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Help Flea Problem

post #1 of 13
9/7/09 at 10:59am
Thread Starter 
We have a kitten and a 3 year old cat. They have fleas. We got Frontline from the vet and also tried Hartz Ultraguard Plus after we ran out of frontline. This has been 3 months now. We are vacuuming regularly, spraying flea sprays, combing all the time with a flea comb and getting alot of fleas off, but it seems we are losing the battle or not gaining any ground. At first we thought we were winning the battle but now it seems the fleas are. We thought about trying the flea bombing of the house, but our three year old is very timid and trying to take her out of here she will tear us up. We have fleas jumping on us occasionally and the only thing that seems to kill the flea is us combing them and putting the fleas in water and drowning them. Is there anything anybody can suggest that would help get rid of this problem. The fleas are driving me crazy.
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post #2 of 13
9/7/09 at 11:47am
Diatamaceous earth food grade in your carpets.

Without treating the home and the cats you are fighting a losing battle. Also please don't use the hartz brand--it could kill your cats--stick with frontline or advantage.

Leslie
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post #3 of 13
9/7/09 at 7:14pm
Can you contact your vet again and ask for either Advantage or Revolution since the Frontline was not effective? Also, ask the vet about Capstar for the older cat. It is a one time pill that will kill all fleas on the cat.

Ask the vet if you can use the same for the kitten. It will depend on age.

Diatomaceous Earth Food Grade is excellent help. MUST be "Food Grade".
http://www.gardenharvestsupply.com/p...rth-food-grade

What might help is to clean one room of fleas (wash bedding, vacuum, treat with Diatomaceous Earth food grade), treat both cats with Revolution or Advantage and put them in the clean room. Then start working on the rest of the house.

Make sure to check with your vet that the flea products you are spraying in your home are safe for you and your cats.

The kitten may have the most difficult time because of "flea anemia". They can get really sick. Not to mention tapeworms.

Good luck to you.
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post #4 of 13
9/8/09 at 1:15am
over the counter flea treatments. Advantage, Revolution from your vet.
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post #5 of 13
9/8/09 at 8:02am
Yep, you must go to your vets for the flea treatment and they can also give you flea spray to treat your house.
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post #6 of 13
9/8/09 at 11:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jupeycat View Post
Yep, you must go to your vets for the flea treatment and they can also give you flea spray to treat your house.
I just want to say that when we had fleas really bad in our townhouse, none of the sprays we got from the vet worked.
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post #7 of 13
9/8/09 at 12:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yosemite View Post
I just want to say that when we had fleas really bad in our townhouse, none of the sprays we got from the vet worked.
I can't remember what spray we were given but it worked along with using Frontline on the cats. I remember when I was a kid, our dog had fleas and back then I don't think Frontline was invented, I don't think we ever got rid of them properly. Is there a way of getting rid of them if the vet's products don't work?
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post #8 of 13
9/8/09 at 12:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jupeycat View Post
I can't remember what spray we were given but it worked along with using Frontline on the cats. I remember when I was a kid, our dog had fleas and back then I don't think Frontline was invented, I don't think we ever got rid of them properly. Is there a way of getting rid of them if the vet's products don't work?
Honestly, I think if you use a topical flea treatment from a vet and diatomaceous earth in your home, you will get rid of your flea problems. My hubby did not believe me about DE until I put some around his tomato plants because something was getting in and on them. Since I put down the DE, his tomatoes are perfect and he now agrees that it is good stuff.
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post #9 of 13
9/8/09 at 12:23pm
Thanks for that, I'll pass that on to my dad for his tomato plants too!
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post #10 of 13
9/8/09 at 1:02pm
HI, my cat currently has a bad flea problem despite us being very careful and regular with the use of frontline however he's still not great and I think I need to treat the house. If I get this diatomaceous earth and a spray from the vets how should I use them?
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post #11 of 13
9/8/09 at 7:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Taff View Post
HI, my cat currently has a bad flea problem despite us being very careful and regular with the use of frontline however he's still not great and I think I need to treat the house. If I get this diatomaceous earth and a spray from the vets how should I use them?
Diatomaceous earth is like a very fine talc. I just "poof" it into the carpet, some in the stuffed furniture, around the baseboards and across doorways. You'll need to use a broom to brush it down into the fibres of your carpet and a brush to get it down into the upholstery fabric. leave it be a couple of days before vacuuming. Just be careful to not breathe it in while you are putting it around. It won't harm you but it can be uncomfortable in your lungs.

If you use the DE, you shouldn't need the spray. Just wash all the kitty bedding. You should get Revolution or Advantage from the vet which is a liquid that you put on the back of the cat's head/neck (where they cannot reach to lick). Each application will work for a month. We generally treat our cats from May to October which is when the fleas can be a problem.
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post #12 of 13
9/10/09 at 7:50am
14 years ago I used to be able to use either frontline or advantage and both worked well. Not anymore. Frontline does not work well. Advantage does. Revolution I have heard does work well. I can't afford to try it right now. I've tried other flea treatments to try to save on cost. I have not found anything else to work. Bio Spot is another flea treatment that is supposed to be equal or better then advantage, it's not. The dogs got fleas bad on it. I called dr fosters smith to complain about the product they so highly promote. They could care less. Didn't even offer a refund. At least hertz did and asked for the product code of the package.

With the advice you have here in this thread hopefully you should be able to resolve your flea problem.
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post #13 of 13
9/10/09 at 12:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by StormySkiez View Post
With the advice you have here in this thread hopefully you should be able to resolve your flea problem.
If you mean Hartz, please do not use their flea products. If you get Advantage/Revolution from a vet, it should work. Unfortunately some folks buy online because it is cheaper and often it is not the same product - it is a knock-off even if it looks/sounds the same. Sometimes you do get what you pay for.

I would much rather pay the vet a bit extra and be confident that I'm using the real thing and that I'm not endangering my beloved cat.
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