Cat flea prevention
 

What do you use for flea prevention on your cats? Vet recommends Revolution, but it is out of my price range with three cats. I used Vectra C last year, but I can't find it in anything but '12 pounds and up' size. Two of my cats are nowhere near 12 pounds and one is only close. One is a six month old kitten, but she's bigger than the adult Tuxedo.
The dog has Vectra D and at her age, I won't make any changes.

Revolution, a dose is good for 3 months and by all means check with different vets. My old vet charged me 120.00 for 3 doses my new favorite vet charges me 45.00 for 3 doses.

Wow. I just looked at what Revolution costs. Phew. I wish I could help you but our beautiful cat died 2 years ago. The last couple of years of her life, we had to resort to a flea med that was given to puppies because the cat meds quit being effective. Blood was shed (mine) trying to get the pill down her throat.

We use Frontline and alternate with Advantage. Here in Florida, if fleas get in your house they stay. We used only Frontline once and it seemed less effective than alternating. Granted, they may be identical to each other but it seems to work. You just have to put it high enough on their neck that they can't lick it off.

My cats were all inside only cats. No fleas on small dogs or cats in many years. Frontline I think is the ones I use to use right after it came out. Putting on the pets would kill all the fleas in the house in about a week or two as their eggs hatched.

I've got a foolproof method to rid your house of fleas, but you have to repeat it if you get another infestation, so go ahead and treat the cats in the mean time.

Fleas are attracted to light, so put nightlights in all your outlets that are close to the floor. (Remove the shields). Then place a shallow bowl of water right under each nightlight, and add one drop of any kind of soap (to break the surface water tension) so the fleas will slip under the water and drown. Move big objects out of the way, so that the lights can shine into as much of the room as possible. Make sure it's dark at night, except for the nightlights. Fleas will hop to your lights and jump at them, falling into the water and drowning.

It's actually fun the first couple of days to see how many fleas you get. When you aren't getting any more, you can stop and put your night lights away for next time!

We use Bravecto on our cat but it is not cheap

I just went to the Revolution website and it says it is a monthly dose. If it were three months, then the price would be reasonable. Over $20 a dose at the veterinarian and it's only by prescription so I can't get it anywhere else.

My sister has only indoor kitties but she still has to dose them. I have 1 outdoor kitty and 1 indoor kitty and for whatever reason my outdoor kitty doesn't get fleas. I dose her just the same with Advantage as I was able to find it at our local Bomgaards store. I'll dose the indoor kitty this year too just to be safe. When I lived in Florida my daughter brought her animals with her when she came to live with me and they had fleas terribly. My 2 dogs who get dosed got their fleas as well as my house. My exterminator had to come every month and still I had those pesky fleas from her animals. After a year of trying I tried another brand of flea stuff for my dogs and after 1 month I had no more fleas. My little dog I couldn't put anything on him as he had a skin condition but by putting it on my larger dog that took care of it. Wish I could remember what I used as it was great stuff.

NOTE: I got rid of my daughter's animals as she didn't want to take care of them properly so found them good homes that would.

We had a problem a couple of years ago and vet recommended Cheristin Flea treatment for cats since Advantage and Frontline didn't seem to be working, so far it's working. She also recommended we use 20 Mule Team Borax on rugs and furniture to prevent reinfection. She said it was not harmful to pets or people, sprinkle on and leave for a few hours and vacuum off. It dries out the shell of the flea so it dies and also destroys the shell of the eggs. It worked and was inexpensive.

In all our years of cat/dog ownership I can tell you that some cats are more prone to fleas than others but I don't know why. I'm sure I asked the vet at one time but I don't recall.

Our two now are indoor only so we haven't had any problems with fleas.

I had five outside cats (granddaughter would find stray kittens and bring them to my house) After being fixed they hung out in husband's shop and wooded back yard. I used Revolution on each one every three months and they never had fleas or ear mites. I guess it was pricey for five cats but worth it to have misery free cats, no ear infections, and no infestation of fleas outside or god forbid inside. Revolution stops the breeding cycle of the flea so the flea population goes kaput. The last of our cats died of old age two years ago. I still miss each one.

Seresto collar. $61, but a $15 rebate is available and it lasts 8 months. Tried Revolution drops last year and he kept coming in loaded with ticks. Sooo disgusting. Final straw was when I found one embedded in my arm.

We used to have indoor only cats, and would prefer that was the case now, but he is miserable and destructive when kept indoors. One of our indoor cats got fleas every fall, simply by sitting near an open window. He was a very sweet boy in more ways than one, apparently!

I bought frontline in a pet store and it worked and was a fourth of the price.

They'll always tell you to use it monthly so they can sell more product. You often don't have to use it that often which is better for the pet. I don't have many flea problems. About 5 or 6 years ago, I had some fleas. I just used flea bombs in the house and that got rid of them. The cans said that it was good for one year. Five or 6 years later, no fleas. Just use as necessary. You'll know when you need to use it.

Not many flea meds work on ticks for cats. The med will be too strong for cats that will prevent the ticks. Seresto collars are very dangerous to some dog and cats, causing death.

I won't use a collar on any animal. I found Revolution from a Canadian pharmacy for a much better price and no prescription. I plan on using it about every six - seven weeks. I agree one a month is too often. It covers 5-15 pounds, so I didn't need to purchase different packages which helped. I also ordered Vectra C before I found the Revolution, so I will be set for a long time.
I have some Vectra D left for the dog and I will probably only purchase 3 packs when it's empty. She is nearly 15 and definitely slowing down. I won't change what works for her at this age. The cats are 6 months, 1 and 2 so I expect a longer life there.

My dogs had fleas 10 or more years ago - two years in a row. Frontline didn't work for them. I bought Cedarcide and sprayed EVERYTHING! Then I used salt and borax on every soft surface and in every crevice. Repeated it in three weeks. End of fleas!