Hi

today i was grooming my long haired black cat and seen some sort of black balls in the hair i was taking off the brush, so i read up on fleas and done the whole trick of dampening them and they were sort of smearing red....i have not found any eggs tho!

I have another cat who i cant see any one her...they are both INDOOR cats, although i can understand it can happen to any cat!

rushed to pets at home and could only get baephar spot on. applied it to first cat, and have realised today i wormed spot on the other cat as she is a drama queen with pills......also got johnsons house flea spray and spent 4 hours getting my house cleaned!

would i be able to add the spot on flea treatment to her as well as the worming that he previously been added around 4ish today?

thanks

xxx

I wouldnt bother using those products, they don't work. You can get Frontline (which is more effective) from PAH now, or from your vet, but its much cheaper online from places like Vetuk Frontline: Frontline Spot On For Cats and Dogs From Vet UK: For Healthy Happy Pets .

You can also get more effective sprays for the house such as Acclaim, Staykill (which only need using once a year) or Skoosh, as well as wormers such as Drontal, although if your cat won't take tablets, you could use something like Profender which is a spot on wormer (but needs a prescription from your vet) Profender: Profender Medium Cat Pair Pipettes (POM-V) - £7.79

I have never used it so can't speak from personal experience but my aunt used a Flea Bomb when her cats came back from a short stay at a cattery with fleas. Bob Martin does them.

She said it worked brilliantly and gave her peace of mind. Apparently it does smell quite a bit though but the smell went after 24 hours.

Fleas are nothing to be ashamed of... but not sorting them out is! They are a fact of life and as natural and common as a dog or a cat getting a dose of the 'squits' lol.

As Ambercat said, it is worth buying the more expensive treatments as they really will work. Many times have I heard from neighbours, friends and other cat owners that they bought the pet shop stuff, but still had an issue and in the end have had no choice but to go to their vet and spend even more on top to solve the flea problem. That's worth thinking about during the current recession.

If you are not willing or able to buy a monthly spot-on treatment from a vet or pharmacist (we are talking Frontline from a pharmacy or pet shop, or other even more effective treatments like Stronghold, Advocate etc. from a vet which may also control ear mites and worms) then your most important outlay will have to be a huge can of Acclaim, Staykill or Skoosh.

The first two are well known to do the trick and do it beautifully; the other I haven't direct experience of, but - a vet nurse friend tells me in his opinion it may be less effective than the others. Treat your house with one of these sprays. Fleas do not breed on the animals - you will never find flea eggs on your cat or dog, because the whole life cycle takes place in your carpet, curtains, nooks, crannies, sofa and curtains or even your bed if it gets that bad And sometimes it can if left unattended!

Once the fleas have matured they jump on to any moving object (yes even people!) and take a nip. These sprays have enough in one can - expensive I know - to treat a average 4-bedroom house but normally go a lot further. And one application will last a year or more.

Your next armament in the flea war is up to you. Once the fleas are denied a place to breed you will see a huge drop in numbers. Now you have to decide how to control them on the animals themselves, if your dog or cat picks them up. There are herbal, holistic and homoeopathic methods available; or, if the recession is biting as much as the fleas *grin* buy some Frontline Spray. This is not available from chemists or online, but can be got from your vet, and it can be used on both cats and dogs. Treat according to instructions whenever you see fleas, after making sure your home and the animals' quarters are up to date with home spray treatment.

Oops rambled a bit, but I hope it helps, it's my own way of tackling the issue and it's worked well for me for many years.

best regards!

__________________
Sue, Merlin & Cuba
Dog moves in mysterious ways. Be at peace, Patrick.
I've been described as a lighthouse in a bog - brilliant, but useless.