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just found a flea on our cat, do we go full nuclear?

Our cat Athena is a fluffy girl and we just found a flea on her, we removed it and crushed it but now my girlfriend is freaking out and her skin is squirming thinking the whole house could be infested. I’m of the opinion that we’ve caught it early and we should just check her usual sleeping spots as well as get a flea comb but my girl is damn near ready to buy a steam cleaner for the rug.

Idk, what do you guys think? How should we handle this?

corsicanguppy ,
  1. never let your cat outside. Even when you’re not in Ottawa where the urban coyote population works to control the ‘outside cat’ infestation, it’s no longer cool to let your cat out. If you hate mosquitoes, for instance, keep all cats indoors all the time.
  2. use a vet-approved pill treatment - even when no visible signs
  3. wash everything … at the least to combat anxiety.
yokonzo OP ,

That’s the thing, she’s an indoor cat, we have no idea where the flea came from

Rednax ,

Point 1 has to be chosen when the cat is young. Forcing an outside cat to suddenly only be inside often doesn’t work.

I adopted a 7-year-old cat from the shelter, and after a week of having to be inside all the time, he got more and more frustrated. After a week and a half, he escaped during the night. In the morning, while I was panicking, he came strolling in as if nothing was wrong.

Since he apparently comes back, I allowed him outside from then on. Since that moment, his behaviour inside has improved a lot. No more random play attacks on my ankles and hands, and generally much calmer.

He has also come back home with mice several times. He always eats them. So I think he is very used to living outside. Maybe been a stray, or a farm cat.

Forcing him to be inside would feel cruel.

Shah_of_Iran ,

I used to work pest control and in addition to treating your cat for fleas you can treat your home with this. Follow the directions on the label and vacuum at least once a day while you are still seeing fleas. I’ve used this in my own home before and keep some around just in case.

HUMAN_TRASH ,

Please, don’t nuke your cat.

iamtrashman1312 ,

It’s the only way to be sure.

fine_sandy_bottom ,

I’m sure it was just one flea.

Mothra ,
@Mothra@mander.xyz avatar

You have a ton of comments so I’ll keep it short. Fleas are very, very, very extremely hard to get rid of once they reach critical mass. Their eggs can remain dormant for up to two years, and they’re immune to pest control methods including bombs.

My suggestion: get a pill based flea treatment, read the dosage instructions and keep it going for at least 3 months. Clean and vacuum regularly. You don’t need to buy a steam cleaner but other than that your girl is spot on.

tmpod ,

Not sure about pill treatments but I had tried a bunch of ineffective things before a friend recommended me one of these Seresto collars.
They’re just magic man, I don’t know. My dog and cat used to consistently get fleas, but a couple of weeks after I got them one of those, every freaking bug just vanished. Nothing ever since, as far as I can tell (I still check them often).

If anyone knows how these works, I’d love to be enlightened!

Blizzard ,

Take it to a vet.

esc27 ,

Don’t panic. A few fleas could easily be random chance. You don’t really have to go to a vet, but in this case I would just for peace of mind for the humans.

Do buy a flea comb (if you do not already have one) and begin combing every night. Espcially around the neck and head. Don’t worry about squishing the fleas, just mix up some mild soapy water in a glass and drop them in that.

Keep count every night and you will be able to tell if the problem is under control or not.

Do vacuum and clean house.

You may want to invest in a flea trap. These combine a light and a sticky pad and can be placed on the floor to attract any loose fleas. Move it around to likely places and it will both help trap fleas and give you an idea of how many might be in the house (if any.)

If you do not go to a vet, do buy some over the counter flea treatment. If regular combing is not enough, it will help, but I would not use it for just a few fleas.

My cat has had fleas a few times, but thankfully I’ve only needed the ointment once. Mist of the time combing was enough.

BlackJerseyGiant ,

I read somewhere that nuclear weapons were potentially bad for cats.

neidu2 , (edited )

Citation needed. Also, three people seem firm in their belief that nuclear weapons are perfectly safe for cats.

frigidaphelion ,

but are they worse for fleas? 🤔

viking ,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

Just buy some Frontline Plus, apply it to your cat’s neck in a spot she can’t lick, and done.

It’s a topical poison, harmless to animals, but it kills of parasites very effectively. I’ve used it initially to treat an acute infection (found 2 fleas), and now use it as a preventive measure.

Per instructions you should use it monthly, but every 3-4 months seems to work just fine for me.

HarriPotero ,
@HarriPotero@lemmy.world avatar

This cleared out a flea infestation in our dog. We use it preventatively because ticks, as well.

Fleas tend to linger because their eggs shed all over the place. As I recall, frontline had some double action going on by both killing fleas and causing their eggs to hatch into nymphs that never evolve into breeding maturity.

Fleas don’t really like biting humans, so any occurrence is a one+off.

RebekahWSD ,
@RebekahWSD@lemmy.world avatar

Fleas are annoying. When my cats got them bad or was weeks of cleaning all the “soft fabricy things”, vacuuming, and flea baths.

