Flea Aerosol And Tanks

[coldcazzie]

One of my cats has a severe flea allergy, and has come up in a reaction which means I've got to treat the entire house for fleas... the aerosol says on the instructions "remove all fishtanks" and if that's not possible "turn off airator pumps for the duration of treatment".

I don't have any air pumps, and there's no way I can remove the tanks, so do we think that covering the tank lids in bin liners and taping carefully so that there's no gaps will be sufficient? That's the only way I can see that I can successfully complete the treatment... and the open topped tank in my bedroom is going to be a nightmare!

Do I even need to do that, after all, it only says to turn off air pumps, and it's not like I'm going to be spraying down the back of the tanks... only near them while I do the sofas and the rug (it's laminate flooring).

 

[micko]

If possible I'd cover everything. Imagine if all your fish died, you would wish you'd went to the wee bit of bother and just covered/taped them all up.

 

[coldcazzie]

Yeah that is my worry.

 

[loraxchick]

thick towels or blankets should be sufficient.
good luck with the fleas. It was BAAADDD in my area this year. My brother's INDOOR cats got them yuck!
cheers

 

[coldcazzie]

Yep he got the reaction last year too - but at that point he was an indoor cat so we thought it must be an allergy to something else...he's been going out since we moved though and it got real bad - his back was red raw and bald in patches, and that was WITH flea treatment and a steroid injection from the vets anyhoo, we're going over the top with the treatment now. Everything is being washed at high heat, aerosol from the vets which was £17 but should last a year etc etc.

It's getting better now, antibiotics and more flea stuff and more steroids seem to have knocked it on the head.

I put tape over the lid joins and covered the holes in the back for the external filters with bin liners.

Now I'm trying not to have an asthma attack from the spray

I think next year we may have to give prophylactic antihistamines...

 

[lilfishie]

we've just had the same problem i covered my tanks in cling film, both under the lids (straight on the tank) then over the lids too just to be safe, all fish fine and dandy

 

[Mowbz]

My brother's INDOOR cats got them yuck!

Mine too, she's been stone deaf since birth and has never left the house, she got fleas for the first time this year, and she's 5!

I did my house and just covered the tank. There was nothing about specifically removing tanks on the instructions, but it did have "Harmful to the aquatic environment" all over the back of the can.

 

[england]

You should be ok if you cover as stated, have you done it yet? if not could you move sofa and rugs to another room to treat?

 

[This Old Spouse]

Sounds like you did a thorough job, Cazzie. Let us know how your cat and fish fare.

 

[england]

Yep he got the reaction last year too - but at that point he was an indoor cat so we thought it must be an allergy to something else...he's been going out since we moved though and it got real bad - his back was red raw and bald in patches, and that was WITH flea treatment and a steroid injection from the vets anyhoo, we're going over the top with the treatment now. Everything is being washed at high heat, aerosol from the vets which was £17 but should last a year etc etc.

It's getting better now, antibiotics and more flea stuff and more steroids seem to have knocked it on the head.

I put tape over the lid joins and covered the holes in the back for the external filters with bin liners.

Now I'm trying not to have an asthma attack from the spray

I think next year we may have to give prophylactic antihistamines...

how did i miss this post

 

[Louiseness]

Yep he got the reaction last year too - but at that point he was an indoor cat so we thought it must be an allergy to something else...he's been going out since we moved though and it got real bad - his back was red raw and bald in patches, and that was WITH flea treatment and a steroid injection from the vets anyhoo, we're going over the top with the treatment now. Everything is being washed at high heat, aerosol from the vets which was £17 but should last a year etc etc.

It's getting better now, antibiotics and more flea stuff and more steroids seem to have knocked it on the head.

I put tape over the lid joins and covered the holes in the back for the external filters with bin liners.

Now I'm trying not to have an asthma attack from the spray

I think next year we may have to give prophylactic antihistamines...

I presume you have but you didn't mention it - have you been using spot on flea treatments? I've had multiple dogs with flea allergies and it's the only thing I've ever found to work, aerosols are useless.

 

[coldcazzie]

I presume you have but you didn't mention it - have you been using spot on flea treatments? I've had multiple dogs with flea allergies and it's the only thing I've ever found to work, aerosols are useless.

WITH flea treatment

antibiotics and more flea stuff

By this I meant the spot ons the aerosol isn't for the cat it's for the house. For every flea there's about 60 at some stage of development (eggs, larvae etc) in the environment, so treating the house is just as important as treating the animal and we use Advantage spot on so it's pretty strong stuff.

Didn't think of cling film, but I taped over everything and sprayed about 90 mintes ago, so going to remove the tape in about another hour only done downstairs so far though, not sure how I'm going to do the tank in my bedroom:

as you can see, it's got wood poking out of it! reckon it's going to be multiple bin liners jobby... *epic sigh*

 

[Louiseness]

WITH flea treatment

antibiotics and more flea stuff

By this I meant the spot ons the aerosol isn't for the cat it's for the house. For every flea there's about 60 at some stage of development (eggs, larvae etc) in the environment, so treating the house is just as important as treating the animal and we use Advantage spot on so it's pretty strong stuff.

I figured you would already have tried them to be honest But I've known a few people who insist that flea spray works fine when their poor dogs are ripping their hair out Good luck with both the fleas and the scary bit of wood issue!

 

[coldcazzie]

Yeah it's no good treating one and not the other.

It's also the only thing that I think is actually worth buying from the vets. The stuff sold in supermarkets is just snake oil; a nice black hole to throw your money into!