I can't get rid of my cat's fleas!

Hi, mine had a really bad allergy, but then we found the Seresto collar. It’s an absolute lifesaver and has saved my cat twice, but there was a big gap between the two collars – nearly two years, in fact 👍

You have to treat the cat AND the environment. Otherwise, you’re fighting a losing battle... A vet can give you a really effective tablet that kills all the fleas on your cat almost instantly, but if there's even one flea left in your home, it’ll be back on your cat before you know it. It’s worth remembering that fleas spend most of their time off your cat; they only hop on to feed. Then they go off and lay loads of eggs elsewhere. So, if your cat has fleas, your house will be full of them too. The only method (from experience): 1) Apply a flea spot-on treatment to the cat. (If you’ve recently bathed your cat, wait at least 48 hours before applying the spot-on, as the product works through the skin's natural oils and a bath strips those oils away). You might need to try a few different brands of spot-on to find the one that works best for your cat, but you must wait at least 3 weeks between applications, so it takes a bit of patience! You can get these spot-ons from the vet, but also at the chemist or online (I get mine from Amazon!). None of the ones you find in supermarkets are actually any good. N.B. Flea collars don’t work, and they can be dangerous both physically and chemically. Flea shampoos are okay, but only as a short-term fix; as soon as the cat is out of the bath, a flea can jump right back on and you’re back to square one. 2) Get the cat out of the way and give the house a deep clean. Put a flea collar or a few drops of spot-on treatment inside your vacuum bag (to stop fleas surviving in there), then vacuum everywhere thoroughly—under furniture, under rugs, and in every single nook and cranny. Wash all fabrics (sheets, sofa cushion covers, throws, blankets—anywhere the cat goes) at 60°C minimum. Use a household flea spray on bedding, carpets, armchairs, and sofas. (Make absolutely sure the cat is out of the room first as these sprays are highly toxic to them). Then, leave the windows open to air the place out for a good while. All of this can be long-winded and a real pain, and you might have to do it a few times, but it’s the BARE MINIMUM to make sure no flea eggs are left lurking in a corner and that the cycle doesn’t just start up again. Another option for the house is a flea bomb, but I reckon if you do a proper deep clean, you shouldn’t need to go that far...

Yeah, but it’s not doing anything—he’s still scratching just as much!

Hmm, it's weird that the flea treatments aren't working :/

You could give him a bath if he's really infested, but I'm not sure he'll be too keen... Using a proper cat flea shampoo, of course.