cat fleas - is it?

[Whassat]

i went to see my nan on Fri and bought home a cat flea (s)
i saw it on my ds and went to brush it off and it jumped off .
im assuming it was a flea from there anyway. i usually get bitten when i visit :rolleyes: on Sat i got 2 bites on my ankle and one on my shoulder and one on my lower back.

can it live in my house, breed? my head has been itching, (must check for nits) and i just feel itchy.

just been talking to MIL and she says it could either be a flea bite or a mosquito bite (or midgy)
do we get mosquito's over here??

[scaramatic]

errr, i dont know ..go to the vets and ask them to check your hair :laugh::hysterica

[Whassat]

yeah thanks for that.(im sure its nits)
they were talking about mossie bites on gmtv this morning

[diddlepops]

i went to see my nan on Fri and bought home a cat flea (s)
i saw it on my ds and went to brush it off and it jumped off .
im assuming it was a flea from there anyway. i usually get bitten when i visit :rolleyes: on Sat i got 2 bites on my ankle and one on my shoulder and one on my lower back.

can it live in my house, breed? my head has been itching, (must check for nits) and i just feel itchy.

just been talking to MIL and she says it could either be a flea bite or a mosquito bite (or midgy)
do we get mosquito's over here??


:tcwozerek

I am not great at answering about fleas BUT there was a report on GMTV only this morning (so it might still be running) that there is a swarm of mossies hitting these shores but this was in Great Yarmouth so the opposite side of the country to you.

Not much use really am I but HTH

[scaramatic]

get a nit comb or ask MIL to check. if they are big daddies they will be easy to spot.. i love nit checking

[diddlepops]

get a nit comb or ask MIL to check. if they are big daddies they will be easy to spot.. i love nit checking

Come to my house - I get rid of the little blighters off Em's hair and within weeks, they are back! For some reason, they lurve her head!!!!

Hate the little suckers!

[scaramatic]

i can sit there for hours... kids dont like it but i do...........send her round

[Whassat]

thanks :unsure:

last time we went on holiday together with dh'd niece (8) she had nitsand we all had to sit in the caravan nit picking,....what a holiday that was :hysterica

Sarah, come down here and have a looksie :kissykiss

[Netty]

Fleas are 'portable' in this way!

As to can it breed - I guess it depends if it is male or female ... buy some household flea spray/powder and do the edges of carpets, sofa etc.

Hope you get the little blighter!

[*debbie*]

yes it could be a cat flea...my bro had his house fumigated because of cat fleas, and when the pest control bloke left the house, he brushed all his boiler suit down, he said he can carry them on his clothes home or to someone elses house.

also found a bit about british mosquitos, scroll down nearly to end

http://www.countrywidepestcontrol.co.uk/flying-insect-pest-control.php

[knotjustjigs]

errrrr thanks lol i am now sat here ruddy scratching! lol
Never been near a cat (i have a phobia about them) but i know when i visit empty propertys i throw a piece of white paper on the door mat as i enter, stamp next to it and stand back, if there are fleas they jump straight onto it! (its the vibration, they want to find a host) i then promptly close the door and call pest control to come and fumigate.
If you have only just noticed one do as Ruth said get some powder and put it around the edges of the carpet, they are clever buggers they dont live where they can be trodden on!

Ketty x

[Whassat]

we don't have carpet, and ive not been bitten since,
i think my itchy head is sunburn :unsure:

[-Joy-]

Apparently theres a mozzie invasion , thanks to the weather we`ve been having, theyr about to come out in theyr hordes.. yuk... I know they dont like Marmite lol, and sitting near a fan helps as they dont like the breeze.

And headlice/nits hate tea tree oil - I used to buy the oil and pop it into the shampoo/conditioner.

If its cat fleas, then they wont live on a human for long.

x

[denise1981]

we don't have carpet, and ive not been bitten since,
i think my itchy head is sunburn :unsure:


sunburn on your head, I thought only bald men got that?:hysterica

[Serenfach]

You really need to see if you can catch one of the little blighters and have a good look at it under a magnifying glass!

Adult fleas are only 1/8 inch, so it is difficult to see a number of the characteristics used to describe them. They are reddish brown to black, wingless and are squashed looking from side to side so that they look like they are walking "on edge." They have piercing-sucking mouthparts through which they obtain blood meals from their hosts. Flea larvae are tiny (up to 3/16 inch long), hairy, and wormlike with a distinct, brownish head, but no eyes or legs.

Cat fleas do not normally live on humans, but do bite people who handle infested animals. I must admit I'd be nagging your Nan to get rid of them because they can seriously affect her cat's health. I've actually seen animals die from flea infestations - they can literally suck the blood dry from the animal.

If it's nits, you'll certainly be able to tell the difference under a magnifying glass. Head lice are greyish black in color but tend to take on the hair color of the host. It's usually found on the lower back of the head and behind the ears. The female is about 1/16" to 1/8" long and flattened in shape; the male is a bit smaller. Hook-like claws are at the end of each of six legs to help anchor the louse to the hair shaft.

I have to say that if you saw it jump then it probably wasn't a louse as they don't jump or fly. My daughter must have had them about 6 times now (and she's only in year 4), and they are pesky little critters best got rid of with hair conditioner and a nit comb (those chemical things just don't work!!!).

Hope this helps, and hope Nan's kitty is okay too!!!

[Whassat]

lol my nan's name is Kitty!
im always tellling her to sort it out but she always says her cat doesn't have fleas, must be her cat down the road :rolleyes: im always getting bitten when i go and see her, is there anything i can do discreetly when i next visit? powder the cat or something?
my head hasn't been itching (until i just read this :laugh:) i washed it in t-gel and it feels lovely now, and wasn't itching

[denise1981]

lol my nan's name is Kitty!
im always tellling her to sort it out but she always says her cat doesn't have fleas, must be her cat down the road :rolleyes: im always getting bitten when i go and see her, is there anything i can do discreetly when i next visit? powder the cat or something?
my head hasn't been itching (until i just read this :laugh:) i washed it in t-gel and it feels lovely now, and wasn't itching

tell her the fleas of the cat down the road seem to be getting in her house and she maybe best taking her cat to vet to be checked and spray the house

[Patti odoors]

For cat fleas you can get some "stuff" from the vets, like a liquid filled pill which you pop onto the back of the cats neck and it will kill/fend off fleas. It lasts for a couple of months or so.

Mosquitoes are a problem - we went to a party on the saturday before we went on holiday. Lovely sunny evening, standing outide chatting and I can feel comething biting me under my skirt! When I got home I had 5 of the biggest reddest most swollen bites you have ever seen. I had to take Piriton tablets and use hydrocorisone cream to get rid of them and the itched like mad:hysterica we never get bitten on holiday as we use Boots Own Brand mosquito spray {came out tops in the gmtv tests apparently} People often get bitten on holiday as they are attrached to perfume and deodorant so don't over do that stuff if you are going out.

[Serenfach]

The best flea treatment is Frontline - it's easily and discreetly applied - you just squeeze out the vial onto the skin on the back of kittys neck (the cat not Nan lol). Be warned though, it's not cheap. It kills all the fleas on the cat and in any area of the house the cat then visits. It literally takes seconds to apply so easily done when Nan's not looking!!

I did see a cheaper version in Sainsburys the other day made by Bob Martin and I think it was about £3.50 or something close which is a lot cheaper if it works.

Good luck!!!

(I was going to post photos of my two fluff balls for all too coo over but I can't work out how!!! Any ideas?)).

I've got a Norwegian Forest Cat and a Maine Coon .... both beauties!