[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi there,

    I have been treating P and T with a spot on parasite treatment since I got them but they still have / get fleas. They had a combined worm and flea spoton every 2 weeks for the first 6 weeks then I dropped this to once every 3 months with a bob martin flea drop on every month in between.

  Can anyone explain the lifecycle to me and why they keep appearing

Buffy

[MikeM]

fleas will also be living in the house as well as the cats, so they may be picking up from the carpets etc. The best solution we've found it just to vacuum regularily, especially where the cats frequently go.

[doganjo]

The eggs are also laid in their bedding as well as on the floors - any heat source will hatch them so you have a continuous cycle.  As well as treating the animal you need to completely clean all areas they are lying in - bedding, straw bales, chairs/settees etc.  You can get a spray for this but I have heard of folk using a smoke bomb type of thing but that means evacuating the house for  a certain length of time.  I keep a can of flea spray in the cupboard all the time.

[deepinthewoods]

frontline every 2months for my two lazy b...ers.

[lachlanandmarcus]

The fleas will def be in the carpets/furnishings etc. The only way to once and for all get rid of them so your pet treatment has a chance to work is to use a flea 'bomb', aka a home flea fogger.

Basically you take all the animals out of the house, shut the doors, set off this little aerosol can of horrid chemical and then 2 hours (check on the tin, ours was 2 hours) later you can all go back inside, all the fleas and whatever other bugs were living in the room will be dead. Theres no sticky residue. 

They really do work.

Here is a link for the Bob Martins one, there are others available
http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/bob-martin-home-flea-fogger-plus_1_18273.html

[Rosemary]

I've used Frontline for our cats and dogs for 10 years and never had fleas. I do them every six or seven weeks -- in fact, today's the day.

I was told that the Bob Martin ones that you can buy in the supermarket are a waste of money, but I've never used them so can't comment personally.

[Sandy]

When we moved here I kept getting bites on my ankels, then we bought our lab puuppy Islay and as she came into our lounge she yellped and ran out,,,,we bought flea stuff (we had no cats) but we still got bitten so I put a trap to find what was happening, a bowl of water with a light over the top so the fleas jump up to the light and land in the bowl of water, that way we found out they were cat fleas, we got the pest man in and none at all since, it was only our lounge but funny how long the eggs stayed viable in there, poor fleas must have been soooo hungry.   We just use front line for the dogs but its ticks I get fed up with, although I think front line keeps them at bay too...ticks are horrid things!!!

[jaykay]

Yep, Frontline (which you can buy at the feedstore) and vacuum where they lie and around the edges of carpets etc, where the flea larvae might be hiding.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Thanks every one,

  I must confess I found the idea of them in the soft furnishings completly revolting.

The cats are now confined to the utility part of the house and I have vacumed the living room thorouly including all the furniture. I have ordered some bombs ans spray from the internet and have plugged in my ultrasonic flea and pest device.

I will buy frontline in place of the spot on that I normally use. Will I need to go to the vet for this?

I need to find them a new home and cant give them to a new owner if they are carrying fleas.

Will keep you posted

Buffy

[feldar]

When i had my lad PTS before Christmas. He was very sick.  The vet came to my house and we did the deed in the lounge, my vet commented on how many fleas he had, to which i replied but i frontline him regularly. My vet said there are areas that are experiencing a lot of resistance to frontline because it has been so overused and the New Forest was one of those areas.
Worth checking out perhaps if they keep coming back

[SallyintNorth]

I don't know if you can still get these products but I know they work.  They are both used on the soft furnishings (carpets, chairs, pet bedding, etc), not on the animal itself.

Nuvan StayKill is very very noxious but kills any flea in the room stone dead.  (And you, if you stay in there!)  But if the cats hunt, they will bring in new fleas repeatedly, and I think the StayKill is only effective for a month or so.

Acclaim is probably therefore the better product.  It kills fleas at all stages of the lifecycle and gives up to something like 10 months' protection from reinfestation, as I recall. 

I think you would need to get either of these products from the vet, I don't think they are for sale over the counter.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Thanks for that,

  When I went online last night to order some frontline I clicked onto a page hosting 17 reviews for Frontline and around half of them said it didnt work. One recomended Advocate spot on which I already use as an internal and external parasite treatment.

I will try the bombs and the flea fogger plus spray and see how I get on. Im not sure if the fleas that I occasioally see are feas that are dying as a result of the spot on. But its the fact that they never seem clear that bothers me.

I dont think they are heavily infested but hate the idea of fleas full stop!


Buffy

[SallyintNorth]

I just had a quick look and it looks as though you can buy both Acclaim and StayKill online.  You will need a whole-house treatment as well as a treatment for the cats.  I would try Acclaim.  It's very easy to use and works for up to 12 months.

[doganjo]

You can check for fleas and see if they are alive or dead by using a 'nit' comb - a comb with close set teeth.  Comb along the centre of the back and down over the haunches, take a piece of white kitchen towel and take all residue from comb onto that by folding over and pulling it off.  open up and if there are live ones you still need to treat.  But be careful you don't treat the animal too much, there are recommended times between treatments or ask your vet.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi

     well I gave them both a really good brush with the slikka brush and found nothing. I went both in the direction of the hair and against it and didnt find any fleas or any flea dirt so perhaps the flea that I saw on Toby initially was a dying flea.

A couple of days ago I decided to phone my old vet practice which was a large animal practice who looked after our horses for 20 years. I wanted a proffessional oppinion on the combined flea and worm treatment that I was giving them and to ensure that increasing the frequency of any treatment would not overdose them.

My vet was really helpful and offered me a free consultation with the nurse to get them checked out, weighed and prescribed the right dosage of wormer and flea treatment which I think is a good idea.

Sally,

  can you tell me where you saw the acclaim and I will have a look. Is it a spray?

Buffy
Polly has tapeworm and therefore needs a wormer to address this. Thed