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| 7 OCT 2006 at 10:17pm |
CarolineJA+ Overseer
Posts : 16552
Joined: 28 JAN 2007
Location: AU
Status : Offline | Out here there is a cream that is applied to the back of a cat or dog's neck that is used to control fleas. It works by entering the bloodstream and killing the fleas but it's harmless to the host animal.
And you can always do what my mother used to do. Get a cup of really hot water, get a firm grip on the cat and go hunting. Grab each flea hard between finger and thumb and don't let go until your fingers are submerged. The hot water kills the flea.
After doing this, strip off in the shower and see if you have any fleas yourself. Check underarms and between toes. Wash your clothes.
Boy am I glad I don't have pets any more.
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| 7 OCT 2006 at 10:19pm |
BazzaLBPrivate Detective
Posts : 512
Joined: 27 AUG 2005
Location: AU
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Caroline (7 OCT 2006 10:16pm)
Boy am I glad I don't have pets any more.
Is it much different than when kids come home with head lice? :-X
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| 7 OCT 2006 at 11:17pm |
GhostSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 273
Joined: 31 JUL 2004
Status : Online | Originally Posted By chronotigger65 (7 OCT 2006 5:50pm)
... I also in the past checked Isis over for fleas and never seen any fleas or their poop droppings until yesterday.
Chrono, my kitty had fleas before I adopted her and she's had 1 flea bath since. I've taken her out of an environment where she was living with multiple dogs and cats. So far she's been free of any fleas, but I've just recently seen worms in her poop. I think you'll need to check Isis' stools closely - I read that tapeworms in cats (and I think other animals) are caused by ingesting fleas. An over-the-counter medicine treats the worms just fine, but I would take her to a Vet just to be sure.
:-/
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| 8 OCT 2006 at 12:14am |
CarolineJA+ Overseer
Posts : 16552
Joined: 28 JAN 2007
Location: AU
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Bazza (7 OCT 2006 10:19pm)
Originally Posted By Caroline (7 OCT 2006 10:16pm)
Boy am I glad I don't have pets any more.
Is it much different than when kids come home with head lice? :-X
SA schools have a parent notification policy. When a child has head lice a notice is sent home with every child that day. As well as relying on parents to do the right thing and isolate their child, of course. I do remember the 'biddy nurse' as a child in England but there are no head inspections in schools here.
My kids have never had head lice. Oh thank god..... I don't think I'd cope. I'd probably shave the entire family's heads.....
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| 8 OCT 2006 at 12:47am |
BazzaLBPrivate Detective
Posts : 512
Joined: 27 AUG 2005
Location: AU
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Caroline (8 OCT 2006 12:14am)
Originally Posted By Bazza (7 OCT 2006 10:19pm)
Originally Posted By Caroline (7 OCT 2006 10:16pm)
Boy am I glad I don't have pets any more.
Is it much different than when kids come home with head lice? :-X
SA schools have a parent notification policy. When a child has head lice a notice is sent home with every child that day. As well as relying on parents to do the right thing and isolate their child, of course. I do remember the 'biddy nurse' as a child in England but there are no head inspections in schools here.
My kids have never had head lice. Oh thank god..... I don't think I'd cope. I'd probably shave the entire family's heads.....
So do VIC schools, but until the kids leave primary school, keep checking whenever your kids even think about scratching their head
Head lice seem to be attracted to primary school age kids. They must be saddists...
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| 8 OCT 2006 at 12:54am |
MissBSchattenjger
Posts : 2217
Joined: 15 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Oh my God. You are giving me flashbacks of when my daughter got lice EVERY YEAR FOR 4 YEARS when she was little. I had to keep her out of school for almost a week every time, wash her hair with lice shampoo, and nit-pick for hours under a desk lamp. As soon as they sent out the notes from home, I cried, because I knew she had it or would get it within days.
My name is Bethany and I'm the daughter of Gamergal/Michelle.
