A flea on Emily

[sirrahbed]

Last night I found a live flea on Emily! Could we have brought it home from the cat show?? That seems really unlikely but where would it come from? We can't find any signs of flea dirt or any other fleas - although I have seen Eliot scratching but can't find any evidence on him. Oh well - will take them in to be weighed at 2pm and buy some Advantage for a couple months. We have had only two infestations in the past and I sure do not want a repeat. One flea can turn into hundreds in a few weeks! In the meantime, we are washing all the bedding and have completely vacuumed the hose. I HATE fleas!

[jenluckenbach]

Fleas can get into the house exactly the same way a fly, spider or ant can. They are small. And now, as the weather turns colder they are seeking out a warm place to stay.

[sirrahbed]

Thanks Jen - so do you recommend treating the cats with something like Advantage? This is what the vet recommended anyway. The infestations we had before were on elderly cats and they were just miserable! But, I also don't like using chemicals - although the tech said Advantage is safe enough for baby kittens...

[Kirsten]

When there's no flea dirt yet, it sounds like it's one of the first of they have, so good luck!! Now it's Advantage time!!!

Luna sends her deepest sympathy, she just HATES Advantage!

Kirsten

[jenluckenbach]

I'd be tempetd to put a topical product on now to "nip it in the bud". You may only need one month's application as it does not sound as if you have an infestaion.

[catmandu]

Advantage is good , as are the Vet only Ova Collars!They really work. and sad to say , if you see one flea , there are 10 more that are hiding!

[sirrahbed]

Thanks all - I really felt a little silly getting into full action over ONE flea - I mean look at the thread title "A flea on Emily!" - may as well have issued an APB - but now I do not feel so silly. It was also my impression that - uh oh - seeing one flea means there are lots of buddies in hiding! I got good advice here and excellent treatment at the vet. Each kitty got a dose of Advantage and since they had no signs of fleadirt - the tech suggested that one treatment should do it. It was only $11 per cat too. Seems reasonable to me since I usually spend a couple hundred whenever I go! They DO have a promotion going on through the end of December - at the Bayer Advantage site which is nofleas.com, Advantage has a coupon that will get you a free tube with any 4-pack or 6-pack purchase. They did NOT push this on us though - really felt one treatment was enough since we caught it early. I really appreciate this attitude. We can always buy more if we see more fleas after next month. Besides, my house and carpeting got a thorough cleaning today (hubby helping) and all the linens and bedding got washed!! Soooo Thanks everyone!

[Miss Meow]

We found TWO fleas on the pups when we brought them home last week - ARGH! We had some Revolution Plus and gave everybody a dose behind the shoulder blades. It kills existing fleas, and stops larvae from hatching. Our vet said Advantage is good too, so hope it works for you.

[krazyaboutkatz]

My cats Storm and RB Pepper had fleas when I adopted them so they were treated with advantage for about 3 months. Then several years later Pepper began scratching and I found some large healthy fleas on him. I also found some smaller fleas on Storm and this was in Feb. They had to go to the vet and get advantage and also pills to prevent tapeworms which some fleas may carry. I've been using advantage every month on all of my cats ever since then and have had no problems since.

I live in a condo and other people in my building also have pets so if their pets aren't treated then the fleas will find their way to my pets. Good luck. Hopefully a one time treatment will do the trick.

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Yikes - I never thought of fleas!!! I suppose I should try to treat the "outside" cats so when I have contact with them I wont bring any cooties back inside with me