Question about fleas!

[Kooshdakhaa]

I took in a stray cat last week. Took him to the vet Monday and the vet says he has fleas because he has so much flea dirt on him.

However, neither the vet, nor the SPCA where I took him to be neutered, nor myself can find an actual flea on him. I've been combing him with a flea comb, especially at the base of his tail.

In the past my animals got fleas from a stray I took in and it was very easy to find actual fleas on them by using a flea comb.

I wonder if it's possible that he once had fleas but they are gone and only the flea dirt is left? Because it gets very cold here in the winter, below zero, and I wonder if the fleas did not survive on him over the winter. Anybody ever heard of that happening? He was pretty dirty in general, aside from the flea dirt.

Meanwhile, I'm going to go look up the price of Frontline in case I have to treat all of my eleven other animals for fleas. : (

 

[Moonglow]

Wal Mart, Frontline is 39.99 dollars.

 

[syrenn]

if there is flea dirt... there are fleas...AND eggs on him....and in your house now.


Get the frontline or advantage on him and all of your other pets as fast as you can.

 

[strollingbones]

my animals will always have one flea at the vets...always

 

[editec]

FWIW if your house becomes infested with cat fleas I can tell you the cheapest and most effective way to get rid of those fleas and their eggs.

Forget all those professional sprays and so forth, they're epxpensive, poionous and they really don't work.

Use 20 mule team Borax...and I mean use a lot of it.

It's a pain in the ass to cover your floors with a heavy dusting of Borox of course, but it works like a bloody charm.

Leave the borax on the floors and whatnot for 24 hours.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

if there is flea dirt... there are fleas...AND eggs on him....and in your house now.


Get the frontline or advantage on him and all of your other pets as fast as you can.

You did not address any of my questions, though. I've had the experience of a flea infestation when I had seven animals in the house and brought a stray dog in not realizing he had fleas. I know exactly how to get rid of them.

But when my animals had them before, it was pretty obvious. I could find live fleas by running a flea comb at the base of their tails. I can't find any fleas on any of my animals, and not even on the cat with the flea dirt. And actually, I've been combing him so much that there isn't much flea dirt left either. If there are fleas, why can't I even find one fucking flea?

Also, the mom cat this guy was hanging around with outside has no sign of fleas, no dirt, no nothing on her. You'd think she would've gotten fleas from him if he still had them.

I hate to go through the expense and trouble of eradicating fleas if there are no fleas!!!!

I think this is a situation where I'm going to have to learn by experience. I'm going to quit sequestering him. If all my animals get fleas, THEN I'll treat them for fleas, not before. I'll do a dose of frontline on the stray cat, though, just in case there are eggs on him.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

FWIW if your house becomes infested with cat fleas I can tell you the cheapest and most effective way to get rid of those fleas and their eggs.

Forget all those professional sprays and so forth, they're epxpensive, poionous and they really don't work.

Use 20 mule team Borax...and I mean use a lot of it.

It's a pain in the ass to cover your floors with a heavy dusting of Borox of course, but it works like a bloody charm.

Leave the borax on the floors and whatnot for 24 hours.

I wonder if that contains boric acid. Because that will get rid of cockroaches, too.

IF I have fleas, though, what I'll do is this: Get Frontline on all the animals. Put all cat beds, scratching posts, etc. that can't be washed outside for a few days. It's starting to get down to freezing at night, that will eradicate the fleas. Wash all other stuff in hot water, maybe use sanitary cycle. Then I will put pieces of flea collars in my vacuum bags and vacuum thoroughly. I have laminate floors, not carpet, so that helps. Any area rugs I'll put outside to freeze.

Probably do a second round of Frontline on the animals just to make sure, as well as vacuuming frequently with vacuum bags containing pieces of flea collar for a while. Voila! Fleas will be gone. It worked before on a heavy infestation, it'll work again.

But I'll be damned if I'm going to do all that until I know for sure there are fleas!!!!

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

Wal Mart, Frontline is 39.99 dollars.

Yeah, well I have seven cats and five dogs of various sizes. If there really are fleas, they'll all end up needing to be treated, probably a couple rounds of treatement, so it will end up being a bit more than that. But thanks, I didn't think of checking prices for this at Wal-Mart. I'll definitely do that!