I have a Furminator type comb from Petsathome and I groomed him and managed to take a full handful of under fur off him, without a single jumper making their presence known, hence I am confused as you may imagine! How can I be aware (and furthermore be bitten to pieces) of these critters (as is the poor wee grey boy) and yet only be able to find the odd hopping thing?
On an itchy note!
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sublime
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They treat you and your cat like a hotel. Fleas don't live on the host animal, they hop on for a meal then jump off again. Sneaky, huh?
Even so, rather than a Furminator, you might like to try a flea comb, which has teeth which are only a millimetre or so apart. They trap any adult fleas, so you can kill them in nasty and imaginative ways.
Heh heh, fiendish cackle ...
Even so, rather than a Furminator, you might like to try a flea comb, which has teeth which are only a millimetre or so apart. They trap any adult fleas, so you can kill them in nasty and imaginative ways.
Heh heh, fiendish cackle ...
kitten_with_claws
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If you have got to the stage of pets (& your ankles!) being eaten alive, chemicals are the best approach tbh!
Acclaim is pretty effective & will probably sort the problem out in one go but it is important to read the instructions on the can & follow them to the letter!
You need to vacuum thoroughly first, picking up (& closely inspecting! lol) & putting away/putting somewhere safe anything on or near floor level.
Then spray, making sure you do along skirting boards, under furniture & into any little nooks & crannies (as this is where fleas like to lurk in between meals!).
Open windows & leave room shut up for a couple of hours, or whatever instructions say. (Do the bedrooms first & work down.)
De-flea any pets at the same time, using Frontline or whatever.
Fleas are attracted to both movement & heat, they prefer nomming on pets but they will nom on humans if hungry enough.
If safe to do so, (i.e. not accessible to pets, children, wobbly old people & so on obviously!), try placing a bowl of water containing a squirt of washing-up liquid with a nearby table lamp (one that emits some degree of heat or it won't work) shining on the bowl, on the floor, by the base of beds. The fleas will be attracted to the heat, hop, fall in bowl......& die!
Keep a small bowl/cup in the kitchen, again with a squirt of washing-up liquid in it (this breaks the surface tension of the water, so they sink & drown in it) & if you catch one of the little barstewards it can be very rewarding to drop them into their soapy slimy cup of doom! lol
kitten_with_claws
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Yay, nice one! :up:
If you really don't want to use chemicals of any kind, you will have to think of ways to encourage the little brutes to come out from their nice, dark hiding places - it is really vibrations as much as movement that encourages them to do so & they are genetically programmed to respond to this from where they have been holed up, getting hungrier & hungrier & they can sit there, virtually dormant, for a very long time!
I used Acclaim (& for anybody trying it, remember you will still have to keep 'catching' the 'lurkers' for anything up to 2-3 weeks after spraying but they will all go eventually!) but I imagine any child's toy or something (trying not to encourage rude jokes here! lol) that vibrates or moves enough to cause a slight vibration, will probably help draw them out?
Likewise, when sitting reading/sewing/whatever, try not to keep absolutely still, move postion every so often as you want them to appear....so you can kill them!
(As an aside, I have found that LE's Aftersun Gel is quite good for easing the itching of bitten feet & ankles!)
p.s. Be prepared to become totally paranoid & I guarantee that in a few days you will be dropping tiny dark bits of fluff into your bowl of soapy doom & peering at it hopefully, watching for its non-existent death throes! lol
It had about five in there when I got home from work, so it is working slowly, hopefully we WILL go back to our previously non bitten state soon!
D
Disenchanted
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Must be perfect conditions for fleas this year - I found "evidence" on our beloved puss a few weeks ago for the first time in his 18 years. He's strictly indoors only - long story! - and hasn't come in contact with another cat since we lost his beautiful brother two years ago. Most of our friends and family have cats and there are lots of neighbours' cats who visit our garden so we assume eggs must have come into the house on shoes.
He found the whole business very undignified.......
He found the whole business very undignified.......
