fleas

[Gabrielle]

hi I am new here and I have two kittens a girl and a boy. I had fleas problem before and I did every thing I can to get ride of them. Also my girl kitten princess had an infection and its been a month since I have not seen any fleas on her but Benjie my boy cat still scatches but not intense like he did before. Does that mean he have fleas. Any advice will be nice :)

[catlover4ever]

I would suggest going out to the store and buying a small flea comb. Comb through Benjie and if you see any small black specks, then that would be flea poops. You may even comb out a flea or too so be ready to catch the flea and kill it.

Did you use a flea bomb in your house/appartment? If you did not it would be a good idea if you do so.

[K & L]

It can take several months of flea medication treatment along with bombing/spraying your home, washing all cats bedding etc. Fleas lay eggs which will hatch weeks down the road. Fleas also cause tapeworms and the cats need to be treated for these also. Here's a real helpful site:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IG087

[Gabrielle]

hi again, I have not yet tried the flea bomb , but I have a flea comb. When I comb Benjie and princess with it I dont see anything, so i gess thats a good sign. thanks for your advices :) .

[jenluckenbach]

Just an observation (not meant to cause alarm) But sometimes the fleas are great at hiding. I found fleas on my foster cat Chevy when I decided to give him a bath on Friday. I have been using a flea comb on him and to top it all off I am a professional groomer, so I look for fleas every day on dozens of animals, and I did not see them on him until he was wet. So keep looking.

2 other things to consider.

1)If it was just resently he might just be scrating at old bites. A flea bite is much like a mosquito bite. The insect does not cause the itch, the bite does. And it last for days.
2) if Benji is allergic to flea bites, one bite or one flea alon could cause him to scratch.

best of luck with them.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Hi Gabrielle, welcome to Pet Talk. :D I'm sure you'll love it here. The people and advice that they give are great. :) I have 4 indoor only cats and have had flea problems in the past. Now I use advantage every month. Since I've been using it, I've never had a problem. You may want to try this to prevent fleas in the future. Good luck. :)