Now is down to just a dose of advantage flea medicine on the back of her neck once a month (and still washing a lot, but she’s much better now)

I can only recommend advantage for the flea medicine in the back of neck. We tried a cheaper off brand and she was like…got very sick. Vet said it can happen, so I went back to the only one that she tolerates well.

bolapara ,

You should be able to rent a steam cleaner, rather than buying one for this single event.

CulturedLout ,

Fleas caused the death of my cat. A coworker generously brought a sample of her infestation in to the office and they must have hitched a ride home with me. My cats were indoor only, I didn’t expect them to need flea treatment. The fleas gave him hemobartonella and almost $20,000 later, we couldn’t get the anemia under control.

Nuke the fleas.

ThePantser ,
@ThePantser@lemmy.world avatar

You spent 20 grand on a cat? Why? That seems like a horrible investment.

jecht360 ,
@jecht360@lemmy.world avatar

Pets are not investments. They are friends and family. Sometimes you’ll do anything possible to save them, even if it’s spending a ton of money.

meekah ,
@meekah@lemmy.world avatar

The same reason some people spend that kinda money on 30 year old cars. Or collectibles. Or PC parts.

It brings them joy. Seems that might be missing from your life currently.

ClassifiedPancake ,

Animals are not a hobby

meekah ,
@meekah@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, but my point was that people generally spend money on things that make them happy. That could also be treating a friend to lunch, but that’s not usually $20k.

So I guess what I was trying to say was, why is it suddenly a problem to spend $20k, when it’s a pet and not something else, that clearly does not create any financial gain but only gives joy to the person spending the cash?

ClassifiedPancake ,

That’s true but I wanted to point out that keeping a pet healthy is something you should do because it’s your obligation as a pet owner and human with empathy, not because you personally enjoy its company.

meekah ,
@meekah@lemmy.world avatar

Fair point

Daxtron2 ,

Calling healthcare for your pet an “investment” shows the kind of person you are.

lenz ,

Because life is priceless, and the life of the cat you care about should be priceless to you. When you get a companion animal, that’s what you sign up for. And if you’re not willing to go the distance to take care of your pet when they are sick, you shouldn’t get a pet.

drail , (edited )
@drail@fedia.io avatar

I had a bad flea infestation after taking in a stray puppy for all of 1 day before I got it to a rescue. I went from noticing one flea to noticing a couple to seeing them everywhere in a manner of days, about a month after the puppy left us our present. It was a pain in the ass and made me hyper paranoid, so I learned how to handle it the proper way.

I agree with what others have said as a first step: Flea Bath and/or nitenpyram to remove the fleas on the kitty, flea preventative to keep them off. Wash all the fabrics and surfaces, especially near your cat's hangout spots, and dry on high heat.

Vacuuming daily is a triple threat at reducing the numbers: Sucks up the eggs/larvare/pupae/adults, the vibration and warmth tricks pupae to emerge (they can be dormant for up to 6 months and their shell acts like velcro, making them hard to remove) which speeds up the cycle and reduces the risk of reinfestation, and cleans up the grime that the larvae feed on before pupating. Just make sure you use a bagged vacuum or seal the vacuum waste somehow before tossing it. If the infestation is minor, keeping up to date on the preventative and regular vacuuming should be enough.

If you find more, especially down the road a few months, it probably means an infestation started under your nose. If you can afford it, a pest control pro is the best solution. If you can't, the best flea killer spray for whole home infestations is Precor 2625. It is a whole home premise spray that kills the fleas at all stages, both on contact and by disrupting their reproductive cycle. You'll want to either kennel your kitty for a day to apply it, as the contact kill chemical can make cats sick, or at the very least quarantine them and do the spray over a couple days away from them. Get a coverall suit, N95 mask, and spray all low surfaces, all fabrics that can't be dried on high heat, under couch cushions, all corners and crevices around the floor and your bed, literally everywhere below knee height and anywhere your cat might like to climb or hide.

The preventative is supposed to last 7 months, slightly longer than the longest normal pupae duration, so that multiple flea generations will be affected. I do recommend a second spray 1 month later, just to be safe, and continue daily vacuuming over the entire premise for at least that first month to expedite the lifecycle as much as possible.

seathru , (edited )
@seathru@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

I’d go by the vet and pick up some NexGard for kitty and vacuum any rugs/carpet/pet sleeping areas periodically for the next week or two.

Even when I took in a foster that got the house infested, that took care of it.

Edit: Fixed NexGard spelling.

ultranaut ,

Get some Revolution Pro or Advantage, follow the directions on the box. They are very effective unless you have a serious infestation, which it sounds like you don’t. Just make sure it’s the cat version and for the correct weight range of your cats.

13esq ,

Yep, any fleas about the house will jump on to the cat and then die.

No need to decontaminate the entire house, just make sure that fleas can’t make a home on your cat.

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