What To Do When Your Cat Has Fleas

It’s coming up to that time time of year again… That time of year when I have to hoover the house twice daily, lint roll the Venetian blinds at the front of the house and dettol the window ledge daily.

Steve is moulting.

Urgh!

We love him dearly on Vista Street — especially Little Miss Vista, but he is just so flippin’ furry!

One thing that occasionally occurs with our furry friend is fleas.

I have a very clean (not so tidy) home and am fairly house proud. So this time last year, when Steve brough those tiny, horrid critters home for the first time, I had no idea what to do.

Now that he has (annoyingly) brought them home a few times, I know exactly what to do to:

a. Prevent

b. Clear

c. Get rid!

Infested is a horrible word.

It simply means that your furry friend has brought pests into your home. It doesn’t mean that you are a dirty or that your home is dirty.

I took me a long time to come to terms with this.

When I first realised we had fleas in our home I was horrified! It didn’t compute to me at the time that it has nothing to do with the cleanliness of your home, they infest when they choose to infest.

So…

Signs Your Pet Has Fleas

• Scritching and scratching
• Grooming more than usual
• Flea droppings (these are little flecks of blood that only appear when wiped with a wet cloth)
• If you or any members of your family have small, red bites. Usually around the ankles and lower legs.
• Visible fleas
• And sometimes even WORMS! (This is only in extreme cases and if you pet has had fleas for a while).

What To Do When Your Cat Has Fleas… Your Pet’s Treatment

• If possible, give your pet a bath. This wasn’t a very successful experience with Steve the cat.
• Use a flea repelling treatment on your pet 24 hours before commencing any other treatment. Once you have given this to your pet, put them outside because they WILL go wild. Steve literally bounced around the garden for an hour with the fleas visibly jumping off him. They last for six hours, so try to keep your pet in a flea free place after this time.
• Get over the counter medication — FROM YOUR VET. From experience, once your pet has fleas, the run of the mill ‘back of the neck’ potions don’t shift fleas. It’s marginally more expensive, but 100% effective!
• Brush your pets fur with a metal tooth comb (we got ours from the Pound Shop!). The fleas (alive and dead) will be caught in the teeth. One less flea to breed in your pets fur. Once you’ve caught them, clean your comb with a tissue and dispose of outside immediately!
• Treat your home — if you don’t the fleas WILL COME BACK!

Treating Your Home

• If your pet sits / sleeps / spends any amount of time on any soft furnishing, sadly, chuck it! I ended up throwing all of my throw cushions away. You can’t 100% guarantee that all of the fleas and their larvae have been washed away… is that pets bed or cushion worth a re-infestation?
• Use lemon scented detergents and washing up liquids — I read online that fleas hate the smell of lemon… and it seemed to work in our house.
• Pet shops have a good selection of home treatments. After scrubbing my leather sofa with lemon scented washing up liquid, chucking the cushions and putting all the throws in on a boil, I used a flea killing form of shake-n-vac and a soft furnishing spritz on everything. Carpets included.
• Don’t forget to clean all of your house. Even the bits that your pet doesn’t visit. Fleas and their eggs travel on clothes, shoes… basically anything they can cling to. Better safe than sorry.
• Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum! Twice, three times per day if you feel you need to. You need to remove the larve before they turn into more fleas and start breeding. Don’t forget to empty your hoover bag or cylinder into the outside bin after you’ve vacuumed.
• Even when you think the fleas have gone, keep cleaning! Larvae can live for a good few weeks before they hatch!

Prevent Fleas From Getting In Again

• Keep your house clean. If you have carpets, hoover regularly.
• Keep your pets bed clean. After the flea incident, we got Steve a radiator bed. We religiously throw this in the washing machine and lint roll it regularly too.
• Use a spot on preventative treatment. Some are stronger than others so always read the label. When in doubt consult your vet!
• Groom your pet and try to keep them clean.

A healthy pet, is a happy pet.

Steve is part of our family and I like to keep him as healthy as the rest of us.

But do remember, that if your pet does get fleas and your home does become infect — it’s not the end of the world, it is treatable and if they follow the above steps they will go away and not come back!

Has your pet ever had fleas?!

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you found this helpful.

Love

Side notes:

Please DON’T use a flea treatment on your cat AND a flea collar. They might look fine, but this can make them feel really poorly.

Note that if you have used a shop bought flea treatment on your pet you must wait the full length stated on the box to administer any other type of medicine. Seek advice from your VET.

I was surprised at how affordable the treatment for fleas was at my local vets. I had always assumed it would be expensive, but I came away with change of £20!

I am NOT a vet or animal welfare professional. If you think your pet may be unwell always seek advice from your vet.