Cat has fleas. Should I shave my pussy?

In My Humble Opinion
21

The trick is to shave only half of the cat. I relate the advice given to a friend from HS by his OB/GYN father when he got crabs.

The good doctor told his son to get a razor, rubbing alcohol, a tweezers, and a lighter. He was to shave half his pubes, saturate the remaining pubes with rubbing alcohol, light them on fire, and use the tweezers to catch the crabs when they came scurrying out.

I imagine this protocol could be modified for the pussy and fleas if you’re quick enough.

Post script: I’m not sure if my friend was more embarrassed about having crabs or that he wrote all this down and asked his father about getting burned.

22

I had a hard time even typing that, let alone saying it.

23

the way i heard it

substitute ice pick for tweezers and stab them.

24

C’mon, now. That would hurt.

25

Another vote for flea comb, although I dropped the buggers in a small jar with rubbing alcohol in the bottom. It can become quite addicting!

26

Oddly enough, I was talking to a cat specialist vet this morning. He said that Advantage is completely safe for even very young kittens, but is very effective against fleas.

27

Advantage keeps me and my cats from going cray in the summertime.

28

There are cat owners who can use the words “cat”, “just”, “shave”, “wash” and “are there any issues” in the same post?

Huh. Who knew?

29

Im sorry your cat has fleas but following that statement with a question of whether you should shave your pussy is a bit of a non-sequitur. B tee dubs, I vote for shaving it bald. :wink:

30

Or heck: Even the words “cat” and “wash”. Not unless I’m wearing steel plate armor, thank you very much!

31

I guess I got an odd cat, as he jumps in the shower with me if I don’t close the bathroom door.

Thanks to everybody for the input.

  • I got Cat’s sister brought back around to my place (she’s the one who I suspect left her fleas here on her last visit).

  • Both of them have been treated with the anti flea drops on their nuchae.

  • Luckily, I have tiled floors and wood furniture, so there can’t be too many places for the fleas to hide to escape the vacuuming and steam mopping.

  • I spread a 2 inch deep layer of DE in an arc around the back door. Hopefully that may stop any fleas migrating in from the back yard.

  • I told my friend, who owns the sister cat, that he can’t have her back until he clears his house of fleas. It doesn’t really matter if he doesn’t take her back, as I can afford to keep her here.

Anyway, thanks again.

32

Calm down about using poison. Pesticides like Advantage are small molecules that are designed and tested not to harm larger mammals like humans and cats. For the most part, this is true. This is also why you put the drops on the back of the cat’s neck, so the animal can’t lick that area and ingest it.

The stuff kills the fleas pretty fast, and you can stop using it after that. It’s a lot better than getting bit by fleas, who will bite people and can carry diseases.

33

Another vote for Frontline. My experience is that less expensive ones like Advantage don’t work as well.
You can get Frontline on Ebay. :slight_smile:

34

What are “nuchae” and should I be concerned that my cat appears to be missing his? :smiley:

Steam-mopping all the tiles and hardwoods will help. Wash ALL linens, and anything fabric the cat(s) sleep on, in the hottest possible water as well.

35

Originally posted by Senegoid
Through three cheese trees
three free fleas flew.
While these fleas flew,
freezy breeze blew.
Freezy breeze made
these three trees freeze.
Freezy trees made
these trees’ cheese freeze.
That’s what made these
three free fleas sneeze.
Say what? :smiley:

36

Our cat had fleas when he got them, and the process of cleaning it up was difficult and took over a month: flea bath for the cat (who hated it, especially having to wait with the shampoo on him for five minutes for it to take effect), spray for the house, washing everything we could. And having the repeat the process (fleas have complete metamorphosis; most things kill the larvae and adults, some things will kill the eggs, but nothing will kill the pupae, so they will always come back.

The next year, Frontline was invented. One drop, no more fleas. Cat fleas will prefer to bite a cat given the choice, and they would leap on him and die.

37

Frontline has been very popular for quite a while but according to our vet, it’s beginning to lose its effectiveness. We’ve been using it but finding ticks on our dog, leading to the statement above. Perhaps it’s still good for fleas.

38

I have heard that. Perhaps it is regional. A friend had been buying the “drops at Walmart” and found them ineffective. Mt Ex would recommend nothing but Frontline, and it worked for his dog.

39

I found the only thing that worked was a shotgun approach and I do not mean shooting the fleas with a shotgun. :smiley:

I mean: you have to keep the place really, really clean. All pet bedding must be washed in super hot water (and Borax – I add it to the washer) and then treated with Frontline spray or Borax powder. I double down and sprinkle clean bedding, carpets, upholstered furniture and the like with Borax. With carpets and rugs, sprinkle Borax all over, walk around to scruff it in, and then vacuum up the excess. Don’t forget to pull up the couch cushions and vacuum any rugs or carpets under furniture. You seriously have to move every stick of furniture in the house to vacuum every single corner, nook, and crevice. Bonus is: now you’ll have a nice batch of Borax in the vacuum cleaner so when anything you vacuumed up will die from the Borax.

I make a water-Borax solution and wipe down everything, mop tile and hardwood floors with it (this is also great for cockroaches btw), wipe down baseboards, pet crates, etc.

And then, think about the life cycle of of the flea. One flea lays around 20 eggs at a pop, which hatch in 2 days to 2 weeks. So, once you do all this, remember: YOU WILL HAVE TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN in two weeks. You will miss some eggs. If you can see 2-3 fleas, there are thousands you can’t see. They are all laying eggs in every nook, cranny, warm spot, and on every critter in the house and general vicinity. You can’t just treat 'em once and forget about it. That’s why a lot of pet owners put those drops on every 3-4 weeks – to nip that life cycle in the bud and prevent it from rebooting.

Now, I live in an area that is warm to hot year-round, so the vigilance against fleas here cannot be relaxed in the winter. I still treat the dog every month, even though I haven’t seen any. If the pet goes outside, they pick up fleas from grass and from dead critters and from live ones nearby. For all you know, your neighbors have a terrible infestation that has bled over to your cat. One sniff of another cat and BAM, the cycle starts again.

This Wiki article has a list of ways to combat fleas at the bottom.

40

Mrs. Plant (v.2.0) had an inordinate number of dogs. My step daughter and I each had a cat. There were no fleas on the animals due to Frontline, but there were in the house. Upon her leaving and there being no animals, Mrs. Plant (v.3.0) and I bombed the house and there were none.
Mrs. Plant (v.3.0) and I have two small dogs and cats, and with Frontline see no fleas.