I've had cats for years, and never have I encountered more resistant fleas. As soon as I see a flea, I treat everything. Of course, that's exactly what I did last month. We started with Sentry drops, which seemed to work for a few days. Then they were back. We started bathing the cats once a week with Dawn soap, scrubbing them down and letting the fleas drown. We treat and vacuum the carpet, treat the couch and mattress, and wash our sheets and blankets once a week. When a month had gone by, I went out and bought Frontline. The fleas ignored the Frontline. It's like I never used it. I don't even know where to go from here, and unfortunately, I'm allergic. I've spent the last two weeks fighting my hives too. Any suggestions would be great.
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Oh god the fleas...
- Thread starter nymarie
- Start Date
I don't mean to sound harsh, but please don't use Sentry or other brands like Hartz. They've been known to kill pets.
Hands down the best I've used is Revolution. It can only be purchased by a vet or from specific companies if your vet will fax a prescription. Unfortunately it isn't cheap, either.
Capstar is great too, in that it works immediately but is only good for about 24 hours. You may need your carpets/upholstery dealt with as well. For the carpet, you can put a flea collar in the bag/canister and vacuum. Don't use the collars on the cats though.
Hands down the best I've used is Revolution. It can only be purchased by a vet or from specific companies if your vet will fax a prescription. Unfortunately it isn't cheap, either.
Capstar is great too, in that it works immediately but is only good for about 24 hours. You may need your carpets/upholstery dealt with as well. For the carpet, you can put a flea collar in the bag/canister and vacuum. Don't use the collars on the cats though.
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Where do you live? The fleas are getting resistant to Frontline and in some places to Advantage also. The Advantage II is working well for many people (and so is the old plain Advantage actually), and if you have multiple cats, it can be had economically (PM me for details) so as to only cost you a maximum of $2-$4 per month per cat, depending on size (retail can be $10-$12 or more per cat per month!).
If you want to kill all the fleas on your cat, one Capstar pill will do this but only lasts 24 hours. Still, it's easier than bathing, very safe, and it can be bought at some farm supply stores and maybe pet stores as well, and you can get it from your vet too. Retail it costs about $5 per pill.
If you have carpet, treating it with diotomaceous earth (also known as Fuller's earth), which is NON-POISONOUS, does a great job in stopping the cycle in the environment. You can also use this under couch cushions, in pet beds, etc. (Inexpensive, available at most feed stores). Also, the old fashioned method of flea comb and bowl of water with dish soap on it works very well. We call it making flea soup. Put a little dish soap in a bowl of water (to break the surface tension). Then flea comb the cat, and every time you catch a flea in the comb, flick it into the bowl where it will promptly sink to the bottom and drown. I recently deflead a mama cat with two kittens who were left in a box at my gate this way. The first day I got 70 fleas off each kitten and 5 off the mom. (that's from 2 flea combing sessions per day, one every morning, one every evening). The next day I got 40 off each kitten and 3 off the mama cat. The next day I got 5 off each kitten and none off the mama cat. Since then I may get one a day off the kittens combing only ONCE a day, and none off mama. They are in a space that was already treated with the diotomaceous earth last year, and I do wash the various quilts and fuzzy throws in there frequently.
Other folks are recommending using Program but I cannot comment on that because I have not used it.
If you want to kill all the fleas on your cat, one Capstar pill will do this but only lasts 24 hours. Still, it's easier than bathing, very safe, and it can be bought at some farm supply stores and maybe pet stores as well, and you can get it from your vet too. Retail it costs about $5 per pill.
If you have carpet, treating it with diotomaceous earth (also known as Fuller's earth), which is NON-POISONOUS, does a great job in stopping the cycle in the environment. You can also use this under couch cushions, in pet beds, etc. (Inexpensive, available at most feed stores). Also, the old fashioned method of flea comb and bowl of water with dish soap on it works very well. We call it making flea soup. Put a little dish soap in a bowl of water (to break the surface tension). Then flea comb the cat, and every time you catch a flea in the comb, flick it into the bowl where it will promptly sink to the bottom and drown. I recently deflead a mama cat with two kittens who were left in a box at my gate this way. The first day I got 70 fleas off each kitten and 5 off the mom. (that's from 2 flea combing sessions per day, one every morning, one every evening). The next day I got 40 off each kitten and 3 off the mama cat. The next day I got 5 off each kitten and none off the mama cat. Since then I may get one a day off the kittens combing only ONCE a day, and none off mama. They are in a space that was already treated with the diotomaceous earth last year, and I do wash the various quilts and fuzzy throws in there frequently.
Other folks are recommending using Program but I cannot comment on that because I have not used it.
I've only ever had one infestation. My cats are indoor. I took them to the vet where we used liquid advantage - this was before the drops - and I called in the exterminator. End of fleas.
