my cat has FLEAS,,,help

[Mayebarnes]

My Bits is a house kitty... gets out for a few minutes on the deck now and again... is never really around other animals ..

I discovered she has Fleas!... I do have a feral cat I feed that comes and set on the door mat.. and since Bits go over it to get in and out.. possibly pick up from there....

but how do you get rid of fleas?.... I washed her bedding.. I sprayed the carpets. I used some chemical fleas stuff ,(drops on the neck skin) she still scratching...... I cleaned inside her ears with dawn soap..and that did help ...I have been on google reading and reading.. I want to use natural means to get rid of them ,,

what else can I do?...what have any of you done?
to bathe her would be a monumental task.. she would fight me ..and a 15# cat would/could tear me apart..

I hate Fleas. help..

[ladyebug]

For reasons I cannot determine, King had fleas at one time and no longer does.

What John did was buy a flea comb. He went through King's fur thoroughly, particularly around his head and neck. We never found them anywhere else on his body.

Anyway, as you comb, if you find a flea on the comb, have a bowl of very hot water or water/soap nearby (something that will kill the fleas) that you can dunk the comb into and continue combing.

Janet, King does scratch his neck and ears at times. That's when I get the comb out. We haven't found fleas for years now, however.

[Kayce]

don't know if it works for cats ,but we have always bathed Fero in Dandruff shampoo, he has only had fleas twice, and I had to get something from the vet then, don't remember what, but otherwise no fleas.

[determined]

Aunt Maye, try rubbing her fur with lemon juice, once they are gone to keep her from getting them back. Don't know how to get rid of them naturally as I always bought flea dip and dipped ours, they didn't like it but it was a heck of alot easier than trying to give them a bath.

When Ebil was smaller I gave her a flea bath, was so funny as she was looking toward the bathroom door and sounded just like she was yelling "help me, help me"

[Nalani]

Why your headline made me smile is because when one tunes a ukulele (which means jumping flea by the way) you'd sing, "My dog has fleas." Guess one could also say, "My cat has fleas." Silly of me.

Can you get your kitty a flea collar? That might be the least stressful for all involved, except it isn't green.

[Cynders]

Maye, if you get bitten by an insect the bite stays itchy days after you have swatted and killed the insect, same with a flea bite so Bits is probably scratching old bites.

If you have put the drops on Bits and washed bedding etc. then most of the job is done, buy a flea comb and if you are still combing out flea dirt or fleas after a week then you may need to retreat using the drops.

[Mayebarnes]

Thanks everyone...

I did clean up all the bedding areas,,, I am using the lemon juice..

son Mark brought me a cat flea comb this morning and we comb her outside ....had a dish of alcohol setting nearby to dip comb in....we did get about 6-7 big fleas off and a lot of flea "dirt",eggs . too...

I did swab her inner ear with Dawn Detergent, using a cue tip...did not rinse...and there is no sign of any flea activity there now...it did have bleeding bite before.

Nalani, the suggestion I read on Google about flea collar was to get one, chop into bits that the sweeper can pick up ,then run sweeper over all furniture, carpeting, beds.. any eggs or fleas will then die inside the sweeper bag..
Frankly don't think Bits would tolerate a collar.. ..

thanks , hoping I don't need the Sargeant's chem. stuff again... made Bits lethargic .

[BarbCA]

Our vet says a flea collar only gets the fleas on the neck. I put a flea collar on my Ashy cat and she became catatonic for three days. Just sat next to the chair by the door until she got hungry. She was allergic to fleas.
Loved the kitty more than any other.

[JoS]

We use capstar and frontline on our animals. If you sprinkle your mat with borax it will kill them in the mat, but you'll have to do it on a regular basis. One of my dogs is allergic to flea bites and she scratches herself raw so we get her allergy shots a couple of times each summer and it helps her from being so miserable with them.

[Nalani]

That was interesting about chopping the flea collar to bits and vacuuming them up, Maye. Good idea to get fleas that are in the house and not the pet.

[Mamsy]

i use Frontline for cats and have for years. It works great and my cats never have fleas. I don't use it as often as they say to.