Ongoing

Operation repel flea is ongoing and I am fed up with it. The problem is nowhere near as bad as it was a couple of weeks ago so hopefully as far as the house is concerned, we are winning.

The cats are a different story however. I have been using a spray which acts as a sticky trap - spray the cat, wait for it to dry and brush out the horrid little bugs. Simple. Well no, not when the cat concerned washes off the spray as fast as I apply it, or the cunning little feline spots you sneaking up on them and does a runner. Said cat also wriggles just at the precise second I am about to grab a flea, so we have a near miss. I did manage to spray the brush today and get some of the flea debris off, but I need to remove the creatures causing the issue.

Then I discovered a flea comb, and we really started to make headway. As long as the cats are relaxed, they let me run the comb through their fur removing numbers of fleas, eggs and flea dirt. I am going to have to give in on the natutal remedies and make a visit to the vet for some flea treatments though. As fast as I vacuum the house, the cats go running around replacing what I have just got rid of.

When I spoke to the vets this week, they told me that they are selling flea treatments at an unprecedented rate, and we agreed that it must be the weather. We have had such a wet year that it has obviously provided the perfect breeding conditions for fleas.

The weather has not improved much. Today was one of those mixed days of sunshine and heavy rain. It is as though the weather gods cannot decide what to throw at us. It makes it difficult to know what to put on in the morning - sandals or wellies, coat or no coat. Perhaps we will have an Indian summer.