Flea & Tick Prevention

Just curious about what you use. Since Zoe is going to be an indoor cat and sleeping with me, we really do want to prevent fleas and ticks. So we want a high-quality brand of prevention. We are looking at the two top brands: Frontline Plus and Advantage. I've been reading reviews and it seems that more vets and customers reccomend Frontline more highly than Advantage though I'm sure both are superb. But they're really expensive... I'm shopping around on the Internet, including on 1800PETMEDS.COM for the cheapest prices. There are also 3 or 4 places in town where we can look as well, and we will on Wednesday when we go into town. I think there's a Vet Pharmaseutical (sp?) place in town where we've gotten medicine for cattle and horses before, and it's less expensive, so I will check there definitely. But what do you use and does it work well? Why do you use that specific brand?

Can't really help you as far as which is better cause none of our cats ever had to use it. Our dog gets BioSpot and she's never had a tick/flea on her; so neither have the cats

Perhaps you can look into the BioSpot for cats.

There's this new injection you can get as well. It protects the cat from fleas for 6 months so you don't have to worry about forgetting to apply the stuff.
Frontline isn't available down here, so we use revolution or advantage. Both are amazing, but Revolution works for ear mites as well. Then there's an Advantage multi that works for worms as well as fleas.
I don't believe you can get anything for ticks that is safe to apply on cats, but if I'm wrong, someone please correct me.

I use Frontline as all my 4 cats are indoor/outdoor kitties its does prevent against both fleas and ticks and for some reason lice thats what it says on the box ! Not that I've ever had problems with those little critters.

I've used Frontline for years and all of my cats have been fine and not had any adverse reactions, so I am very pleased with the product

It can be expensive, I buy the packs of 6 as its cheaper to buy than 2 packs of 3 if you get my meaning The price is controlled here in Spain, the price is pre-printed on the box, not sure if thats standard. I pay about 30 euros which is about 40 $ - not sure how that compares with what you've seen.

I would also say that prevention is certainly much, much better than the cure. I also think that as your kitten will be mixing with your barn cats there is a higher risk of her picking up fleas etc, so she really does need the protection.

You might also consider a product to use around your house, as you may be bringing flea eggs in on your own shoes. I use Acclaim, its excellent and you only have to use once a year, again expensive, but it certainly does the job. Well I'm a bit paranoid about fleas and ticks so I make sure I do all the things I can to make sure those critters dont get on my cats or in my house

Heres a link about Acclaim

Well I am sure which ever you use, it will do the job for you Keep us posted !

Thank-you for your helpful response mooficat!
We don't have any major problems with fleas or ticks on the cats. I mean, I am sure there are some, but you never find them scratching alot, our docile cats hardly ever have fleas on the and never ticks. Some of them have earmites, but not many at all...
Frontline on the PetMeds site are:

4-Pack: $47.99
6-Pack: $66.99
12-Pack: $128.98

And they have free shipping for orders over $39.00. So I'll probably do that... I get paid about $140.00 this month (I get paid to help on the ranch by the hour) so really, I can afford it. I'm just stingy. I'll see what it is in that place in town, it might be much cheaper...

On my Beagle dog, I use an Adams Flea Collar. I know ya'll are kind of against that, but the cats won't touch the collar, like he would let them. They can get about 2 inches from his actual body, then he snarls and walks off. Anyway, it works extremely well! We also use Adams Flea & Tick Shampoo... I won't use that on Zoe, of course. But I'm sure there are flea shampoos for cats/kittens. Are they safe to use on Zoe like once a month?

EDIT: OOPS! Those prices are Advantage, sorry! These are Frontline prices...

3-Pack: $42.99
6-Pack: $79.99
12-Pack: $154.98

i buy frontline (regular) for my cats. i put it on them once in the spring. then again midsummer. and if it's a bad year, again in the late summer/early fall. it's for prevention only, so i don't do monthly treatments. i treat every 2-3 months.

edit: this system has worked for us for at least 7 yrs, including 2+ yrs when i worked at a shelter.

Oh, God, I am so stupid! *smacks self* If it's only for prevention, I could just treat Zoe once every two months, and I only have to treat for about about 4 months of the year. I'll just get the 3 pack of Frontline and that'll last me a year. We don't even have many fleas anyway... *hugs Raven* Thanks for the brilliant idea, I can totally afford a good, high-quality prevention treatment now!

Depends on where you are. You might want to treat for more than 4 months out of the year. I'm in southern MN. The vet reccomends treating from April through September. Honestly, better safe than sorry. The extra expense of treating for fleas is much cheaper than trying to erdicate them from your home!

I prefer Frontline over Advantage. Just because I've always had good luck with Frontline.

Yeah, I've heard Frontline is more effective. Where I live, flea/tick season starts in May, and pretty much dies out in the beginning of September, end of August. So I guess I'd treat 5 months, which would be about 3 treatments, if I treated every 45 days, which I think would work very well.

But as I asked previously... what about flea shampoos specially formulated for cats?

We're Frontline users here too.

When we brought Elliott in the little guy was covered in fleas I treated him and all of the other cats it got rid of all of his fleas and none of the other cats ever got one single flea.

Sorry. Totally forgot about the flea shampoo question!

I don't like them. Or collars. Just, IMO, too much flea stuff to be good. I mean, I'm afraid the collars & shampoo will kill. So, I never use them.

I use revolution because it also takes care of ear mites. I have tried frontline but I didn't feel it lasted as long as revolution.

I use de flea or an herbal( vet appr) for the cats .... Gigi due to health is now getting FRONTLINE every 3 months

Then I'm putting Zoe on Frontlie. I'll look into Revolution, but since it's only a preventative treatment, not a cure, I don't have to give it as often. $40.00 a year for flea medication is definitely affordable, and I'd rather have that than my baby all itchy and sick, and I'd rather not sleep with her unwanted little friends!

I am using Frontline too. I started with just Louie cause he was going in & out on a leash.... but my vet suggested doing LuckyGirl as well since Louie is in & out & she sits in the window & I'm so close to the woods.... After having him do the 1st application, he said it was fine for me to do it myself now that Louie is bigger.... So I've been doing it myself every 30 days, but will only do it from spring till November... I won't be taking him outside in the cold...