Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum so first off, hello

Yesterday we aquired a new 10 week old kitten called Icarus. We brought him home yesterday and promptly discovered he has fleas. Not suprising really, as the place we was from was vile and we're really pleased to have brought him away from there!

Anyway, he slept last night in the kitchen which has hard floors and no soft furnishings of any kind so I'm hoping that the fleas haven't managed to completely take over our house already! First thing this morning started with a run out to the pet shop for flea stuff. We got frontline spot on for Icky which we administered straight away, chucked the blankets he slept in last night and gave him different ones in a cardboard box while we used household flea spray to spray all the carpets and soft furnishings downstairs and his bed. We also stripped off all the sofa covers (which luckily are removable!) and washed them on a hot wash. Meanwhile poor Icky is still relegated to the kitchen although this doesn't seem to be causing him any distress. About 8 hours after applying the frontline fleas started to fall off him they all just kind of appeared from nowhere-I didn't realise he had so many (I only really knew he had fleas from spotting the flea dirt in the white bits of his fur).

My questions are, is it normal for the fleas to drop off like this after using the frontline, and should I wait 24 hours and then comb him through with a nit-type comb?
And secondly, is there anything else I can do to prevent infestation of my home? He was only in my living room for a few hours, and the majority of that time was spent wrapped in a blanket that we have disposed off. I've already hoovered and hoovered and hoovered absolutely everywhere as I've mentioned, as well as spraying the flea spray on every square inch of the carpet and washed the sofa cushions. Is there anything else I can do?? I really way to nip this in the bud while he's still so new and theres less chance for the little critters to get everywhere!!!

Sorry for the long droning entry and all the boring questions-I just want to make sure he's comfortable, and with 2 young children making sure the house isn't infested is a top priority!!

Candy x

The hoover is your best friend against fleas - keep on hoovering things every day x The household sprays (the ones from the vets anyway) work very well - but i've found the cheaper alternatives don't work, however that was about 6 years ago that my neuters got them (they don't go out roaming now lol) the cheaper stuff could be better now than it was but i personally would stick to vets stuff unless anyone else on here knows of better

oh, and yes keep using flea comb on him, even for a few days of not finding any, they're sneaky so carry on until you're sure xx

Welcome by the way xx

__________________

Ha I can sympathise,when we got Jess and Dylan when they were 8 weeks old,we rescued them from a stinking filthy pit of a house,they were riddled with fleas and ear mites,we immediately got spot on for them and we treated all the other cats too,then we hoovered twice a day for a week and then flea bombed the house,which was quite hard to do with 10 cats but we put them in our room locked them in,flea bombed downstaira and then when safe moved the cats downstairs and then flea bombed upstairs,then we hoovered twice a day again for another couple of weeks and then once a month passed we flea treated them all again,and now finally no fleas The little hitch hikers have hitched their last ride to the flea garden in the sky Took a lot of effort but we needed to with 10 cats could imagine if they got infested Everytime you see flea kill him One less flea to breed oh and lots of hoovering Then watch the critters drop off dead after the spot on

__________________
Louie's the king of the swinger's,he's a jungle V.I.P,he's reached the top and he's had to stop

Unfortunately it only takes 1 flea to create an infestation. And the problem with Flea eggs is that they are not sticky, so they will drop off and sit anywhere. Also a flea larva develops into a pupa and can remain in that state for up to two years. And it only takes one to survive and hatch and you get an infestation again.

There's a useful free information site on pet fleas, their lifecycle and how to get rid of them here Got Fleas? : Fleas Life Cycle there's lot's of info on what to do - Got Fleas? : Flea Treatment - unfortunately you will have to be vigilant and keep on killing them - Got Fleas? : Killing Fleas ... I guess you may only have 2 years to go...

I wish there was better news, or a real quick fix!

Best of Luck

Michelle

First, I did not think that frontline should be used on such a young kitty - but I could be very, very wrong - so be sure to check. But having said that it is great stuff - hopefully once you have coped with this you will eliminate it completely with future applications.

we got a kitten 15 years ago from a farm - it was the height of summer and we just could not get on top of the problem - YOU'LL ALL SCREAM AT ME NOW as a last resort we bathed him in warm water and I do not think we have ever seen a flea since (but we do use frontline every 3 month). That kitten by the way was just a month old when we got him - he's fiftenn now and never (touch wood) had a days illenss other then that he was run over once and not related has had to have most of his teeth removed.
regards
sue

Hi frontline combo(from vets)is very good at prevention as it breaks the life cycle in your home as well as on the cat.if kitty will be going out regular use(4-6 weeks)will prevent any more outbreaks.never buy supermarket brands e.g sherleys,bob martin as these are useless.Also make sure kitty has been wormed well as fleas transmit worms,again dont bother with supermarket brands

__________________
A+P Fabrications,quality stabling/Round pens/ stocks/gates/kennels,puppy pens and catteries.Also ornamental/estate fencing,gates and railings.

frontline spay can be used from 2 days old,spot on from around 8 weeks as long as the cat does not weigh under a kg

__________________
A+P Fabrications,quality stabling/Round pens/ stocks/gates/kennels,puppy pens and catteries.Also ornamental/estate fencing,gates and railings.

Clare
I admit to having little knowledge on cats - but i do have some - thank you for the info - but seriously I would not ever consider putting this stuff on such a young cat of just 2 days old (did i read this right??) - surely it would have harmful to the ther whilst the kittens were still feeding could it not???
regards
sue

Keep going girl, use that hoover to banish the fleas...god im itching just thinking about the damn creatures...

__________________

Thanks for reading my post - Have a good day!

Thanks all, we used the frontline and we've not seen a single flea since! I think we were lucky as we spotted it as soon as he got here so the little buggers didn't have chance to spread!!

__________________

"Cat's motto: No matter what you've done wrong, always try to make it look like the dog did it."