just found a flea on our cat, do we go full nuclear?

Get some Revolution Pro or Advantage, follow the directions on the box. They are very effective unless you have a serious infestation, which it sounds like you don't. Just make sure it's the cat version and for the correct weight range of your cats.

Fleas caused the death of my cat. A coworker generously brought a sample of her infestation in to the office and they must have hitched a ride home with me. My cats were indoor only, I didn't expect them to need flea treatment. The fleas gave him hemobartonella and almost $20,000 later, we couldn't get the anemia under control.

Nuke the fleas.

Please, don't nuke your cat.

I read somewhere that nuclear weapons were potentially bad for cats.

You have a ton of comments so I'll keep it short. Fleas are very, very, very extremely hard to get rid of once they reach critical mass. Their eggs can remain dormant for up to two years, and they're immune to pest control methods including bombs.

My suggestion: get a pill based flea treatment, read the dosage instructions and keep it going for at least 3 months. Clean and vacuum regularly. You don't need to buy a steam cleaner but other than that your girl is spot on.

Just buy some Frontline Plus, apply it to your cat's neck in a spot she can't lick, and done.

It's a topical poison, harmless to animals, but it kills of parasites very effectively. I've used it initially to treat an acute infection (found 2 fleas), and now use it as a preventive measure.

Per instructions you should use it monthly, but every 3-4 months seems to work just fine for me.

Don't panic. A few fleas could easily be random chance. You don't really have to go to a vet, but in this case I would just for peace of mind for the humans.

Do buy a flea comb (if you do not already have one) and begin combing every night. Espcially around the neck and head. Don't worry about squishing the fleas, just mix up some mild soapy water in a glass and drop them in that.

Keep count every night and you will be able to tell if the problem is under control or not.

Do vacuum and clean house.

You may want to invest in a flea trap. These combine a light and a sticky pad and can be placed on the floor to attract any loose fleas. Move it around to likely places and it will both help trap fleas and give you an idea of how many might be in the house (if any.)

If you do not go to a vet, do buy some over the counter flea treatment. If regular combing is not enough, it will help, but I would not use it for just a few fleas.

My cat has had fleas a few times, but thankfully I've only needed the ointment once. Mist of the time combing was enough.

If you've checked the cat's fur thoroughly and found no other fleas, it's not a big deal. Check sleeping spots for eggs and use preventative treatments regularly and you should be fine.

Get pest control there now. Give your cat a flea bath. Clean everything very well. I had to deal with this once and it was a months long ordeal. If you catch it fast, you might avoid this.

I'd go by the vet and pick up some NexGard for kitty and vacuum any rugs/carpet/pet sleeping areas periodically for the next week or two.

Even when I took in a foster that got the house infested, that took care of it.

Edit: Fixed NexGard spelling.

Take it to a vet.

Unless that was the specimen 0 (and even then it could have already laid eggs), go full nuclear.

Anti flea necklaces, insectice (make sure it says it kills fleas) all over any textile in the house (since i asume ur cat is the same as mine and goes everywhere) remember they can jump up to 3 meters, so even if kitty kiter didn't sleept over them, they could be there, if necessary burn his bed and buy a new one (if u see lots of little white "dusty" stuff, its to late, u wont get rid of those eggs, burn it), etc, etc, etc.

Conclusion? the level of treath u feelt, react two levels above that.

I used to work pest control and in addition to treating your cat for fleas you can treat your home with this. Follow the directions on the label and vacuum at least once a day while you are still seeing fleas. I've used this in my own home before and keep some around just in case.

I had a bad flea infestation after taking in a stray puppy for all of 1 day before I got it to a rescue. I went from noticing one flea to noticing a couple to seeing them everywhere in a manner of days, about a month after the puppy left us our present. It was a pain in the ass and made me hyper paranoid, so I learned how to handle it the proper way.

I agree with what others have said as a first step: Flea Bath and/or nitenpyram to remove the fleas on the kitty, flea preventative to keep them off. Wash all the fabrics and surfaces, especially near your cat's hangout spots, and dry on high heat.

Vacuuming daily is a triple threat at reducing the numbers: Sucks up the eggs/larvare/pupae/adults, the vibration and warmth tricks pupae to emerge (they can be dormant for up to 6 months and their shell acts like velcro, making them hard to remove) which speeds up the cycle and reduces the risk of reinfestation, and cleans up the grime that the larvae feed on before pupating. Just make sure you use a bagged vacuum or seal the vacuum waste somehow before tossing it. If the infestation is minor, keeping up to date on the preventative and regular vacuuming should be enough.

If you find more, especially down the road a few months, it probably means an infestation started under your nose. If you can afford it, a pest control pro is the best solution. If you can't, the best flea killer spray for whole home infestations is Precor 2625. It is a whole home premise spray that kills the fleas at all stages, both on contact and by disrupting their reproductive cycle. You'll want to either kennel your kitty for a day to apply it, as the contact kill chemical can make cats sick, or at the very least quarantine them and do the spray over a couple days away from them. Get a coverall suit, N95 mask, and spray all low surfaces, all fabrics that can't be dried on high heat, under couch cushions, all corners and crevices around the floor and your bed, literally everywhere below knee height and anywhere your cat might like to climb or hide.

The preventative is supposed to last 7 months, slightly longer than the longest normal pupae duration, so that multiple flea generations will be affected. I do recommend a second spray 1 month later, just to be safe, and continue daily vacuuming over the entire premise for at least that first month to expedite the lifecycle as much as possible.

1. never let your cat outside. Even when you're not in Ottawa where the urban coyote population works to control the 'outside cat' infestation, it's no longer cool to let your cat out. If you hate mosquitoes, for instance, keep all cats indoors all the time.
2. use a vet-approved pill treatment - even when no visible signs
3. wash everything ... at the least to combat anxiety.

You should be able to rent a steam cleaner, rather than buying one for this single event.

Fleas are annoying. When my cats got them bad or was weeks of cleaning all the "soft fabricy things", vacuuming, and flea baths.

Now is down to just a dose of advantage flea medicine on the back of her neck once a month (and still washing a lot, but she's much better now)

I can only recommend advantage for the flea medicine in the back of neck. We tried a cheaper off brand and she was like...got very sick. Vet said it can happen, so I went back to the only one that she tolerates well.

I'm sure it was just one flea.

We should be going full nuclear regardless in order to mitigate climate change.