argh fleas!!!

yeah it's that time of the year and they are already coming back with a vengeance! i've been bitten in every part of my body and to top it all off i have sensitive skin so they swell and itch like crazy, i got a doctors appointment tomorrow for the flea bites and i won't be able to get any treatment till tuesday for the cat it's a nightmare! in the meantime i've got every piece of clothing off my body and washed it and washed all the bedding aswell and put down the lamp and bowel with soap for the little buggers but i don't think it's doing anything at all i'm still being bitten! my cat is itching like mad too and she usually likes to go on the bed but the past week she is not allowed due to the fleas, on top of that she has tapeworm aswell man it really sucks, is anyone else suffering the same fate?

btw i'm buying the right stuff right?

frontline flea drops and what can i get for my home that is strong enough to kill them all and is cheap? if the spray i am going to buy don't do anything i'm bringing in a exterminator pronto, because if the fleas are this aggressive now in april can you imagine how the could be in june/july? *shivers*

I HEAR YA!!! I HATE FLEAS!!!

I never tried Frontline before, but I hear it's good. I always use Advantage, it works great. Fleas dead within several hours.

As for fleas living around the home, I've never had to spray anything before. I just made sure to re-apply the flea med after a month. I usually don't take the chance of the fleas coming back, so I will keep the cats on Advantage for 4-5 months. And I make sure to vacuum real well.

Fleas are gone until one or both of the cats wander outside and catch it again. Then the cycle starts again.... lol

As for tapeworms, I stopped taking my cats to the vet for shots because it was becoming way too costly. Instead I buy Tradewinds tapeworm tablets. They work great.

What I have been doing is buying large breed dog Frontline and dosing it down to my cats. It costs $42ish for a pack of three large dog doses. Each large dog dose will treat 7 cats roughly. So that is 21 cats for $42ish... what a deal! But you have to be sure you are dosing correctly.

well i brought all the meds that's needed for the fleas and worms and the exterminator is coming tomorrow, i'm taking no chances lol and you know what happened yesterday? i was about to give her the tapeworm tablet and try to crush it down to put in her food and the tablet flies off the counter behind the fridge ¬_¬ i move the fridge and look all over the kitchen and i can't find the tablet anywhere! 0_o my fridge has eaten it! so i have to buy another one tomorrow and the worms are getting worse, it's kind of depressing for my cat as she loves to sit on my bed but with the worm infestation she just can't the worms are getting bigger now so i need another tablet asap!

Are you guys seeing fleas even with inside-only cats? I ask because I saw something black on my kitty yesterday, but I wasn't sure what it was. I haven't seen anything yet, and when she itches it seems to be just on her collar (which she hates, but I want her wearing her tag).

Even if your cats are inside only you can bring in fleas on your clothing. I know some folks don't like to do preventative treatment, but after having a truly horrible infestation of fleas and needing a professional exterminator, I now do the preventative treatment for our cats from April/May to November.

I hate flea season too! My husband's friend came over the other day and brought his new puppy with him, we all had a great time but he left a little "gift" when he went home, FLEAS!! UGH!! Both of my cats had been dosed with Advantage but it was time to re-apply(which I did today) Hopefully all of those little buggers die soon, they're YUCKY!!

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Even if your cats are inside only you can bring in fleas on your clothing. I know some folks don't like to do preventative treatment, but after having a truly horrible infestation of fleas and needing a professional exterminator, I now do the preventative treatment for our cats from April/May to November.

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that's why i washed every dirty clothing i had in my dirty basket, removed all my bed sheets and washed those too, i even washed the clothes i had on my back lol, and i don't want to be rude or anything but i remained in my "birthday suit" until i got all the treatments as the fleas had nothing to cling on (no clothes) i didn't get any more bites. pretty clever that, but as soon as the treatment was done i was happy to be back to normal lol

yes that advantage stuff works great, as soon as i put the stuff on, in a few days most of those fleas were gone, it's a bit expensive @ $26 for you americans or £13 for us brits but it's worth it imo, i brought the 3 sachet one so it will last till june at least then i am definitely buying more because it's gonna get hotter so she needs max protection against these tyrants lol

Just a note on fleas. As Yosemite said, you can bring fleas or flea eggs in from outside on your clothes and shoes, so even if your cat has never been outside, he can still get fleas.

Also, fleas can become immune if you use the same treatment over and over again. I'd recommend cycling the flea meds every 4-5 months, so the fleas don't have a chance to become accustomed to the flea meds. You can use Program, Advantage, Revolution or Frontline.

About worms. Be careful of using worming tablets that you can buy off the shelf from grocery stores. They can contain the incorrect dosage of worming med, making them innefective or they may not treat for all types of worms like the Tradewinds one that another poster mentioned. Always buy your worming treatment from a vet (you'll need to know your cat's weight) or reputable pet store. Make sure the medication covers Hookworm, Tapeworm and Roundworm. I'd recommend Drontal or Felex Plus.

If you have fleas...the two things you need are Advantage and diatomaceous earth. What is Diatomaceous Earth?
It is a non-toxic, safe substance made up from crushed fossils of freshwater organisms and marine life. Crushed to a fine powder and observed through a microscope, the particles resemble bits of broken glass. Deadly to any insect and completely harmless to animals, fish, fowl or food. Most insects have a waxy outer shell covering their bodies, it scratches through this shell causing the insect to dehydrate leading to eventual death. It is the only thing that worked to get rid of the infestation that was already present when we moved into our apartment last year. You can get a big bag of it at any co-op. Just don't get the kind for swimming pools...get the kind they use for additives in horse feed etc. You brush it into your carpet until you can't see the dust, it is really fine so it goes down to wear the fleas live and won't be vaccuumed up...make sure when you do this you wear a dust mask because it will get dusty...but it works better than any flea powder and it isn't toxic...

i tried to look for this Diatomaceous Earth, and it's hard to find and very expensive when i do find it, it's not easy to find in the UK, i really want to try tea tree oil but thats expensive too.

Please don't use tea tree oil. It can be toxic. http://www.messybeast.com/teatree.htm

Originally Posted by Kumbulu

Please don't use tea tree oil. It can be toxic. http://www.messybeast.com/teatree.htm

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i wasn't going to put it on the cat, i was going to spray it around the house, and after reading that i don't think i want to anyway, it's expensive stuff aswell.