Furminator as flea comb?

[lemiman]

Hello everyone!

Turns out my cat has fleas, unfortunately. I got him a shampoo, spray and powder to treat him later, however I couldn't find a flea comb at the store.

I was wondering, since I already have a Furminator, can I use that on him? Do you guys think it might work as good?



Thank you!

 

[samus]

I don't think it would work as well, you don't really comb out from the root with a Furminator like you can with a flea comb. And if you did comb as thoroughly with the Furminator as you would with a flea comb, your cat might end up bald!!

 

[lemiman]

Thanks for the insight! another question: if I spray him with flea treatment and give him a flea bath afterwards (he doesn't mind bathing) do I still have to use a flea comb? or will the dead fleas just fall of by themselves after blow drying?

 

[rickr]

A few years back we experienced a flea problem.  Since my cats never venture outdoors, I suspect a friend who keeps many indoor/outdoor dogs and cats as the source.  Anyway, I tried shampoo, which helped but did not provide a long term solution; the fleas kept coming back.  

I used Revolution once a month for two months in combination with a daily flea comb regime.  I also sprayed sprayed the cats' bedding with Adams (I think it was) as well as some of the floors.  Not only did the flea comb remove fleas, it also allowed me to gauge the level of the infestation.  Dipping the comb in a mild solution of soapy water pulls the fleas from the comb.  I use the comb every so often now just to check for fleas.

I'm surprised you had trouble locating a flea comb.  Besides pet stores, most box stores carry them.  One of my grocery stores even sells them.  Regardless of what approach you take, a flea comb is good to have around.

 

[lemiman]

It's because I live in Jeddah, a town in Saudi Arabia where there's not a lot of huge pet stores like Petco and Petsmart. The pet stores we have are very limited and the one that is close to my house just didn't have flea combs at the time. Also, I do know about revolution and advantage but I also couldn't find them here and even if they were here they'd be pretty darn expensive. I'll probably try going back again and hope that they've restocked on the flea combs. 

Thank you for you help

 

[rickr]

Darn, I didn't think to check your location.  Sorry about that.  I hope you find a flea comb.  In the meantime, you might try using a regular fine tooth hair comb.   I haven't tried that, but it might be worth a try.

 

[samus]

Don't forget to vacuum EVERYTHING. The flea life cycle is about two weeks (faster if warmer, slower if colder), so if you vacuum thoroughly more often than that (maybe once a week) you can break the cycle of reinfestation by getting rid of any eggs that aren't on the cat. The cracks between couch cushions (and under the cushions) collect an amazing amount of crud that flea larvae can live on.

The vacuum bag should be emptied often, too, so the fleas that you vacuum up don't hop their way back out. (You can also stick the vacuum bag in a plastic bag and freeze it overnight to kill everything and put it back in the vacuum afterward, if you don't want to throw out a mostly empty vacuum bag every week.)

 

[lemiman]

Our house is literally cleaned every single day, we don't even have carpets at all, maybe a couple of rugs though but they still get vacuumed daily. My cat is also strictly indoor, I have NO idea how he got fleas, it's so weird.

Anyhow, thanks for the tip. I hope we'll get rid of this problem.

 

[kntrygrl256]

Fleas have been just awful here in the Southern US. We haven't found a lot to get rid of them.

It's a constant battle. We have also had such a mild winter it didn't help much either. My cats are strictly indoors also but my ex-roommate had dogs that ended up bringing them in.

 

[floofnugget]

I will say from my own experience, it will work. When I adopted Tempura I was told they just gave her a flea bath and Frontline because they had seen flea dirt on her. We drove 2 hours home, and she seemed fine. Then after a few hours at home she started scratching like crazy and I found fleas on her. All I had was the furminator and took her to the bathroom sink. It took ages, but I combed out 100 + fleas from her. She's a longhair, but had been shaved down to a lion cut at the time. That one session got most of them out, and she didn't look significantly balder. A flea comb is probably better, but it will work if that's all you have.

I gave her Revolution after a few weeks and treated my apartment immediately. 

Flea medication should kill them, but keep in mind it takes a while to work. When I was combing the fleas out, she had technically had the Frontline treatment and a flea bath, but they were crawling around and alive most of the day.

EDIT: Awkward, kind of old thread. But nevertheless.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

 
I will say from my own experience, it will work. When I adopted Tempura I was told they just gave her a flea bath and Frontline because they had seen flea dirt on her. We drove 2 hours home, and she seemed fine. Then after a few hours at home she started scratching like crazy and I found fleas on her. All I had was the furminator and took her to the bathroom sink. It took ages, but I combed out 100 + fleas from her. She's a longhair, but had been shaved down to a lion cut at the time. That one session got most of them out, and she didn't look significantly balder. A flea comb is probably better, but it will work if that's all you have.

I gave her Revolution after a few weeks and treated my apartment immediately. 

Flea medication should kill them, but keep in mind it takes a while to work. When I was combing the fleas out, she had technically had the Frontline treatment and a flea bath, but they were crawling around and alive most of the day.

EDIT: Awkward, kind of old thread. But nevertheless.

Still helpful!!  Sometimes people come here because they've found information via google; etc.