My cat has fleas! Not only are they torturing her, but they are all over my house. Yesterday I took her to the vet for a flea dip. They also gave me a Frontline collar that I can’t put on her for a couple of days. While she was out, we fogged every room in the house. We’ve been vacuuming like crazy and spraying cracks and in and under furniture and bedding. However, I am afraid that my cat still has some clinging to her and the cycle will begin once again. What can I do to stop this? Everything I’ve read says it’s nearly impossible to rid yourself of fleas and it is an on-going process. Is there anyway to end it once and for all?
It is an ongoing process. But once you rid your cat and home of live fleas, you can go into maintenance mode and should be able to prevent future outbreaks.
1. Treat the cat. Go to your vet and get either Advantage or Frontline Plus (I went with Advantage).
2. Get yourself a “flea comb” and comb your cat at least once per day. Have a bucket with dish soap in it handy to dunk the comb in and to collect the hair. Fleas can’t jump out of the slippery soap. No point in combing them out only to have them jump back on your cat. Flush this down the toilet, pour it down the sink, or dispose of it away from your house.
3. Treat your house. Options are a borate powder product or something that uses diatomaceous earth. Fleabusters (BP), Fleago Natural Flea Control (BP) or Flea Away Natural Flea Powder (DE). Put about a tablespoon of this in your vacuum cleaner bag (or you can cut up a flea collar to put in there. Just follow the directions which will vary by product, but in general you’ll sprinkle on the carpet and vacuum up and also sprinkle into cracks and crevices. (I chose Fleago because it’s less expensive than Fleabusters. I may also try Flea Away in time).
4. Vacuum as often as possible. Before vacuuming, stomp around the house. This will bring the fleas to life because they’ll think there’s a tasty morsel out there. Then vacuum those little bastards up. Be sure to use your attachments to vacuum as many cracks and crevices as you can – they love to hide out there.
5. Wash any pet bedding in hot water, and you’ll want to be particularly diligent about vacuuming/treating areas where your cat hangs out.
6. Treat your yard. Even if your cat doesn’t go outside, fleas may enter your home if they exist in your yard. There’s a small chance that you or others may bring fleas in the house with you (although this is unlikely). Get hold of some nematodes to spray in your yard. I believe you only have to do this once per year. These little creatures will eat the flea larva. As one website put it, these critters are too small to hug, but they deserve it! (I had to order this online; I wasn’t able to find a place that sells them in my area and didn’t feel like calling every place in the phonebook).
Things not to do: Don’t use any essential oils on your cat, particularly anything with pennyroyal or eucalyptus. They’re toxic to cats. Don’t use flea collars. Don’t give your cat any garlic/yeast formulations. Don’t give your cat lemon baths.
You’re going to want to continue treating your home as directed, whether that be sprinkling once per week or once a month. Continue treating throughout flea season (when it’s warm). You can stop during the winter months, but start up again in the spring. You’ll nip them in the bud!
The key is to treat the environment, not the cat. If you do that, you may never have to apply another flea product directly on them again.
Sound like you’re doing all the right things. The front line should also kill the unhatched flea eggs. Just continue doing what you are doing. Pay special attention to all the nooks & crannies especialy where the carpet meets the walls.Good luck.
If your cat will tolerate a bath, you can use Adams shampoo to get rid of and keep fleas off. Using a flea comb will also help reassure you that the fleas are off your pet. The best way to stop the cycle is through the use of a topical treatment that contains an IGR such as Frontline or Advantage. The IGR in those medicines keep fleas from being able to reproduce, so that even if there is a flea or two present they can’t create more fleas and keep the cycle going!
There is no inexpensive way to rid your home of flea infestation. The best cure for fleas is prevention. Once you’re infested it’s going to take some $$ to get rid of them.
I have four kitties and live in the country where they go inside and out at will. Never see a flea, I use revolution every month on my pets and treat my yard, just the acre right around the house, not the whole thing. I have never had much success with home remedies for consistent flea prevention. Shampoos, dips, and powders kill the fleas on them at the time but don’t repel more from jumping on. You should try frontline (over counter), or revolution (which usually requires a prescription and a neg heartworm test for dogs), and be consistent, use it once a month.
