Flea control for indoor cats

deljo

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My two cats are strictly indoor cats. What's the recommendation for flea treatment? I don't have any windows open downstairs but my storm doors have pull down windows on top. The opening on top has screens. I do feed strays/ferals outside. My cats sit in the windows upstairs. I do know that fleas jump and I'm concerned about the downstairs screens on the doors and fleas coming in. I didn't worry last year because I wasn't feeding strays and there were no other cats around. I don't want to use chemicals on them if its not really necessary. Or should I treat them as a precaution? Any recommendations as to what flea treatment?
 

okiron

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I like Revolution because it gets everything. Fleas, ticks, ear mites, various worms, etc. And it's safe for most animals to use.

Some animals have a bad reaction to them so you'll have to see for yourself if it'll work best for you.
 

goldenkitty45

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IMO I would not treat indoor cats unless there is a problem. Both of mine are inside cats; never been treated for fleas, and the dog has a protection and she's never brought them inside.
 

okiron

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

IMO I would not treat indoor cats unless there is a problem. Both of mine are inside cats; never been treated for fleas, and the dog has a protection and she's never brought them inside.
See right now I don't treat because everyone is indoors but once a dog comes into the picture everyone will be treated monthly. Especially with exotics, the preventive meds are a lot cheaper than the treatment to get rid of whatever they have.
 

arlyn

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I have not had to treat either my dog, or my cat, for many years.
When I did live in an area where there were fleas, I treated my dog only, the cats stayed flea free.
So yeah, I would not treat them at all unless there is actually a flea problem.
 

baloneysmom

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I have never treated any of my cats. I did however treat my dogs with Advantage. I do treat my indoor cats now with Revolution but only because we brought in a stray that they had contact with (Just a paranoid Mommy precaution, for 3 months only). They are the first cats I have ever treated and I always had dogs with no flea problems at any point.

I would wait and see how it goes and treat the dog only. No point in wasting money and energy if you do not need it.
 

white cat lover

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My cats are strictly indoors. My dogs are treated for fleas, every month....and guess what? I had a flea infestation last summer. It is likely the foster kittens brought the fleas home & "shared", but it is also possible that despite the preventative on the dogs they brought them in.
 

sarahp

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Stumpy just needs one flea bite to cause an allergic reaction. Just recently she scratched off all the fur around her ears, and despite flea combing her and finding nothing, applying Advantage seemed to fix it. The scratching at her ears stopped, and the fur is growing back. She does get little trips outside, but even when the 3 cats were all indoors only, she managed to get a flea reaction somehow.

So, I wouldn't worry unless you notice any fleas or flea reactions, in which case you may want to treat just as needed. Our kitties get Advantaged every 6 weeks or so, and only Smudge and Stumpy get it since Lily hates being picked up
 

cloud_shade

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My indoor only cats have had fleas in the past few years--because of that I start treating them when the weather gets warm. If you live in an area that has fleas, I would definitely recommend treating your cats. The fleas are less likely to jump through the windows and more likely to come in on your clothes (especially socks). If you're not sure whether you have fleas in your area, you could hold off on treating them and just use a flea comb regularly to look for fleas and flea dirt in their fur. If you find fleas, I would recommend treating them with Advantage or possibly Frontline (Frontline Plus treats ticks as well as fleas).
 

darlili

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I'd talk to my vet and see what they say - and even the most indoor kitty could be exposed since we go outside - or, like my Dante this morning, they make a dash outside and skip around in the grass and mulch and, well, outside!
 

urbantigers

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Indoor cats can get fleas. I was horrified when the vet found fleas on Jaffa last year when he went for his annual health check. He's never been outside (except to the vets) and hadn't been to the cattery for a couple of years. I apply Advantage in the Spring when the weather starts getting warmer, again a couple of months later during the summer and that's usually about it unless they are going to the cattery for xmas, in which case I do them before they go.
 

rebochan

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Both my indoor cats have issues as soon as they get a single flea bite. I've started getting religious about the flea control because Carter licks himself bald and Lorelei starts making bald spots in her fur because she gets these horrible sores all over.

I also live in a flea-heavy climate, so I imagine they track in on me. It's gotten less severe since I started up the Frontline treatments, but I still had to take Carter down to the vet today for another round of depo. Sigh...he licked off all the fur that had been growing back.
 

mama of bronte

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I also live in a flea heavy climate... and also admittedly on the paranoid side with my pets... I do heartworm prevention and flea control... everyone has always loved the heartgard so much that i never really switched to Revolution... now that i am not at my parents house anymore... i am probably going to keep up the flea control even though everyone is inside only with the exception of walks for the dog...
 

rebochan

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Yea, I forgot to mention my kitties are indoor only. When I first got them, the vet said not to worry about flea control unless they started showing up indoors.
 

wendyr

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Ah, fleas on indoor cats! Just had to deal with this last night!

We have had our kittens for two months and they have only been outside to go to the vet. They are former feral kittens, and the vet was shocked when we first got them that they didn't have fleas. We thought we were in the clear, until last night when I discovered the tell-tale signs (both the husband and I have plenty of experience with fleas - me with dogs, him with cats). So, the husband went to the vet, got the Frontline Combo and a few hours later they were all treated.

The change in weather brings out all bugs - fleas included. As other said, people can bring them in on their clothes and then they just thrive on the cats. On the first nice weekend here in Cork, we spent an entire afternoon in the park with my nephew - lots of dogs - so I am sure that is how we brought them in!
 

yosemite

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I treat both cats monthly from April/May through to October/November, depending on the weather.

Some years ago I had a horrible flea infestation with an indoor only cat and I never want to go through that again. I had to call in professional exterminators when we finally realized how bad the infestation really was and after trying products we got over-the-counter and from a vet which didn't work at all.

Mika is sensitive to Revolution so she gets Advantage and Bijou gets the Revolution monthly. My hubby allows Bijou to go outside with him and since we can also bring fleas in on our clothing, I don't take any chances. I also sprinkle diatomaceous earth across our doorsteps (which also keeps the ants away) and in our rug/carpeting.
 
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