Cat help please??

I know some time ago there was a great discussion on OTC remedies for fleas/ticks on dogs (i.e. Bayer, Ortho, Gordons, Termidor, etc.)

Can anyone recommend anything OTC like this for cats? I know you can't use dog flea meds on cats as it can kill them. My vet however, told me I could use dog Frontline on them but not dog Advantage.

Anyway, I have five cats who need treated & a friend of ours is a "old cat man" who takes in every wandering waif cat in the neighborhood. I'd like to help him & his cats out as well. But I don't know what would be proper to use. Termidor SC was said to be the same as Frontline - would this be safe for cats??

Before anyone asks, yes, I posted this question on a cat forum & didn't get a great response. Any advice anyone could give would be great.

 

dawn dishwashing soap will kill fleas and you can use it on cats and puppies and it wont hurt them you may get hurt bathing the cats but they will be ok lol

 

Cats are very sensitive to nearly all chemicals and essential oils. I have tried this in the past and it works pretty well. You will probably need to wash the cats first if they are infested bad to help kill the fleas. As mentioned, dawn works well but you have to leave in on about 5 minutes. Hope you have some long sturdy gloves. lol
Any way try steeping about 2 cups of water with some rosemary or sage. I prefer the rosemary. If using fresh about 2 tablespoons, if dried 1. Let it sit a while and infuse the water. Then strain and pour in a spray bottle and spray it on the cat down in the fur.
Hope this helps.

 

Yeah, that's why I am looking for an affordable spot-on monthly treatment. We were bathing the cats every 2 weeks in flea shampoo. Most of my cats are so used to it they don't mind being bathed too much. But I have 5 cats & 5 cats + 1 bath ea. every 2 weeks adds up to a lot of baths & a lot of shampoo!! Then we got them flea collars which really didn't work. So we recently tried flea powder, which they really freaked out about. Powdering them was way harder than bathing them & again the powder only works for 2 weeks. I am not fighting them tooth & nail (literally) to powder them every 2 weeks. Hence the inquiry about the Termidor SC.

 

I use stuff for my dog called barricade and it contains cipermethrin(i think thats the translation) but it is also labelled for use on cats. But again you have to mix a few mls with water and would have to dip them so don't know how practical for cats but it is economical. I use frontline on my cats all the time

 

My recommendation is Natural Defense. It is all essential oils, has a cat formula as well as a dog formula and have been using it on my cat for 10 years. Plus, the added advantage of no poisons or pesticides on the backs of kitty.

 

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The use of essential oils with cats is a potentially volatile combination. Cats do not efficiently metabolize essential oils and their use can lead to symptoms of toxicity. Because the cat's body does not efficiently excrete essential oils, they can build up to toxic levels. Symptoms of toxicity include vomiting, dizziness, clumsiness, lack of appetite, lack of energy and shock. In addition, cats have very thin, delicate skin. Essential oils are absorbed rapidly into their skin and enter the bloodstream, overwhelming their systems. Cats dislike strong odors and generally keep away from strong scents -- even highly diluted essential oils.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Many people find that they can use essential oils on their cats with no obvious adverse effects. Although one or more applications of an essential oil product or blend may not cause immediate harm, the effects of essential oils can be cumulative and manifest themselves at a later date
in the form of toxicity for which owners and vets often can find no attributable cause. [/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Not saying this would happen with all cats.
[/FONT]

 

Have your vet dip them, put frontline on, bomb the house.

You should do this all in one day, the dip will hurt thier skin very badly if you don't do it right. You can get the dip otc but I'd recomend you have the vet do it because of the hassle and for fear you will dry the cat in to a horrible rash of scabby skin.

Growing up, we had (at one time) 7 cats, 2 dogs, 2 birds, 125ish fish and a snake. I became the master of ridding fleas... 20 years later she has 2 cats with fleas and I have a dog and cat without fleas She just put frontline on them last week but still missed the bombing of the house so they will just eat on her till the cats are safe again. Some people don't listen...

The only secret is frontline every month or 2 from spring till winter or basically when it's not snowing. I've found that I never have a flea or tick to deal with if I just do that every year. I think I did Buster 4 or 5 times this year and he is due now. The cat stays inside and gets nothing.

Once your in front of it, it's no problem at all but getting behind it can be a real pain in the ass.

 

To each his own. But, I have seen worse effects from the more traditional forms of preventative, especially multiple cats with grooming each other. Like I said before, my cats (oldest being 10) have had that brand all their life, not one side effect.

 

There is some great info in this thread. Thanks all! I've been using Frontline for years and it just doesn't do the trick. I then switched to Advantage and now back to Frontline. We've all learned to deal with fleas. The vet can't seem to give us any better options.

 

And as I said, not all cats may show symptoms. That's why I choose the method I posted.

I have found Frontline to be a money pit. I could not tell any results on the dogs and the vet even said the fleas were becoming immune and that I should try using it every 15 to 20 days. I switched to Comfortis for the dogs and I'm pleased.

 

i ordered some flea treatment for my cats on ebay..I think the store was called " no more fleas" when I got the flea treatment, there was syringe with the needle removed, a small brown bottle, and a tube of dog advantage..the instructions told me how much to take from the tube per pound of cat. I used it with no side effects. The instructions stated that the dog Advantage had the same stuff in it as cat advantage. Also I put a little less than what it asks for so I don't overdo it. heres a site i found : http://www.lisaviolet.com/cathouse/advantage.html

Good luck!

 

Thanks guys! And if anyone else has any remedies, please post!

 

There is a new Vectra for cats- lots of people use the Vectra for dogs with good results, would expect the same from the cat formula. See lots of half dead cats from OTC flea/ tick treatments, don't rec them for the most part.