Fleas!!

[Miss_Bump]

I put Front Line on the cats a few days ago and put flea powder around and hoovered it etc but the cats are scratching like crazy and I've been bitten altho I've not seen any fleas

What's going on?

I can't de-flea them again and I hoovered again last night but im sill getting bitten!

Help

 

[v2007]

Try a flea bomb from Pets at home.

They are good.

V xxx

 

[LittleBoo]

We had the same thing, apparently once fleas are in the house they'll still jump on the animals and bite but jump back off because of the flea treatments. We had a guy come out and spray the house, the powders don't do much (OH sells them in his shop and tells his customers the same) we paid £50 and we're covered for two months, by the end of the same day he came out they were gone, no more bites and they've not returned! Also ended up with a tiny corpse filled porch as all the woodlice who came in also died... I swear I found about 20 of them one day xx

 

[Miss_Bump]

I'll go an get a flea bomb!

I thought they needed a host to live like a cat or dog without flea treatment?

We havnt had any problems since we last de-fleas about 6 weeks ago and ever since I used frontline again it's all gone crazy!

 

[LittleBoo]

Cat Flea
Ctenocephalides felis
Appearance
Image of Cat Fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) | Rentokil Pest Control UK

* 2–3mm long wingless ticks.
* Flattened from side to side.
* Have long legs enabling them to jump.
* They have both genal and pronotal combs (ctenidia), differentiating them from most other fleas of domestic animals.

Lifecycle

* Fleas pass through four stages: eggs, larva, pupa, adult. The eggs are small and white.
* These stages combined vary from two weeks to eight months.
* The adult flea is awakened by the detection of vibration of pet or human movement, pressure, heat, noise, or carbon dioxide for potential blood meals.
* A cat flea cannot complete is life–cycle feeding only on human blood.

Habits

* These fleas are often unable to determine whether a host is suitable until it has been bitten. If it is deemed unsuitable, the flea soon drops off.
* These fleas nest where the host is in its usual resting place, for example the cat basket. This is where the young drop to mature.

Often they can live off the cats but wont live ON the cats more than a few minutes. Frontline is one of the best home treatments available, Bob Martin are a waste of money xx

 

[missVN]

I thought they needed a host to live like a cat or dog without flea treatment?

This is true but the adult fleas that you have seen will have laid lots of eggs. These drop off the animal into your carpet where they turn into pupae. They can stay in this state for up to a year before hatching out into larvae, feeding off the dead skin and grot in your carpet before turning into adults. You need to use a good insecticidal (that kills all life stages) house spray which you should be able to get from your vets.