The eggs fall off and then hatch in your carpets, rugs, bedding, and furniture. You need to go to your local pet store and ask for a spray that is safe for use around your cat and spray the entire house, especially where the cats hang out. Also, putting moth balls in your vacuum cleaner bag or canister will help to kill any eggs, fleas, or larva that are sucked up. Otherwise, they will hatch in the vacuum and crawl out later. If the pet goes outside you should also treat your yard. I use sevin dust. Apply just before a rain shower, or use a hose or sprinkler to wet the lawn immediately after application.
If the infestation of the home is too bad you may see persistent fleas and need to treat more than once, or call a professional. I know it’s a lot of work, but once you’ve got them bad it can be expensive to fix. Also, once your cat is flea free, if she continues scratching a lot, then she may need to see the vet. They can develop a topical, or skin infection from digging themselves. Good luck
Flea collars should not be used with any other type of topical treatment such as frontline or revolution. Plus, they just don’t work well, and pose more health risks to the pet than to the fleas
i would put advantex on her or frontline stuff on her neck every month my dog has fleas but its just becasue r neighbors dog does! has your cat been exposed to any other cats that have fleas? if so u may not want her around the other cats! and u doun’t want oter cats getting them from her!
I had three INDOOR cats that got fleas. I got the frontline as well but not the collar, the oil you put on their neck. I had to wash all bedding and used flea spray for the furniture. Conveniently I moved at that time but my landlord had to flea bomb my old apartment to get the other fleas out. If worse comes to worse you should have a professional pest control company come in and spray your house. Its important to spray all the window openings and doorways because they can hop in that way. AND they hitchhike on your clothes when your coming in from outside so be aware.
When vacuuming always make sure to seal and remove the bag each time. I had a flea infestation and tried 4 times to get rid of it, i finally did, but in the end I spent as much money as i would have if I had hired a pro. My friend had fleas and he hired a pro and never had them again. They guaranteed that if the fleas returned they would come back at no additional charge. By the way, my cat had fleas, but apparently i had them too because they were in my bed, under the pillow, and even in between the sheet and the bed, soooo gross.
THE SHORT AND BEST ANWSER…. USE JOY DISH SOAP TO BATHE HER (THE FLEAS WILL JUST FALL OFF) AND A LITTLE SKIN SO SOFT WILL KEEP THEM AWAY!!!!!
whatever u do do n ot go with those collar things…they suck!!! advantage is the best u can get! it is safe and works…..also there is stuff they sell at walmart..like a powder that u put on ur floor and then vaccuum and that also works excelent!!! just got o the pet section of walmart and u will find it! good luck!
Use frontline plus it is the best stuff for killing fleas.
You put it on the back of the cats neck and it will last for 4 weeks, you keep using it every month as a flea prevention.
This product will also kill the fleas in the areas your cat lies and sits.
The dip is pointless it will only kill the fleas on her, and as soon as she is home more fleas will jump on her again.
Flea collars and powders are a waste of money the only products that work well are the spot on treatments you can get from the vets or leading pet stores.
I can’t add too much to the other replies but I’ll say that the best thing I used was a flea collar. My cats wore them all the time and I just replaced them when they were past due. These work really well and are a lot easier than giving the cat a pill or something similar.
If she’s an out door cat that would be why she has fleas and because of that they are hard to get rid of. All I can segest is keep a flea collar on her and keep your house clean. Or you could try to get a skunk to spry her. My old cat got sprayed and she didn’t have fleas for a year or so.
I just got rid of fleas about 2 weeks ago. My little min pin snuck out today on his own and came back just eat up with fleas. The cat and other dog started scratching. I mixed up some new Adams Plus Flea Dip that I had and put them each in the tub one by one and used a cup to pour this stuff over them. You could see the fleas just falling off. It’s now 2 hours later and everyone is almost dry and upon checking I see no fleas at all. I still plan on getting the Advantage, but this Adams seems really good. Now, on to treating the house…again.