Advice please- My cats have fleas : /

[Sidney]

After fifty years of having cats co existing with me, for the first time, we have a flea problem. I want to nip it in the bud before it becomes a full on infestation. I used the fine comb on them, then applied advantage II for cats. Vacuum Vacuum Vacuum.
I don't know how long it takes for the chemical to work, or even how it works.

I have one cat that is indoor outdoor. My guess is my next step is to treat the yard, however, she doesn't know the property bounderies and who knows where she rambles to outside from my view. I have tried to make her an indoor cat but she is miserable. She was born outside and lived mostly outdoors at my former residence. She cried and cried for weeks when we moved, I had no choice to keep her in so she wouldnt try to return to the previous place.

I have gone back and forth about the risks of her being out, and the issue of her happiness. Anyhoo-
So back to the issue at hand. Is there a good non chemical way to deal with this long term. Not to mention the advantage was more than fifty bucks for one month treatment for 3 cats, actually you get 4 applicationg but I have to use 2 on my fat cat

Any info and advice would be greatly appreciated.

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[TargeT]

if you want to go the non-chemical route, dust the cat, it's bed and usual hang out spots with diatomaceous earth, this will lacerate the exoskeleton of the bug and it will dehydrate to death and no longer be an issue. fipronil is an EXCELLENT if you want to go the chemical route, it leaves a residual that kills fleas and ticks for a month or more.

[sirdipswitch]

I had that problem one time and put a flea collar on it and ended problem. It seemed to take care of her out and about also. And was a cheap fix. Had a dog at the time also and did the same with it. No more problem with either. No more fleas in the house either. AS for treating outside, good luck on that one, cuz ya just don'tknow where the little darlings go to on their excersions around the "Hood". chuckle chuckle.

Good luck with whatever ya do.

Oh BTW, thought I'd just tell ya, that I have a Boston Terrier now, and guess what? Her name is is Sidney, only I spell it Sydney. Yep... you remind me of my dog. cccccc.

Love Ya!!!ccc.

[sian]

Posted by TargeT (here)
if you want to go the non-chemical route, dust the cat, it's bed and usual hang out spots with diatomaceous earth, this will lacerate the exoskeleton of the bug and it will dehydrate to death and no longer be an issue. fipronil is an EXCELLENT if you want to go the chemical route, it leaves a residual that kills fleas and ticks for a month or more.

I second that.

Good luck Sidney

[Sidney]

Posted by sirdipswitch (here)
I had that problem one time and put a flea collar on it and ended problem. It seemed to take care of her out and about also. And was a cheap fix. Had a dog at the time also and did the same with it. No more problem with either. No more fleas in the house either. AS for treating outside, good luck on that one, cuz ya just don'tknow where the little darlings go to on their excersions around the "Hood". chuckle chuckle.

Good luck with whatever ya do.

Oh BTW, thought I'd just tell ya, that I have a Boston Terrier now, and guess what? Her name is is Sidney, only I spell it Sydney. Yep... you remind me of my dog. cccccc.

Love Ya!!!ccc.

Up until this year I havel always gone the collar route. This year, the collar failed. HUMM GMO FLEAS anyone. HAHA As for your doggie Sydney, please give hugs!!! XO RUFF

[Jean-Marie]

When I was growing up we used to let the cats outside. Always had intermittent flea problems. Raising my family we have had a few cats. We do not let them outside unless they are with us on the porch. We have not had a single flea problem. It is a hard decision because cats naturally want to play outside and find other cats. The coyote's have migrated to the Chicago suburbs and it is not unusual to have coyote sightings in the neighborhood. That is the other reason for keeping them in when we are not out with them.

-jean-marie

[TargeT]

Posted by Sidney (here)
Up until this year I havel always gone the collar route. This year, the collar failed. HUMM GMO FLEAS anyone. HAHA As for your doggie Sydney, please give hugs!!! XO RUFF

I run a horse rescue, foster stray dogs and stray cats in a tropical area (read: TONS OF BUGS) Fipronil is amazing.

If you don't mind the chemical route (flea collars are definitely chemical) then go with the Fipronil, you can get it for dogs (cats too, doesn't matter who it's labeled for the chemical is the same, I use the "dog" stuff on horses; I just have to use more) at local stores with out a prescription, it's a topical drop that you put in a few places; the SECOND you apply it you'll be able to watch the flea's jumping off (do it far out side) and the animals don't seem to suffer at all for it.

[Sidney]

I know, my cat is a spirited child. lol When she doesn't get her way, she whines and scratches the door all night long. I have tried so hard to keep her in. But with the flea issue, my two legged child comes first, and I do not want fleas in the house. And it only takes one flea to also end up with a secondary tape worm problem. The fleas that came off of her were HUGE.. Big brown ones and smaller black ones. I have not seen the black ones ever, and let me tell you they were jumping like they were on steroids. lol After 24 hours of using the advantage, there is NO scratching, so that is a good sign. As much as I hate chemicals, I do not want to take a chance on the apartment becoming infested. I hate bugs, and they always find me. The good news is I have not been bitten once. (yet) and I have seen no fleas on the furniture or rugs. I am thinking with the warm weather spell, there has been a sudden hatching outside, my cat has a spot she likes to sit in the brush behind the house, and I intend to spray the yard or us D. Earth out there. It feels like when you have a child with the flu, non stop cleaning and laundry until the situation is under control. Im tired now. LOL I feel fortunate, that I have never had this happen because I have had many outdoor cats in the past.

