fleas

Smokey46 said:

 
How in heaven's name have any of you managed to bathe a cat? I wouldn't likely survive the experience. My eyes woulds would scratched out.

Also, when I went to get Revolution while visiting in the US (I live in Haiti) I was told by several stores that I had to take my cat into a vet, which, of course, I couldn't do as my cats are in Haiti. They said that if I used the Revolution and my cats didn't have worms (I wanted it for fleas but apparently it deals with worms too?) I could harm the cat by using it. The vet would have to confirm that I needed Revolution upon examination of the animal. I choose to purchase Advantage II instead. 

Does any of this sound familiar to any of you?

Have any of you treated your cats for ringworm with natural or easy to access meds? One of the ferral cats I have adopted has patches of fur missing with itchy looking skin exposed. I suspect ringworm but can't easily access a vet or prescription meds. I have to go the natural way.

Thanks for any suggestions. Kinda frustrating being in a country like  Haiti and not have medical access for ourselves or the animals under our care.

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That's a familiar story. we had to have our  boys seen before they could get Revolution too. You have to have the prescription, and they weigh the cat and check it's overall health before giving it. 

Bathing the cats is a two-person job in my house My husband will scruff them and put them in the water while I wet them down, and then soap them up with Dawn blue. 

You want the Dawn to sit for about 5min to kill the fleas, then we repeat process, rinsing them with water-careful of the eyes and ears. I use a cup of water to run water through the fur to rinse the suds. 

When I pull them out, I wrap them in a towel, and rub them with it while they grip me for re-assurance and comfort. 

I usually crank the heat to about 25C so that I know that they won't catch a chill whilst they're drying.

I don't trust any of the commercial environmental sprays - even after the time they're supposedly safe.  They contain very toxic ingredients.  And, Commercial sprays don't generally kill the eggs at all.  The "safe", "natural" sprays I located - all contained essential oils - which are toxic for cats (Especially Cedar Oil and Tea Tree Oil).  So, I wouldn't suggest those, either.

A friend - with MANY, MANY cats, had a major flea infestation in her apt.  A rescuer friend suggested to me that she use Ivory DISH soap - and spray it all over Floors, Rugs, Furniture, Door & Window Sills, and other "Suspicious Areas" (for eggs).  So, she finally put some ivory soap in a large spray bottle - and added a small amount of apple cider vinegar (which I had read about).  Both are supposed to kill fleas AND their eggs on contact.  It worked wonderfully to clean up environment. 

Any place you see flea droppings - usually also contains eggs, as the hatched larvae feed on the blood in the droppings. 

The eggs are very light in color, so areas of light-color debris - are also very suspicious.  And, hidden places - such as spaces between Wood on Floors/Furniture, under Door Sills/Windows, Slots in Air-Conditioners, etc. -  also are prime for fleas to lay eggs.  Spray your vacuum cleaner, too, after use  - in areas where debris/eggs could have fallen.

She even used it on pillows & bedding, when she couldn't wash them regularly. (Saturate the surfaces - and under Mattress edges.  Do it well before bedtime, so it can dry before bedtime)

She had also used other dish soap before she could locate Ivory dish soap - That worked too.  ANY soap will kill Fleas/Eggs.  I think, though, that the Ivory may be better because it may have some residual effect that the others don't - as it's got a "creamy" texture.  None of her Wood Flooring or Furniture or Upholstery/Fabrics was damaged at all.  I wouldn't suggest using laundry detergent - as it can damage furnishings - and - irritate cats.

Try to buy a 24-32oz "Sturdy" sprayer - rather than left-overs from other liquids (they leak, don't have a good "spray area", and, they run out quickly).

For most effectiveness - You should repeat this treatment regularly (every day or 2), as the liquid needs to make contact with any new fleas/droppings.

PS:  She also flea-combed the more heavily infested cats - with the comb dipped in Water with Ivory soap and a little apple cider vinegar.  (Shake the comb a bit so you don't totally saturate the cat).  And, she dipped the comb into this solution QUICKLY - every time a flea was caught - to kill the fleas before they could hop off!.

Good Luck with your situation.

Just wondering how liquid soap would spray easily through a bottle? Did you find the vinegar was enough to dilute it to spray capacity? I am trying to picture how that would work.

Great advice, by the way.  Since I am not able to access effective flea meds here in Haiti I am likely going to need to use more natural means. We can get liquid soap here. Have to check to see if there is Ivory though.