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| 8 OCT 2006 at 1:23am |
chronotigger65Journeyman
Posts : 1143
Joined: 23 FEB 2005
Status : Offline | I never had head lice before but I did had the eggs they lay in my hair. I remember how I had to have my hair shampooed and my mom used this special comb used to remove the eggs. I found it to be painful when removing them and I think I cried from the pain. At my school at the time this happened we put all of our hats, gloves and scarfs in a box. This was how the lice was transfered from person to person. After that incident my parents got me and my brother to put our hats into the sleeve of our coats to avoid any lice ever agian.
It's been almost 24 hours since I flea dipped Isis and she seems to stop scratching all the time. From 1:00 pm to now I've she her scratch herself only 2 or 3 times. I'll continue to monitor here behavior. If she's doing well I'll know that she's alright.
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| 8 OCT 2006 at 10:50am |
trudysgardenSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 312
Joined: 19 JUL 2005
Status : Online | Here's a flea treatment your cat might even enjoy. Buy a metal or plastic flea/lice comb from the drug store. Mix up a small dish of warm water and dishwashing soap. Get a white towel, put it on your lap, put the cat on the towel on your lap and comb her out. The fleas will get caught in the comb - so you knock them from the comb into the soapy water where they drown pretty darn fast. Make sure you comb under her chin and all around the face, neck, eyes and ears the most, but try to get her entire body if you can. If you wear a white shirt and use a white towel you'll also be sure to get any that try to jump off and make a break for it.
I've never had a cat that doesn't enjoy this. If you do it daily for awhile the cat will be flea free and it also cuts down on hairballs. No poison is involved so it's a healthier way to get rid of them. Worm the cat. That's most likely where the fleas are coming from, it's a cycle thing.
If you end up with fleas in your rug put out a nightlight over a plate (not a bowl, it needs to be fairly close to the ground) of soapy water. The fleas will jump at the light, hit the soapy water when they come down.
happy trails,
Carolyn
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| 8 OCT 2006 at 11:07am |
colpetSchattenjger
Posts : 1632
Joined: 12 APR 2003
Status : Offline | Flea transmission can occur from either eggs or adults coming into your place from vectors - clothes, other pets, stray cats on the porch, etc. - or from your pet going to a place that has adults - outside, groomers, boarding kennel or even the vet's office. Whatever anyone may say, non prescrition flea treatment is not effective. All you need to do is go to your vet and get the appropriate prescription for flea treatment (various trade names - Advantage, Revolution, etc.). Most prescription products are applied topically every 28 days, and are extremely safe. They are so effective, that premise treatment is often not needed. OTC (over the counter products) almost always contain some form of organophosphate insecticide. There is no form of long acting organophosphate that is safe, so most of these products wear off long before the flea life cycle (sometimes over 3 months) is complete and all require some kind of environment spraying as well as frequent applications.
Also remember that there are other common causes of itching such as allergic dermatitis, fungal and other parasitic diseases, so fleas may not be the culprit. In fact, most pets that have fleas and scratch do so because they are sensitive or allergic to the flea saliva. That means a susceptible pet may be extremely itchy with only one flea in the house.
Occasionally visiting Uru Live (KI 0063722 .&&
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| 8 OCT 2006 at 4:38pm |
| Deleted User | My cats have had fleas only once, which is quite a feat since they're six years old. They are inside cats, and contracted the fleas while staying with my mother, very probably via visitors who had pets of their own.
I tried to give them the drop-in-the-neck treatment which should make the cat's blood either poisonous to fleas or make the fleas infertile. This was a treatment I bought at the supermarket, not at a vet's. The first cat I tried it on reacted very violently to the treatment; she started to salivate profusely at once, and I mean as soon as or even before the first drop touched her. She was in such distress that for a few minutes I considered calling the animal ambulance (it was late at night). Fortunately she recovered quite quickly, but I decided not to carry on with that treatment. You can buy other, and 'better', treatments at the vet's but I didn't want to put the cat in question through that same experience again and didn't want to try a number of different treatments to see whether there was one she didn't react to. Also the cats didn't seem very distressed at the presence of fleas. They scratched a bit here and there but that was it.
