My kitty lost hair from a flea collar! Help!

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cheshire

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My cat Lychee seems to have gotten a bad reaction from wearing her first flea collar. What happened was I had to keep her at my parent's house so my brother could babysit her, while I was working and in the middle of trying to find a place to move. I knew that sending her to my parent's house, she might come into contact with fleas since my family's dog has them bad (and I don't know why my parents don't do something about it). Anyways they called me about a week later to tell me she had started getting fleas and I told them I would buy some advantage for her. Well they didn't wait for me and decided to buy the cheap flea drops and a flea collar. About a day after wearing it, the back of her neck now is hairless and dry. It was red the first day and since she has fleas she's scratching it and it bleeds a bit sometimes.

I went to a pet store to see if I could get her some kind of medicine and get advantage for her but since my family couldn't wait for me to get her the good flea medicine I now have to wait 30 days before I can put the better medicine on her. The cheap crap they put on her isnt even working because she's still infested with fleas. And honestly I don't have the money to take her to the vet for her hairless problem caused by a flea collar. Maybe someone out there has some advice or has dealt with this problem similarly before and can help me out. I wanna take my baby to the vet but I just don't have the money...
 
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diego

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Originally Posted by Cheshire

My cat Lychee seems to have gotten a bad reaction from wearing her first flea collar. What happened was I had to keep her at my parent's house so my brother could babysit her, while I was working and in the middle of trying to find a place to move. I knew that sending her to my parent's house, she might come into contact with fleas since my family's dog has them bad (and I don't know why my parents don't do something about it). Anyways they called me about a week later to tell me she had started getting fleas and I told them I would buy some advantage for her. Well they didn't wait for me and decided to buy the cheap flea drops and a flea collar. About a day after wearing it, the back of her neck now is hairless and dry. It was red the first day and since she has fleas she's scratching it and it bleeds a bit sometimes.

I went to a pet store to see if I could get her some kind of medicine and get advantage for her but since my family couldn't wait for me to get her the good flea medicine I now have to wait 30 days before I can put the better medicine on her. The cheap crap they put on her isnt even working because she's still infested with fleas. And honestly I don't have the money to take her to the vet for her hairless problem caused by a flea collar. Maybe someone out there has some advice or has dealt with this problem similarly before and can help me out. I wanna take my baby to the vet but I just don't have the money...
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IMO flea collars are an absolute waste of a persons money. They don't work and yes they do cause bad reactions, including the fur loss, redness and they get scabs as well. If you haven't already, throw away the collar.
Other members will be able to give you a good solution to kill the remainder of fleas. Good Luck.
 
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goldenkitty45

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Flea collars are good for the vacuum cleaner or to put between the cushions of a couch if you have a problem with fleas IN the house. I wish you had read some of the other threads in here about the collars first.

Hopefully kitty will get better soon. Most use a topical flea killer - like Frontline or Advantage (from the vet's) for their cats. Its much safer.

You need to buy a good flea comb (very fine toothed comb) to get them off kitty and you can also give her a bath in Dawn dish soap to help.
 
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If she had a reaction to the collar that quick, it's only going to get worse. Remove the collar immediately if it's not already gone. There have been cases where cats have died from those collars. Wash her neck area thoroughly to try to remove as much chemical from her body as you can. Then take the collar, cut it up in little snippets and put it in your vacuum cleaner bag.

If you can't afford Frontline or Advantage, then your main option right now is a bath in Dawn and use of a flea comb. Your parents also need to work on eliminating fleas from their home. Don't let them buy the over the counter flea sprays as they can cause health problems like the collar did. Get something from the vet or find some Diatomaceous Earth to sprinkle in the carpet.
 
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my cat mellow

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I think you are suposed to wait 30 days before putting on a flea coller after aplying drops, she could have overdosed in pesticide.

Time to do that thing that all kitties love...the bath, it should help sooth her neck. and make sure you monitor her, if the pesticides get into her blood or mouth she will take a turn for the worse.

Try not to worry, as long as you wash it off and take the coller off and monitor her closely you should be fine, and at any time she worsens take her to the vet IMIEDIATLY
 
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cheshire

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My family took the flea collar off immediately after seeing it caused an irritation on her neck. I was planning on getting her Advantage, but like I said, family decided to take the matter into their own hands and get the cheap stuff for her anyways. I will get some Dawn soap and a fine comb for her to give her a bath, thanks for the suggestions. She's going to the vet as soon as I can afford it for her.
 
arlyn

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I don't want to alarm you, but "cheap stuff" kills pets, you should really inform your family of this.

I would never put a flea collar, or any other flea treatment on my animals that was purchased at a pet store or grocery/department store.

Let your family know that for the safety of the animals, stick with what the vet sells you.
 
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As others have said, NEVER use a flea collar - they are poisonous and can cause death. The only good use for them is to cut them up and put them in the vacuum. After vacuuming a house with fleas, immediately empty the bag OUTSIDE the house.

Bathing in Dawn and flea-combing your kitty will certainly help him feel better but until the flea problem is taken care of at your parents' house, the dog and cat are just going to keep getting re-infected. Over-the-counter flea products simply do not work or are dangerous to use.

I feel bad for the poor dog as well. I can't imagine your parents would like to have the equivalent of fleas and be scratching themselves raw all the time. I wish (as I know you do too) that they would do something about the dog and fleas.

You can also sprinkle Borax in the rugs if you cannot find the diatomaceous earth and you said you don't have a lot of money right now so the Borax might be cheaper. That will at least kill the fleas in the carpet and hopefully give the animals some relief.
 
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