Ivory should spray fine through a good sprayer.  My friend used an additional 1/4-1/6 of Apple Cider Vinegar too - and - Yes, this does make it even easier to spray. 

Get a new sprayer bottle(s).  Used ones may have chemical residue on the plastic inside.   And, you want to make sure you have a well-functioning Sprayer! 

A good resource to check for Good Sprayer Bottles and Ivory Dish Soap - IF they ship to Haiti - is Walmart.com.

PS:  It also helps to put plain table salt under couch cushions, etc.  The salt will deter/kill fleas - because it dehydrates them.  (Don't know if this works well in Humid environments)

But - DON'T put salt in areas where your cats will come into contact with it substantially - as - they will lick themselves - and ingest more salt than is safe for them.

Thanks. This is very helpful. I will definitely use the salt suggestion as that is something we can easily get here in  Haiti. As for the sprayer I will see what I can locate on Walmart.com.   This should be helpful for our one indoor cat. I still have 3 outdoor ones that we inherited when we moved to Haiti last year that I will have to deal with. One of them is missing fur in several areas which either is a result of fleas or ringworm.

I am always dealing with something here in Haiti with these cats, especially this outdoor abandoned cats. Haiti can be so horribly hard on both humans and animals.

I think that missing hair would more likely be from Ringworm (or mites).  For Ringworm - If the outdoor cats are "touchable" - try to get some colloidal silver on them.

Maybe put on a cloth glove - saturate it with CS - and wipe gloved hand over bad spots - and eyes/face.

Also, put some in their water. 

IF the missing hair is due to fleas (Or Mites) - maybe use the glove - heavily saturated with Dish Soap and AC Vinegar - and rub it under their fur.  It may help keep down the numbers of bugs on them.

And, do spray it in areas that the cats frequent.  (Include - UNDER leaves, in/around trash bins, under planters, etc, where fleas/eggs could be hidden.)

If you can get topical Advantage II or Revolution - or another good flea topical - and get it on them - This, obviously would be better.

PS:  Revolution will not harm a cat if the cat "doesn't have worms" (or fleas).  (And, yes, if you check the sites on Revolution - you will find that it does kill roundworms, hookworms.  Maybe others)

The only danger that I'm aware of with these type topical flea preparations - is that they should not be used on sickly or very underweight  animals.  I don't use them on older cats (eg. 16,17,18) - because the blood-brain barrier breaks down in older cats - and can allow harmful access of the chemical (At least with Revolution. You have to research the others.).  And, their bodies/immune systems are just weaker. 

Also, Older cats are likely to have some degree of Kidney Failure - even at a level that is not detectable yet in blood work.  

I already lost one older cat (diagnosed with Kidney Failure) by using Revolution on her.  And, a fellow-rescuer lost a 6-year old cat - who was in Kidney Failure - right after using Revolution.

I like Revolution because it will also kill many mites - including earmites.  Some of the other Flea Topicals, like Advantage II, may do this too.  Don't know.  You need to research thoroughly on the internet.

I have found that "Rescue" Vets (Vets who go out of their way to help strays and their rescuers) - will often give Prescriptions, without seeing the animals -  for your type situation.

At least - in the NYC area.  Maybe you can find a compassionate vet in  your area?

Thank you for trying so hard for the animals in a difficult scenario,

Jackie Page

Yes.  There is an entire site devoted to Hartz products hurting/killing animals:  HartzVictims

Jackie Page

Just joined and immediately looked for this thread. We have 14 adopted ferals inside and 16 more outside. All are spayed/neutered (except for one female outside, can't catch her) Live in hot, humid South and horrible fleas. Cannot afford to treat all and don't like using the chemicals anyway. Did worlds of research and continued to see the Diatomaceous earth appear. Talked to cousin who owns a nursery and he sells lots of it. Food grade can be safely used dusted on kitties. Will also use all over house. Make absolutely sure it's food grade.

Revolution requires a prescription as far as I know, but there are sites available online that are located in Canada, which doesn't require a prescription. The sites will generally send them to you over the border via priority mail. I have used them several times and never had any problems and their prices were in line with those found locally. The site I have used are:

CanadaPetCare.com

  The Capstar works great for killing any existing fleas..they literally fall off you cat as you watch. I don't think it hurts the cats at all, but they scratch like crazy after about 20 minutes as the fleas feel the effects and it makes the cat itch until they fall off. The stuff works great, is very safe, but it doesn't keep them from returning or eggs from hatching...it only kills the adult fleas. Good Luck!!