[Sidney]

Posted by TargeT (here)

Posted by Sidney (here)
Up until this year I havel always gone the collar route. This year, the collar failed. HUMM GMO FLEAS anyone. HAHA As for your doggie Sydney, please give hugs!!! XO RUFF

I run a horse rescue, foster stray dogs and stray cats in a tropical area (read: TONS OF BUGS) Fipronil is amazing.

If you don't mind the chemical route (flea collars are definitely chemical) then go with the Fipronil, you can get it for dogs (cats too, doesn't matter who it's labeled for the chemical is the same, I use the "dog" stuff on horses; I just have to use more) at local stores with out a prescription, it's a topical drop that you put in a few places; the SECOND you apply it you'll be able to watch the flea's jumping off (do it far out side) and the animals don't seem to suffer at all for it.

I think thats the active ingredient in Frontline. Petco had that one and also the advantage. the only reason I chose advantage is a guy there said he had dogs and always used frontline in the past but that it stopped working, he thought maybe the fleas were becoming resistant to it. Since I didin't know anything about either product I chose the advantage. About the same price, different ingredient though. It might be a good thing to spray my yard with though if it is available for that type of application.

[cloud9]

We have a rental property where two old ladies used to live some years ago; they had 2 indoor cats that never went outside, when they left the apartment after just 2 weeks it was impossible to go in without seeing (and feeling) an incredible amount of fleas everywhere, I have never seen this kind of infestation before. We sprinkled regular table salt everywhere on the floor and left it there for 2 days, when we came back the problem was solved and it has been to this day, not even one survived. I wonder if borax would be good for the cat...

[Sidney]

wow!!!Salt, who knew. That is a very inexpensive fix and non toxic! I may try that one.

[cloud9]

I have suggested several times in Avalon a web site called earthclinic.com where you can find remedies and cures from people who share how they used them and what results they got, it's very informative and they have a section for pet where I found out about salt remedy. Nowadays people ask the same questions many times but it's still a wonderful website and I go there very often.

[MargueriteBee]

Yep, table salt works everytime and so cheap!

[TargeT]

Posted by Sidney (here)
wow!!!Salt, who knew. That is a very inexpensive fix and non toxic! I may try that one.

if you want cheap, non toxic AND effective see this:

Posted by TargeT (here)
if you want to go the non-chemical route, dust the cat, it's bed and usual hang out spots with diatomaceous earth, this will lacerate the exoskeleton of the bug and it will dehydrate to death and no longer be an issue.

I used 2 pounds of D.E. for over 1 year on 4 cats and 5 dogs. it works amazingly well and costs about 12$ for a pound or two. DE kills cockroaches in about 3 min, it's food grade so you can eat it (and I do eat it every day... search on this forum for why) and it's very very cheap, and super natural.

not only is it monetarily comparative to table salt... it's better for the surrounding environment.

[Sidney]

I agree TargeT- I will pick up some of that. After reading around, that seems like the best alternative to chemicals (better than chemicals. And also a do it all fix for pets home and yard, (and me). Thank you all so much for pitching in here. I can always count on my intelligent friends here.!!!!!

[Snowflower]

There is a product called Cedarcide that is natural and effective.

[Ellisa]

Don't use preparations for dogs on cats! Cats lick themselves clean and so will swallow whatever you put on them, and so even some 'natural' products will harm them.

My vet explained that you need to kill the fleas the animals have now, and use another product for future fleas. So use powder on the bedding and fur of the cat and Frontline or Advantage on the cat itself. The last two work on the egg of the flea and render it sterile, but they have to be applied every month and are expensive. The good thing is they work well! The same applies to dogs. The amount you use depends on the weight of the animal, and needs to be measured as otherwise it will not work. Also if you have an animal who likes water (unlikely with the average cat!), the stuff will need to be reapplied as it is not waterproof.

Good luck! Some cats are really hard to treat and seem to hang on to the fleas! I love the illustration, and sometimes I have felt my cats have been hosting a plague of monsters like that one-- but they do go away eventually!

[Octavusprime]

I have 3 cats and have had a few infestations. My biggest advice would be vacuum. Every day for at least 2 weeks preferably 3 weeks.

The key is to break the larvae life cycle. You can kill every flea on the cat but if you don't deal with the larvae living in your carpet, nooks and crannies you will continue to find fleas.

The larvae lives in dark areas so make sure to move furniture and vacuum everywhere.

Use the other solutions listed above but make sure to vacuum!!!!

[Sidney]

Hi, I wanted to give an update on the flea thing. The Di. Earth did NOT work. I put it everywhere ground it in, let it sit for more than 2 full days, then vacuumed it up. Not only was the dust absolutely everywhere, but it really screwed up my Dyson vac. I had to take that thing apart and clean out all the parts, then re assemble it. Talk about a PIA. Lol
Then I started seeing fleas again. Yes maybe a new batch hatched out, but the thing is, I did not find even one dead flea anywhere. So I have been back to trying one chemical after another. Using advantage 2 for cats. It says on the package insert that it is suppose to kill the eggs also, but I don't think it is working. I just ordered revolution for the next round. Same concept as advantage different company. I am about ready to scream at this point. I spend all my time cleaning, vacuuming and laundring everything in the house, including the cats. I am spent. But the DE was a waste of time and effort.

[TargeT]

DE is meant to be basically always there.. my dog beds are lightly dusted with it, as are the dogs, but they are mostly outdoor animals so it's not a big issue for me (I guess I should have given more detail).

I think it takes about a week or two before the cycle of flea eggs & fleas is broken, so if the dust doesn’t work in your area then it won’t work well for you.


BTW that extra DE you have is a great dietary supplement


Get your hands on some Fipronil, it's much cleaner