Being eaten alive! Bloody bastarding frontline..

[missmakesstuff]

Our cat has a flea allergy and we have been using frontline for years with no problems, I found one flea the other day and now we are infested - used frontline on her again, as it had been nearly 4 weeks since the last dose - and she is still scratching, I am being bitten constantly, in bed, sitting on the sofa, everywhere! I phoned the vet and they said frontline isn't working anymore, we cant use anything else on the cat for four weeks! I cannot last till then, I will have no skin left without a bite on it.

I can't invite anyone round, with xmas coming up it's making me miserable, I am up all night with DD at the moment who is 19 months and ill and can feel them biting me constantly all night.

I used Acclaim all over the house at the weekend and have been hoovering lots - would it be normal for there still to be small fleas in the house biting - I saw bigger ones at the weekend, have not see any others since, but can feel them biting me - think they must be small hatching ones as even if I look really quickly I can't see anything on me. It actually feels like I have just made them angry enough to bite me more...

I did the whole house, am still trying to get through the washing, but I just can't get it all done and dry, it's going to take weeks - and mean time they are still here so where do I put the clean stuff. There isn't a room in the house where the cat doesn't go.

Is all this spraying and hoovering pointless until I can treat the cat again with something else? and does anyone have a number for frontline, the lying cheating fuckers?

[Lizcat]

I would get your vet to check with the drug companies for the products I think they will tell them something different to 4 weeks. If you were my client I would be giving you some different advice.

[NeedHelpPlease]

Staykill is good to spray the house with.

[missmakesstuff]

Thanks Lizcat - the nurse on reception said that we couldn't give her anything else, however they could give her an injection for the flea allergy - although I have been checking her lots, I can't find any fleas, and after wiping the comb there isn't the red smear from flea blood etc - but I would be worried about her developing her allergy because she is getting on a bit and also tends to start overgrooming and can't stop. She is scratching still though - although I guess this could be them going?
Think staykill is the same as Acclaim? not sure I can spray again anyway, have already done it once? DD is ill and only 19 months, not keen on continuing to fill the house with chemicals.

Will try and get hold of someone again at the vets once I am finished hoovering the house, again!

[NeedHelpPlease]

Oh right didn't realise. I'm not keen on the chemical spraying either, but I've never needed to use much and it has worked. Hope you get it sorted, it's grim isn't it? There must be something that will work for you.

[Lizcat]

If you get your vet to check with the drug companies you can give something.

[henryhsmum]

One suggestion I would make re stopping then re spreading is spray all sodas, curtains, mattresses etc.

If I were you, as a one off, I would take all the laundry and pillows/duvets to a launderette just to get them all done at once. Otherwise, it's a vicious circle when you have a baby in the house.

I guess if none of that works call a pest control company.

[missmakesstuff]

Thanks - after the other day I thought they had died off finally, hadn't been bitten in a day or so - but then last night I was bitten 10 times, under my clothes in bed! Aaargh! will be phoning frontline and going to the vets to demand they sort me with something else for the cat - we have sprayed the house with acclaim, and hoovered, washing nearly all done and put away too, if I went to a laundrette to wash everything in the house, I would have to hire the whole thing and spend the day there!

What I want to know is how frontline get away with their advertising - their website has lot of statements about how you don't have to worry about fleas etc - I am bloody worrying, it's all I can think about!

[stinkyfluffycat]

You want Stronghold. We had exactly the same thing as you last summer (fleas EVERYWHERE, had treated house, Frontlined the cats twice with no effect) and we used Stronghold and they went within a day. It's really expensive but worth it. I'm sure our vet said it was ok to use on top of a dose of Stronghold but check with yours first just in case.
Our infestation was over a year ago but I still really appreciate not having fleas.

[stinkyfluffycat]

Oh, and hoover your mattress. And put a flea collar in your hoover bag to kill any fleas that get in there.

[missmakesstuff]

Thanks - will try suggesting that. Just need to speak to the vet - this is going to cost us so much as will have to book an appointment I should think. I checked and they are different ingredients - and it works differently to frontline. I cannot wait another three weeks. They carry advocate I think? can't find definite info about it being ok for using after frontline, although frontline say that you can use other treatments 24 hours after - altough I don't trust them now! If I couldind something to say it was ok then I would just go in and buy it, as the last time I got frontline we got it somewhere else, they wouldn't know we used it recently, as when I phoned they were busy and didn't ask the name. Taking the cat in is costly and a nightmare, she hates the car and the vet.

We hoovered the mattress already, plus changed bedding twice, the hoover is a vax with emptyable container thingy, sprayed that too.

Cannot face having another weekend of spraying, hoovering etc, I would rather be at work! Also now so paranoid, keep scratching and worried that when I go to the hairdresser tomorrow they will find a flea in my hair...the shame..

[feelingratheroverwhelmed]

I've no advice but I wanted to send you my comiserations as I know how you feel re: being bitten to death. I housesat for someone a few years ago. They had a beautiful long haired cat that was flea ridden. They were abroad so I couldn't speak to them, and didn't want to buy anything to put on the cat as I was worried in case of allergies etc. I was there for a week and was COVERED by the end.
When they came home and I said I've got bad news, Boris has fleas, badly, they said "oh, we know. They don't bother us. WTF!!!!!
For that (and quite a few other reasons) I'm no longer friends with them!!!

[wigglybeezer]

One just jumped on me as I read your post arrgh.

[Joolyjoolyjoo]

I'd definitely phone your vet again. There seems to be a big flea problem this year, and I've heard lots of reports of frontline "not working". Funnily enough this seems to have come about since they they changed the category of it from "prescription only" a couple of years ago. I can sympathise as I am one of those people who get bitten by fleas

But I'm sure your vet could help. And if they have seen, and weighed, the cat in the few months you might not have to bring the cat in.

[missmakesstuff]

Sorry wiggly, see, the little buggers are able to travel through cyberspace!

Will be onto the vet tomorrow. I just react to bites badly - DH and DD thankfully do not - I will also be buying myself some antihistamines too!

Those people sound horrible feelingoverwhelmed their poor cat!

jooly if you google frontline, loads of people saying it doesn't work.

[mammya]

Frontline doesn't work on my cat either, I give him Program which works completely differently so you can give it at the same time. You give it once a month like Frontline but mix it with food, or you can get an injection at the vet's which lasts for 6 months.

HTH!

[Joolyjoolyjoo]

Like I say, OP, a couple of years ago they decided to make it PML instead of POM. This seemed to be in the name of making it "more available". Fair enough. But now it has been more available for a couple of years, it doesn't seem to be killing fleas the way it once did.

Getting rid of fleas has always been a hard task, but we vets do the have the monopoly on the things that genuinely work .

[Selks]

I had a flea infestation a couple of months ago. They were all in the living room carpet particularly under the sofa and radiators. Frontline didnt work but second dose three weeks later did, then sprayed the carpet. Seems to have sorted it, touch wood. That was the first time in 20 years of keeping cats that I have had an infestation, even with the cats having had fleas a few times before now. Assistant at pets at home said that there have been way more flea infestations this autumn than usual.