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Diamond Diva
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I expect one hitched a ride on one of your friends when they visited
No, I just went into my workplace and I think we have the little gits in the room where I work now, I felt like I was just bitten, it is flipping itchy! I know they are in my living room mostly as I caught half a dozen on my slippers and trousers last night, I didn't go in my living room much this weekend, I think the powder is acting as a bit of a barrier! I just rang the Office Manager and left a message, asking her to see if they can treat my office some time this week.
mediastar - if you're seeing that many i hate to say this but i think you're losing the battle. if you break down and use the spray or maybe a flea bomb - never used them but they sell bob martins ones in asda - you'll probably get rid of them in one go. or ask at the local pet shop. believe me i hate putting chemicals like frontline on louis. i do it cos really, there's not much choice....
kitten_with_claws
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Gotta say I agree with Janie - all the things you're doing are OK but they are most helpful as a 'mopping up the survivors' approach - without chemicals to a) kill a good proportion of the adults (short term effect) & b) stop the larvae pupating (long term effect), you may be forever playing catch up? It is also vitally important to treat any pets with Frontline (or similar) to kill off any adult fleas, as this has a long term effect on the adults, unlike the house spray!
D
Disenchanted
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Well, Frontline coupled with ferocious and frequent washing, hoovering and spraying seem to have done the trick here. His Nibs rather enjoyed the attention once the indignity wore off - he's taken quite a liking to the comb - so I must agree that the shock and awe of the "chemical" route is probably best for everyone rather than prolonging the agony with alternative treatments.
Thanks for all the advice.
Thanks for all the advice.
I already have treated Sidney with the petsathome version of Frontline, got another week to go before I can treat him again. So I am going to have to bathe him I think! Only found three little bleeders last night, but I think they like my slippers!
Pepsidoodle
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Good luck with the battle
I only got properly infested by fleas once back in the dark ages (I didn't realise what they were until it was too late!!!!!!). My legs were bitten to smithereens, so it was all out chemical warfare for the house & the cats with hoovering & combing of the cats religiously afterwards, I was never late with their frontline/program flea stuff for a couple of years afterwards (hoovering and combing did slide - ahem). It did the trick.
I only got properly infested by fleas once back in the dark ages (I didn't realise what they were until it was too late!!!!!!). My legs were bitten to smithereens, so it was all out chemical warfare for the house & the cats with hoovering & combing of the cats religiously afterwards, I was never late with their frontline/program flea stuff for a couple of years afterwards (hoovering and combing did slide - ahem). It did the trick.
Diamond Diva
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I don't have a cat at the moment but when I did from the first day I got them combing became part of their daily routines. As kittens they're used to submitting to grooming from their mother so it's a natural continuation of that, it not only helps with the bonding and defines me as 'top dog' but you also get to spot any little blighter's early on and can act quickly.
At first sight I thoroughly vacuum the whole house especially in the areas they like to sleep, you need to do everywhere including under the furniture, I use the crevice tool attachment in the gap between the carpets and skirting boards and then seal the bag and throw it away. I spray the whole house with the household flea spray treatment they sell in the pet shops for just this problem (two large cans does my house). I put plenty of flea powder in the new vacuum bag so any that get sucked up are dealt with and I vacuum everyday for a week after which I do it every other day for ten days to break the egg, larva, flea cycle, that usually does the trick, good luck !
At first sight I thoroughly vacuum the whole house especially in the areas they like to sleep, you need to do everywhere including under the furniture, I use the crevice tool attachment in the gap between the carpets and skirting boards and then seal the bag and throw it away. I spray the whole house with the household flea spray treatment they sell in the pet shops for just this problem (two large cans does my house). I put plenty of flea powder in the new vacuum bag so any that get sucked up are dealt with and I vacuum everyday for a week after which I do it every other day for ten days to break the egg, larva, flea cycle, that usually does the trick, good luck !
I gave Sidney a second dose of Petsathome's own version of Frontline, it looks like it has started to get rid of the little blighters! Maybe the I didn't apply the first dose properly, or maybe he just needed the second dose to give him enough of the chemical in his system to do the trick and I will apply the third dose in three weeks, to make absolutely sure! My vacuum cleaner has stopped working, I think it needs a new filter, the one that was in there is so full of cat hair that I can no longer clean it!
