# Help! They had Fleas!



## Melissaandcats (Aug 18, 2004)

Ok.. the kittens are gone... from my apartment today. They went to another foster home. Anyway, i just found out they had fleas!!!!!
I had them in my bedroom! 
They said if i hadn't seen any i probably won't!!! What the ....!!!???

I have 4 cats!!! OMG!!!
I have never had fleas!!

Should I go get them treatments anyways?? Flea powder!???

Help Me before i go insane!! I have had such any awful few days, and I didn't think it could get any worse, and it just did!!


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## Sweetvegan74 (Jun 18, 2005)

Relax. Things will get better.

OK first thing to do is get your cats treated. Buy Frontline or Revolution or any good drop flea treatment.

Next buy some spray for the room with the fleas. If you get to it right away there shouldn't be a problem.

Years ago a ignorant man brought in a litter of 4 kittens about 7 weeks old. I worked in a pet supply co and I offered to show the cats up for adoption. The kittens were covered in fleas! They were too young for treatment so I had to bath them and use a flea comb over and over! It took 2 hours but I got rid of the fleas and the kittens were adopted. Needless to say I had a talking with the man. :evil:


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## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

I'm glad you were able to find a place for them, Melissa! It's probably a big load off your mind. I hope they do well in their new foster home.

Fleas are a constant year-round problem in Florida. In the 80s, my family used to buy "bug bombs." These are spray cans that set off a continuous spray in the middle of a room and fog up the whole house with flea-killer. You have to evacuate people and pets for about an hour during the process. But that was a long time ago, and I don't know if anyone uses them anymore. 

I get the impression that drastic solutions are no longer as needed as they once were, because the treatments that go onto pets have gotten a lot more effective. As an example, my feral kittens were full of fleas when I brought them in, and I was able to get rid of the problem completely just by using Revolution. My understanding is that fleas can't live very well on surfaces other than furry animals, so if you treat your pets with a good flea-killer, the fleas should just die off.

Revolution kills the adult fleas within a couple of days, but it can take two or three treatments to do away with all the eggs. We saw a huge improvement pretty quickly, though.


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## Melissaandcats (Aug 18, 2004)

Does anyone think i actuallty have them in my house now?? The kittens were in my bedroom for two nights, and I had their cage covered?? When i cleaned them, the few times i did, i didnt see fleas? Does that mean anything???


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## Birdbrain (Apr 29, 2005)

Do you still have cats? If you do, the most effective thing would be to treat them with Revolution or Advantage. Fooling around with commercial shampoo, sprays & lotions is mostly ineffective...BTW only use topical products dispensed by a DVM.

Years ago, when I started doing "rescue"... the ultra effective stuff like Revolution wasn't available & I had some terrible experiences with fleas!

While I was going to College, I rented an apartment in a converted 4 plex...Along with a variety of injured & orphaned wild birds & animals, I had about 17 cats, which I left with a friend for 2 weeks while I went to visit my parents. Apparently all **** broke loose while I was away & my landlord contacted Public Health whom paid a visit in my absence.

On arrival home from my vacation, as I was unlocking my door, the very agitated next door neighbour came flying out of her apartment , screeching away in Punjabi as she lifted her shirt to expose her scab encrusted trunk & bare breasts...She was obviously furious with me, but it wasn't until later that I understood her reasons. 

Unbeknowest to myself, my cats were infested with fleas. While the cats were away, the multitude of ravenous fleas departed my apartment in search of a blood meal. They took up lodging with the tenants beside me...Apparently, they attacked en masse, quickly covering the entire family in itchy, red welts. To add insult to injury, the mother was allergic to flea saliva.

That was a very unique way to learn about the life cycle of the flea! Thus, I learned that fleas do not live on the animal, but rather in the carpets or upolstery & only invade the fur of a warm blooded mammal temporarily to feed. 

( So, years later, when my ex husband sought my opinion on a nasty oozing red, crusty rash on his lower legs, I knew exactly what was going on ...LOL...I told him that he should have let me keep the family room furniture! )


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