Fleas?

Hello everyone, has anyone used any type of flea control for outside colonies?
I was thinking of brewer's yeast, but have heard it can cause skin reactions.
This is a very large colony of about 20 cats that we are just starting to work with and a few of the friendly ones we have already removed have been infested with fleas!

Any recommendations for a quick flea treatment onsite before we bring them inside?

Any recommendations for the whole colony or lawn treatment where they are??

THANKS!

I suppose Revolution drop on, or something similiar, is a standard advice for resucers and colony keepers.
Easy to administer as soon they allow you to touch them, or at the very least, come very near.

If you are taking in them, Capstar may be useful, as it works very quickly, the fleas dying of already in a hour. And thus, the intake room may remain fleas-free.
Capstar althouth useful, cant be alone remedy, as it must be a follow up with something more longe range.

So for an rescuer who also must count his money, Capstar is of limited use (and probably why we hardly do hear about Capstar).

But for an individual, private, spontan rescuer who wants to help and adopt a stray or rescued semiferal, dont have to count every cent, and dont have much experience with a quarentene room, capstar as a quickie start may be very useful.
Of course, followed up by something else.

Lets others fill in....


Good luck!

Revolution- but that is only if you can pet them and they are not skittish enough to run off. I had good luck once with two ferals that I was able to apply the stuff while they are their wet food. I practiced petting them at each feeding before I actually applied the stuff. They didn't even notice it . Capstar (a pill), also, is excellent for immediate kill of fleas, but follow that up with the spot-on treatment as well, again, if you can. Much luck

I use Revolution or Front Line on any cat tame enough to let me put it on, everybody else gets Program in their food. It also may help to sprinkle diatomaceous earth around, places they lie or roll around in. You can put it on the cats' bodies as well but this may not be practical for ferals.

I use Program flavor tabs on my feral. I wanted to start treatment on him in March and since I was unable to pet him then, I needed something in a treat form that I could just put in his food. For the first 3 months, I put it in with his wet food and then this past month, I just gave it to him as a treat. It has worked well and so far no fleas.

I can now pet him and am thinking about switching to Revolution, yet I have 2 more months left of the Program to finish first.

We had a flea outbreak last year about this time. Frontline Plus on the kitties and for the first time I used DE on the carpets. Not sure if it worked or is working as it was a little later in the Summer. I'm planning on another dusting this week. We have a fairly short flea season here.
I think I went overboard when ordering the DE when I got 10lbs ! Two huge bags !! Looks like I'm a cocaine dealer.
Good luck to all on the flea battle.
Marty

Put extra diatomaceous earth along all the base boards and brush under baseboard heating.. On carpet I put it along the wall edge and brush it into the carpet until it can't be seen. A topical like Frontline works great for the bugs on the cat and the DE is a great non toxic long term preventative for the house. I have also used it outside on an ant colony that was overtaking my patio... they were gone within 48 hours and without using any chemicals that are toxic to pets or humans

Diatomaceous Earth is wonderful for our indoor kitties, but for ferals that you probably cannot even get close enough to touch, it won't do much good.

Talk to your vet about getting something that you can mix into their food to kill fleas and the tapeworms that usually come with fleas.

We have some members that care for ferals who can probably help you more than I can and they will be along shortly.