Our cat had/has fleas?!
I know what you are thinking. All cats get fleas. But Mischief (pictured) is an indoor cat, and I know that it’s not beyond the realms of possibility of him getting fleas, but by God it’s a nightmare!!!
So, the great flea debate has begun! The fingers have been pointed and we are firmly pointing them at Monkey. He does dog shows with Grannies dogs (well they are his, but they live with Granny on her farm.) I know that none of hers has got fleas… well I don’t, but I’m sure they don’t they are all bathed and groomed to perfection for prancing around the ring.
Has he brought them from another animal at the shows
… or one he’s randomly petted on the street?
It can’t be me as I don’t do cats unless it’s my own! I’ve petted various dogs (by permission of course) but they all belong to people I know and, who I would like to think would know and treat their animals straight-away.
Dad does not do animals; he barely engages with Mischief. Don’t get me wrong he will give him cuddles and love but I’m the go to for Mischief… oh, and Monkey too!
So how do we treat them?
Well there is many a remedy online to help confuse matters, ones with chemicals in, ones without. Ones with only natural ingredients, ones that find and eletrocute the fleas out of the cats, ones that have been blessed by the pope... okay that last one is a lie. Chances are though if i look hard enough i would be able to find one!!!
The basic advise can be found here:
Mischief has a flea collar changed regularly. He also has flea treatment for the back of his neck at the correct intervals. We gave him the tablet form as well*. So, what else can we do?
*Please note we didn't do all this in one go! and neither should you.
The Mass clean up!
Yes, there was only one thing for it. A mass clean up. Everything soft and washable has been washed. It looked like Widow Twankey's laundrette!
Everything has been cleaned and hoovered and we even bought some spray 4 sprays in fact. But id doesn’t seem to have worked!
Meanwhile I’ve been bitten to within an inch of my life, Dad has a couple of bites and Monkey has none?! Is this because I give Mischief the most attention? On a scale of attention to flea bites I would say Monkey should be worse than me!
Dad joked and said, “they like the taste of you” However I’m not sure that I’m ready for jokes.
Then the question became “is it fleas?” or is it something else? Heaven forbid that we have bedbugs!
My brain has been constantly going over it, I’ve stripped the beds again and washed the sheets and duvets at the highest temperature, I’ve been over the mattress like sherlock homes; with a magnifying glass!
I’ve steamed the bed and sprayed it with Tea tree oil, and nothing has changed!
I have tried everything!!!
So, the question is should I resign myself of never getting to the bottom of it? Should I put myself down? Other than putting the house up for sale or selling the cat I’m not sure what else to do!
Any thoughts theories or opinions greatly accepted!
Thats Good. I’ve had 11 cats and once you realise there is no place for over the counter flea treatments of any kind you will be good. Never had issues - had 6 cats at one point. Sadly none at the moment - I miss them!
Have you sorted this yet? over the counter cat collars are not worth buying. If you are treating on the back of the neck that should help. However if mischief arrived with fleas (I once sat and killed about 150 fleas on a tiny kitten I brought home) then they will have laid eggs in the carpets and these could now be hatching and looking for their first meal - you! Again don’t waste money on over the counter sprays for the carpet get it from the vets - and make Sure its packed full of chemiCals. a bit like mosiquitos some people seem to be more affected by the bites than others. They itch for a whole, stops go…