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Fleas!!! Hartz? Natural remedies?

post #1 of 13
2/21/10 at 8:03am
Thread Starter 
My two cats have fleas!
I panicked and treated them with OTC flea drops by hartz not knowing this stuff is absorbed by them (?!) I've never delt with fleas before as they are indoor only.
My cats are both appox 10 pounds each, and between 2-3 years old. If it matters, one is a Manx and one an Ocicat.

Please help me, I'm freaking out! It seems to be a medium case so far. I've been cleaning and washing like crazy. Thinking about giving them their first bath today in mild baby soap since I already doused them in poison basically
They are my furbabies and have cried all night since I shut the bedroom door...
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post #2 of 13
2/21/10 at 9:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Meowers View Post
My two cats have fleas!
I panicked and treated them with OTC flea drops by hartz not knowing this stuff is absorbed by them (?!) I've never delt with fleas before as they are indoor only.
My cats are both appox 10 pounds each, and between 2-3 years old. If it matters, one is a Manx and one an Ocicat.

Please help me, I'm freaking out! It seems to be a medium case so far. I've been cleaning and washing like crazy. Thinking about giving them their first bath today in mild baby soap since I already doused them in poison basically
They are my furbabies and have cried all night since I shut the bedroom door...
Yes, you can give them a bath, but with an animal shampoo would be better.
Please. NEVER use Hartz, or ANY OTC flea medicine again... they are dangerous... You should get Advantage, Advantage Multi, Revolution, or Frontline, from your vet, or online with a prescription (Frontline doesn't require a prescription). You can get Frontline in some pet supply stores as well as vet offices.
I get mine online; I use Revolution for some, and Advantage Multi to one of them, who is allergic to revolution.
If you notice anything at all different with your babies, hurry them to the ER vet.
I think though, if nothing happened by now, chances are they will be fine...
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post #3 of 13
2/21/10 at 9:41am
I agree with Carolina.
The Hartz OTC stuff killed my friends dog.
OTC stuff is not safe.
Go get the stuff Carolina said to.
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post #4 of 13
2/21/10 at 10:03am
To treat your home, try food grade diatomaceous earth. It's a powder that you sprinkle into your carpets. Make sure it is food grade, as if the cats ingest it, it will not hurt them. People here have sprinkled it on their cats also.
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post #5 of 13
2/21/10 at 10:21am
Go ahead and give your vet a call Monday, too. You will have to wait a couple weeks before using another type of flea treatment - pesticide is still pesticide.

Use the search function. There are plenty of long old flea threads.
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post #6 of 13
2/21/10 at 2:41pm
Thread Starter 
Thx for all the suggestions! Hopefully things will improve soon
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post #7 of 13
2/21/10 at 2:53pm
Another NO vote for the OTC's, they are ineffective at best, fatal at worst. While the Rx stuff is costlier, depending on the climate where you live you may not need it year round, only in the flea season. Here in the hot humid south it's flea season most of the time so I treat my dogs once a month, and haven't had to do the cats (inside only) in about a year.
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post #8 of 13
2/23/10 at 9:23am
Hartz flea treatment almost killed my cat - he started having seizures and we brought him to the vet and they put him on an IV drip overnight to flush his system of the poison. Hartz reimbursed me for all vet costs. They know they are guilty. See a website called Hartz Victims (google it). Like Toyota, Hartz just calculated the potential loss of revenue of recalling all their poisonous products versus a few lawsuits. Corporations need to be held accountable...
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post #9 of 13
2/23/10 at 10:26am
We have always used Frontline Plus and our outdoor kitties are flea free for 12 years and going. I highly recommend it.

You can get it from your vet. We order it from 1800petmeds.com as it is cheaper from them.

We have also used Advantage successfully as well.
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post #10 of 13
2/23/10 at 2:09pm
I would recommend giving your cats a thorough wash, and then call your vet to see if he or she has any other recommendations (if you haven't already).

In the future, I would suggest Frontline flea killer medication. We have always used Frontline Flea for Cats and it works really well. I purchase my flea medication at http://www.petcarerx.com because they offer a discount and free shipping.

Best of luck.
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post #11 of 13
2/23/10 at 8:29pm
I use revolution on Attitude and Nuts simply because it also protects against heartworm, as well as fleas and hookworms and roundworms.

It is prescription and it is more expensive.

If you want just flea protection then Frontline or Frontline Plus is the best. It worked great when Spaz(RB 2002) had fleas

Taryn
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post #12 of 13
2/24/10 at 8:48am
If you have the money getting flea stuff from the vet is best but in my case I dont and when we found a flea on the dog we had to treat him plus all three cats and the house. I researched OTC stuff and found BioSpot, I used it and it worked great with no adverse effects on any of the animals. That could be something you can look into. I also regularly treat all my animals to flea baths as a preventative especially during the summer. Knock on wood though in 2 yrs we have only ever found one flea in the house!
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post #13 of 13
2/24/10 at 8:11pm
I would never put otc flea medicines on my cats. They are dangerous.
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