Gingers and Fleas Do Not Mix
Day 1
Today I noticed some little black flecks on O.C.'s back near her tail. At first I thought it was just a little dirt, but a closer look revealed something with a defined, curved shape. I felt my stomach sink. A search on Google Images validated my fear -- 'flea dirt,' essentially flea excrement, all over O.C. and everywhere she laid. Ew. Flea dirt is a sure sign of flea infestation. O.C. is a primarily indoor cat, but lately she and her housemate Lily have been getting smart with the storm door. Lily will put all her weight into the door and eventually get it propped open, which allows O.C. to dart outside. Lily gets the short end of the stick on this practice, but then Lily's never been the brightest cat. A few days ago, this little exercise resulted in O.C. spending about an hour outside before I realized it. Guess I'll be making a trip to pick up some flea treatment.
Day 2
I live in a semi-rural area with the closest PetSmart about 50 miles away, so Wal-Mart is about my only option. I picked up some Hartz flea treatment, an ointment that is squeezed onto the cat's skin near the shoulder blades. It promised erradication of fleas, larvae, and eggs. Sweet, I thought as I treated O.C. That problem's taken care of.
Day 4
Black specs are still present on my ginger cat's fur. This is particularly bothersome because I have an eight-month-old daughter and am a bit of a germ freak with her, so the thought of flea poo in the house is enough to make me shudder. Lots of sweeping, wiping, and vacuuming going on. O.C.'s hair is starting to thin out down her back.
Day 7
My formerly ginger cat is still ginger with black specs. I decided to give her a bath to see if maybe these were just residual specs left over from the offending fleas who were hopefully dead by now. O.C. has only had one other bath in her life with us, so as you can imagine, this was not an easy feat. I enlisted the help of my reluctant husband to hold her down in the sink while I scrubbed. I didn't dare ask him to hold still while I got the camera, so I don't have any actual photos of the event, but here are a few to give you a general idea of the situation in our house at 11:30 p.m. Keep in mind the aforementioned eight-month-old who still gets up at least once during the night and we were already about 2 hours past our own bedtime. After the bath, we combed through O.C.'s fur and found two live fleas. So much for the Hartz treatment. Speaking of the Hartz treatment, I decided to Google it for some reviews to see if other petowners had trouble with it not working. I was shocked at what I found. Not only does the treatment not work for most, but it is actually quite harmful to many cats. This explains the thinning hair on my ginger cat's back. I was horrified as a I read story after story at www.HartzVictims.org of poor kitties whose lives were cut short by this product bought by well-meaning owners just trying to help their pet and their home stay flea-free. So much of the night I was awake monitoring O.C. to make sure she wasn't having some of the awful symptoms described. Please, please heed this advice if you have a kitty with a flea problem: STAY AWAY FROM HARTZ!
Day 8
I called the vet this morning to find out what to do about the flea problem and also inquire about the reactions to Hartz. When I mentioned Hartz, the vet tech that answered the phone made a noise and said, "Oh, that's awful stuff. You should see some of the cats that have come in here after using that." Great. Chalk one up for me, kitty mom supreme. She reassured me that if anything bad was going to happen that it likely already would have, and that one treatment with Advantage should remedy our pest problem. I picked some Advantage up from the vet's office and promptly treated Orange Cat. Advantage sells two products for cat flea treatment: one for cats under 9 pounds, and one for cats over 9 pounds. My cats are right at the 9 lb mark, and given the recent scare with Hartz, I decided to opt for the least amount of medication and go with the 'under 9 pound' box.
In the meantime while waiting for that to work, I vacuumed like a feind and washed all cloth surfaces that my ginger cat had slept on.
Day 9
My husband (did I menion that he's not the cat fan in the family?) found a flea in our living room. Uh oh. We looked around and saw Lily suspiciously scratching. Why I didn't think of treating her as well is beyond me. Went back up to the vet to get an Advantage treatment for her as well. All cats in our home are now treated, and I have some more vacuuming to do!
Day 16
So I thought our problem was taken care of until this morning. In my "Reflections on Needy Orange Cats" blog, I discussed how my orange cat is a lap hog. This morning as she was invading my lap, I scratched her behind the ears and felt something move. Ug. Yup, still a flea. STILL! I called the vet and they said it was too soon to do another Advantage treatment. Apparently I should have chosen the box for chubby kitties over 9 pounds. The tech that answered the phone said they're probably in the house too, which is just gross, so I'm spending the day spraying, treating, and otherwise trying to de-nastify my house. Updates soon to come on how this process goes!
Day 17
I really, really, really hope I never have to do that again. After re-vaccuuming floor-to-ceiling and washing everything in the house that is machine washable and spraying the carpet (all while listening to the two little monsters cry like babies while cooped up in the bathroom to avoid the spray), all I can do now is wait and see.
Day 20
My cats are never going outside again. Found one more flea on Lily. I called the vet with a big "WHAT THE HECK?" and was told to try Capstar, a pill taken orally that kills any live fleas on the cat, followed by one more application of Advantage two weeks from the date I last gave it to them.
Day 21
Knocking on wood, no sign of fleas.
Day 30
I have prevailed! Just a couple of words of advice to anyone currently dealing with this problem or may deal with it in the future:
- Don't bother with the cheap nasty stuff at the discount store. Go to your vet for flea treatment. It's a little more expensive up front, but if you can catch it early, it is much cheaper than buying multiple rounds of treatment, plus house spray, plus pills, etc. Also, if you don't need the 4-6 tubes of Advantage sold as a package, try asking your vet if you can just purchase one or two if that's all you need. Mine allowed me to do that, around $14 per tube.
- ACT EARLY! The moment you find evidence of fleas, treat your cat and your home.
- My vet warned me that fleas don't only come in on cats, that in fact people can bring in fleas on their pants legs. Keep an eye out when wearinglong pants in your yard during the summer flea season.