Unfortunately the fleas didn't leave just because I wanted them to and when they started to taste my own blood I decided to try with just the environmental treatment, and sprayed every room in my house and managed to get rid of the fleas. Probably I've been very lucky with that; all official advices tell you to treat cats and environment at the same time.
If I were you, I'd make sure Isis has fleas. Have you only seen one for a moment, or have you caught it ? Especially because you saw it on her nose, it might have been some other very small insect. I'd start with the combing treatment and only act with poison if you keep finding more fleas.
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| 8 OCT 2006 at 5:51pm |
SarahJourneyman
Posts : 913
Joined: 13 JUL 2004
Status : Offline | I used Frontline spray for my cats if they have fleas. My cats previously had lice and also ticks. Using Frontline can protect them from any of those bugs at least for 6 months. Even most vets use the product here. It also can be used on dogs. Actually one of the JA's forumer suggested that to me and I'm glad I bought it!
My first cat Max which was a stray was infested with fleas. He was so infested that I had to pull out tapeworm from his butt! It was such a horrible experience. He was infested with ticks a week before I scheduled to neuter him as he went missing. After that hubby and I had to wash and spray the whole house. Now, I only let my cats out a couple of hours everyday and to follow an eating schedule so each time when it's dinnet time, they would come back and wait for me to serve them food and only to let them out again the other day.
Still busy being a mom &&
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| 8 OCT 2006 at 9:00pm |
JoGuild Master
Posts : 3313
Joined: 3 NOV 2002
Location: AU, Qld.
Status : Offline | I've always found Frontline, Advantage or Revolution to be wonderful. Our cat used to get bathed once per week but once Frontline was available over 10 years ago now in Australia, I started using the spray, then later on the one that you put on the back of the neck. Narji hasn't had a flea on him since then. I think also, that most people in Oz tend to use one or other of these products on their pets so no doubt the overall flea population has gradually decreased over the years.
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| 9 OCT 2006 at 4:07am |
| Deleted User | Narji... sounds familiar.
I've noticed before that many people use their pet's name as a nickname. So I guess one of Mus's cats is called Mus, colpet has a cat or a goldfish called colpet, and Bazza calls his children's lice Bazza.
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| 9 OCT 2006 at 2:35pm |
colpetSchattenjger
Posts : 1632
Joined: 12 APR 2003
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Betje (9 OCT 2006 4:07am)
Narji... sounds familiar.
I've noticed before that many people use their pet's name as a nickname. So I guess one of Mus's cats is called Mus, colpet has a cat or a goldfish called colpet, and Bazza calls his children's lice Bazza.
Not so in my case. Colpet is a short form for my business name, Colborne Street Pet Hospital, that my computer guy used when setting up my e-mail account. When I registered at my first forum, I thought that user name was the same as my e-mail name .
Occasionally visiting Uru Live (KI 0063722 .&&
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| 9 OCT 2006 at 2:50pm |
| Deleted User | Aha.
Still, colpet is a good name for a goldfish... my little gold colpet. 8-)
My money is on Mus though. The Dutch word Mus means sparrow. And I once took care of a mouse-gray cat called Mouse. : A vicious beast, I carried her scars on my left arm for years.
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| 9 OCT 2006 at 6:33pm |
| Deleted User | My money is on Mus though. The Dutch word Mus means sparrow. And I once took care of a mouse-gray cat called Mouse. A vicious beast, I carried her scars on my left arm for years.
Almost right. One of my cat's names is Muis (that's Dutch for mouse, you foreign persons). I also use the name Flap, but she seems to react to the -ui- sound. She is not vicious though, she has absolutely no idea what those sharp things on her paws are for. She has other ways of annoying me, mostly by waiting to regurgitate hairballs until after breakfast, placing second-hand catfood all over the carpet, or the bed, or the couch. Just when you're ready to leave for work.
One of my brothers has cat called Mus.
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