nomy writes

Hello all.

We have a problem in our garden that is so bad now that it is
preventing us from going out!

Something is biting us badly. Take yesterday for instance, our 6 year
old went out into the garden for about 30 minutes with normal trousers
and shirt on, so not that exposed. Later that night, we noticed that
she had about 15-20 big red itchy spots all over her body. The same
thing happens to me. I can go out for just 1 minute and I am attacked.
It's not a midge or anything flying as it travels up the trouser leg,
under arms etc.

Now we live in the country with cows and all sorts of animals just feet
away the other side of the fence. We do have a cat who spends a lot of
time under the seats and bushes just outside. I would assume it is cat
fleas, but I didn't realise they lived outside to this degree. Both the
cat and the house are regularly treated with flea treatments.

It really is as bad as I say and we are swarmed when outside.

Are there any treatments available for the garden?

Any advice would be appreciated.

I must admit my first reaction was 'cat fleas', but you would expect to
be attacked as much, if not more, inside than out.

I do notice that cat flea bites don't appear immediately - it's always
some time after the flea has left that the bites start to irritate (it's
possible that fleas have some anti-irritant substance in their bites, in
the same way that leeches have an anti-coagulant).

So the first thing to do is to eliminate the possibility that it's not
simply that you are receiving the bites at any time, but noticing them
after you've been outdoors.

You could also check your cat for fleas and droppings - the type of
nit-comb which has metal teeth is excellent for this.

Once you have eliminated cat fleas, then you are back to some sort of
insect/invertebrate outside.

Ridding your garden of insect/invertebrate life is not practical.

So you are down to insect repellents whenever you go out. DEET is
regarded as most effective, but you might not like applying this in
quantity to your child's skin.

Finally, if it really *is* outside, one of you venturing outside
minimally clad and keeping a good watch ought to be able to identify the
culprit ;-)
--
Kay