadly it also kills spiders when you spray.)
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Don't forget to wash the pet bedding (and your bedding if your cats sleep on there) at 60C, lower than that won't kill off eggs etc.
Dans - Battling her own fleas - well my cats, not mine personally.
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Oh Dans, its been a non-stop washing frenzy for the last week, I think shares in Persil must have been boosted after stripping 2 double beds, 4 singles and the futon, all the sofa covers, any cushions, any clothes that the kids left on the floor, bath mat - you name it. And of course its been raining so non stop tumble dryer too - agh
on the plus side, hubby only been bitten 4 times today and me none - hah! we are winning :trophy:
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I would recommend a room flea fogger (like an aerosol but you remove all (everything) living things from the room), press it down clicked down and leave the room for 2 hours. An aerosol is never going to get every single flea but this will kill anything in the room. Air the room well after the 2 hours (or as instructed) and thats it. The aerosol is useful in between but this is the only thing that will 100% clear an infestation. Theres no residue left eg no stickiness on surfaces and pets can return as soon as the room is aired after the time period specified expires.
You can get them on Amazon, the one we used when we had house cats is Bob Martins Home Flea Fogger.
A lot cheaper than endless aerosols as well,
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I won't go near anything Bob Martin for cats - there was a spate of cats becoming very unwell and even dying due to an active ingredient in these.
I've found a link about it
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews55781.html (http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews55781.html)
I think they are fine with dogs but can have awful effects for cats :-\
Acclaim are rated very highly and even the vet said to avoid the foggers and they give out another spray (can't remember but think it began with an I?)
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I would recommend a room flea fogger (like an aerosol but you remove all (everything) living things from the room), press it down clicked down and leave the room for 2 hours. An aerosol is never going to get every single flea but this will kill anything in the room. Air the room well after the 2 hours (or as instructed) and thats it. The aerosol is useful in between but this is the only thing that will 100% clear an infestation. Theres no residue left eg no stickiness on surfaces and pets can return as soon as the room is aired after the time period specified expires.
You can get them on Amazon, the one we used when we had house cats is Bob Martins Home Flea Fogger.
A lot cheaper than endless aerosols as well,
That's what our vet recommended, but we managed without it and thank goodness, this year hasnt been bad for us unlike last year which was just awful.
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Is the other spray 'indorex' This is a good household spray very similar to acclaim :thumbsup:
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yes, that's it! Indorex!
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:thumbsup:
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Indorex is the one that I got from the vet and it was very effective. I did invest in some of the bob martin flea flogger and some bombs for fumigating the feed room where they used to sleep but I havent needed to use them.
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A steam cleaner on carpets, soft furnishings and around the skirting boards helps.
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Ooh, I've got one of them - will give it a go. We are only getting bitten about once a day each now as opposed to lots and lots so its working thank goodness.
Have invested (finally) in a weed wand (as recommended by Fleece wife for red mite) might bring that it ;) only kidding...
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The frontline does work and even if you did nothing else eventualy that would kill them over a period of about three months as eggs in the carpet developed in their own time and got back on the cat.
I was told that if you want to speed up this hatching process you should turn up the heating to create warmth, put damp towels on the radiators to create humidity and run the hoover round to create vibration. ( or you could just throw a party ;D ), This stimulates those in the house to hatch out in abundance and as long as the cat can go where it went befofe they will jump back on it be killed by the frontline.
I used to start to see a flea or two just as mine were due for a reaplication but I dont see any now and apply it every month.
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;D with my hot flushes I don't think we'll be putting the radiators on but a party might be a good idea - long overdue one of them...anyone fancy coming to a Plumsboogiethefleasout night? we'll provide plum wine for you all?
I've got another 2 pipettes to go on snowball so we'll have done a 3 month course - will that be enough?
Have got 4 children and 3 adults causing many vibrations in the house so hopefully we're on a winner, will get the older 2 vaccuuming more ;)
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You will have to keep treating her every month to keep her ( and your home) flea free but how long it takes until all the fleas in the house have either been killed by the spray or pupated and jumped back on the cat depends on the enviroment. So eggs that are in a cool still room that is very rarely used will remain domant until the conditions are right.
I cant quite remember what the vet said about the indorex but I think it was something like it kills the fleas and arrests the development of eggs but dosent effect any that are pupating. There is bound to be a member who will tell me I ve got that the wrong way round but its something like that anyway. :thinking:
the frontline makes the fleas very active as they are dying so you tend to see them more on the surface of the cats coat. I mention this because if the cat seems clear and then wanders into some place she hasnt been for ages a few may end up on her and if you saw them you might think that she is riddled with fleas and that the treatment isnt working.
Sounds like you are just about on top of it though so stick in there. :cat:
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(http://www.free-emoticons.co.uk/emoticons/Animal/animal0048.gif) (http://www.free-avatars.co.uk/)
Couldn't resist this.
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Love it! We need one with humans scratching at their ankles too ;) Its got to the point where we are all scratching and thinking we are being bitten even though I don't think we are now?! Feel itchy all the time!
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Love it! We need one with humans scratching at their ankles too ;) Its got to the point where we are all scratching and thinking we are being bitten even though I don't think we are now?! Feel itchy all the time!
Know the feeling - scratching just reading this!! ;)
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ASpart from everything else that is reccomended you need a really good vacuum cleaner. I swear by my dyson. Not had a flea for 10 years. mind you, being isolated from neighbours cats helps too.
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I thought I would share this link with you all,no prescription required for frontline combo,saves the cost of the vet I suppose.Hope it helps!
http://www.leguidesante.co.uk/?o_link=confirm_order (http://www.leguidesante.co.uk/?o_link=confirm_order)
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I thought it was prescription only. Anyone ordered from them before?
Dans
I thought I would share this link with you all,no prescription required for frontline combo,saves the cost of the vet I suppose.Hope it helps!
http://www.leguidesante.co.uk/?o_link=confirm_order (http://www.leguidesante.co.uk/?o_link=confirm_order)
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Only within the UK,you can buy from France no problem,I have just had a pack of 6 arrive :thumbsup: