Fleas

[c1]

My cat seems to get fleas all the time. He is a house cat but also enjoys the freedom of the great outdoors.

I use frontline but it is becoming too expensive to purchase it every 3 months for the rest of the cats life (he is only 3yrs). Does anyone have any long term suggestions to rid these pests for good?

[puddicat]

c1 dont think you can, if that was the case we would all be doing it!!!

[tazmac25]

My mum tends to comb all her cats but shes retired so has the time

Ive also heard of people putting a little garlic salt or garlic powder on thier food to repel the fleas - not too sure what that doe to their breath or cat littler trays!!!!

thanks

[c1]

I feel sorry for the cat coz he runs around the house like his fur is on fire coz the fleas are attacking him :(.

Tazmac25 I am tempted to try the garliuc salt though, hope he doesn't have a pussyfriend ...lol

[lizzydrippin]

Are you treating the house as well as the cat?only if you don't then as soon as the 5 weeks are up and the frontline stops repelling the fleas from the cat he'll become re-infected. When you're treating the cat with Frontline you will only kill the fleas and flea eggs that are on the cat. Your house will still have many live fleas and many many flea eggs. There are many good house flea sprays on the market or better still get one from your vet. Once you've sprayed the house and frontlined the cat you can go years without having any flea problems at all. Getting rid of them all to begin with will mean you only have to flea treat the cat very rarely. Hoovering frequently also helps immensely. .

[c1]

I have treat the house before on sweveral ocassions but to be honest not for a long time now. I found the smell very pungent which in turn affects my asthma. Despite the fleas my home is a very clean and tidy place, which is hoovered often.

[zig.zag]

lizzydrippin. i just so love your name for no particular reason

lol

[londonlove]

battery-operated nit combs also work on fleas, but I have only had recommendations about the use on dogs, not cats. I don't know if a cat might be frightened by the beeping noise that the nit comb makes when it kills an insect.
I think it would be a lot cheaper than using Frontline but on a cat maybe it would be difficult to get to some of the more difficult places such as under the front legs, on the tummy etc.
I suppose it would depend how mellow your cat is and how used he is to being handled in the more sensitive parts of the body.
Hopefully another AB user may let you know if the battery combs are suitable for cats. I started typing this before the last answer so hopefully that will help you to sort it out too as it seems very good advice.

[Schutzengel]

Two of our cats like an occasional treat of garlic sausage, just a couple of small pieces. But also they have frontline every 5 weeks. If you are worried about the expense you can buy it on online more cheaply than from the vets. I have a 3 yr old tom cat who has epilepsy, and his tablets cost �14 every four weeks, and that's for the rest of his life. Unfortunately the tablets are prescription only, so unable to take advantage of buying online. It would be worth a look to compare the prices.

[zig.zag]

dont take it the wrong way x

[welshlibranr]

I'm afraid that frontline is the only way, otherwise the problem will persist!

[Ice.Maiden]

I swear by Nuvan Top. We have 4 cats who stay outside a lot of the time, so there's always the possibility of bringing fleas into the house. I can honestly say that we haven't noticed any for ages.
The cats hate the spray of course, so we put them into their carrying cages and then do it that way. The beauty of using teh product is that you can also spray it round a well-ventilated room - just in case.

[lizzydrippin]

C1 Fleas really couldn't care less whether your house is immaculate or otherwise, the hoovering helps because it picks up alot of the flea eggs before they've had time to hatch. Im sure the fact that youre hoovering regularly must be helping alot with the number of fleas but if the cat is literally charging about like his coat is on fire then there's still quite a few about. When you use the Frontline it takes up to 24hrs for it to kill the fleas on the cat. After that, if there's fleas in the house (which there will be if you havent used a spray for awhile) then they will still be jumping on the cat and still be taking another 24 hrs to be killed which is probably why that even though the cat is treated he still appears to be getting irritated by the fleas that are still jumping on. I use a spray called Acclaim which I get from the vets and there is also another one called Zodiac that you can buy from Pets at Home (though please be very careful with both and wear a mask when you use it). Both of these are odor free. I know these fleas are a real nuisance but if you do the both things at once (the cat and the house) I can promise that you'll have sorted the problem once and for all. Apart from anything else fleas will just carry on multyplying if its not sorted properly and then there's a real problem. Good Luck with it anyway.

[lizzydrippin]

Thanks alot zig.zag xx

[c1]

Thanks for your help guys. Very useful x

[lizzydrippin]

You might find this helpful C1 (also there's abit about Nuvan Top thats worth reading Ice-maiden)http://www.petz.co.uk/vetontheweb/new/article1 3.html

[carmalee]

all good advice about fleas - don't forget to de-worm regularly as well as this breaks up the cycle.

[kita1]

Frontline for cats should be used every 5 weeks to prevent fleas.

If you get it here:

http://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/Frontline-Spot-On-f or-Cats/productinfo/FRONTC


They sell packs of six for 16.49. That will last for six months (that is if you treat every 4 weeks).

Is 2.50 a month really too much money to spend on your cat?

[Nosha123]

If you know anyone that lives in Europe? My mum sends me Frontline from Spain as its cheaper... Its the same product!

[val.24]

Just read your post re fleas I have used the battery operated nit comb on my daughters cat (she is around 15years old ) but she had no problems even rolled over to show her tummy to allow the use of the comb there, helpful if there are two people around while the comb is cleaned other wise cat has a tendacy to move away

[veritymoon]

have you thought about programme injections? not sure if they would be any cheaper? but its only one injection every six months. does work differently to frontline but mayvbe worth having a read about.