I use dawn dish soap. Original on my female. She gets baths once a week and shegets shaved once a yyear. I do myself. She also gets her nails trimmed once a month. If you start your cat with baths at a young age it is not a hassle when they are older. Dawn dish soap works great and also deoderizes them. And helps keep ringworm away. Also helps remove tick. And to keep ear mits away we use the home remedy of sweet oil. It is harmless and the mighs will suffocate because of the oils.

I wouldn't recommend a flea collar, as they seem to have the potential to cause reactions in cats. It might be due to a cat's unique metabolism, but the normal flea collars have been reported by many to cause problems with their cats. I'm not sure of the treatment your cat is getting for the cancer, but that needs to be taken into consideration. I have personally had excellent results from using Capstar, which is a "knock down" flea treatment that seems extremal safe in cats, although it doesn't last long or kill eggs...it just kills the adult fleas, which is the first thing you need to do to get rid of them totally. I have used Revolution with good results as well. Fleas haven't developed an immunity to it like they have to Advantage and maybe Frontline. The difference between Revolution is that it is absorbed by your cat, which needs to be considered if your cat is taking chemo. The other two are topical, so they aren't absorbed by your cat but they can cause irritation and other reactions...the proximity of the cancer to the application spot of Frontline or Advantage needs to be considered, once again.

   When it comes to using Dawn to control fleas, I never had much luck with it. It seems to work to some degree, but when I brought my last kitten in (about 6 weeks old) she was covered in fleas and had very low blood counts due to the severe infestation and was actually in danger of dying. We used Dawn on her and got a lot of fleas, plus the water turned red from all of the digested blood. Salome, the kitten, still was itching so we took her to the vet and he gave her Capstar. I was concerned due to her age but the vet had at least 40+ years of practice, so I trusted him. About 20 minutes after giving the kitten the Capstar, she began to complain and began to scratch a lot more. I was alarmed until the vet said it was only the fleas dying and it made the kitten itchy from the fleas twitching. Sure enough, fleas literally dropped off of her, easily 5X the amount we saw using Dawn. Ten minutes later and another bath, Salome was flea free. The vet also said he preferred Revolution for flea control, as it also treats some types of worms. As  said earlier, I never had any problems with Revolution, but haven't really tried Advantage and Frontline. The stuff I have written about is based on my own experience but shouldn't be considered as medical advice...I just wanted to give my 5 cents worth of opinion.  

I'm new to this cat thing! I saved a baby kitten about two months ago from a busy hwy. She wasn't even suppose to be away from the mom. I hand feed her for a couple weeks and now she has grown with lots of love. My kids named her lucky and she stays in the house will not go out side she is terrified from her near death experience. She has flea real bad I've bathed her three times plus had a collar on her for fleas and nothing is helping! I need to know what to do they are getting bad through out my house and me and my kids are itching and got spots from them

When i picked up a abandoned kitten on the side of the road one night, reeking of death, aged around 5 or 6 weeks, i soon found out he had fleas badly. All i really did was bathe him in a bucket os soap, and it really seemed to help. I here and there picked out some of the small things, but bathing him did the trick for me. (I found a friend who would take the little guy, and they got him cleared up)

Not sure was medicines you could use, my cat for the last 7 years has never had fleas so i have never bought any.

A couple months ago I took a simese kitten in for a few weeks. I think that might be how Mia and Norville got Fleas so bad the first of Oct.   I cleaned my apt and furniture up and down with Virbac Knocout ES. It is powerful stuff but you cant smell it and itonly takes a couple hours to dry and then everyone can come back I . I vacuumed everything before and after spraying and put a flea collar in the bag. Last Sat. ( Nov. 21)  I was routinely grooming the cats who by the way are NOT EVER let out door. I found 1 flea on Mia. I was so unpset!  I don't have the money to do this over and over. That night I ordered soresto fiea colers from chew.com for them. They were on sale for only (and still are ) ( $40) that is cheap. My vet said he had never seen them that cheap. They are suppose to last 8 months. I got them on Tuesday. My cats are doing great with them so far and have stopped itching as of today I have seen none!

I second the recommendation for Capstar if the cat has live fleas. It only lasts in their system for 24 hours so it works best when you also use a topical treatment (revolution is my favorite).

If there's an active flea infestation, vet usually recommend capstar plus 3 months of topical to make sure any newly hatched fleas die and make sure to vacuum your home well, including upholstery.

You need to clean your home thoroughly!  Vacuum every day and wash all clothing and cloth items that your cats or family touch.  This includes upholstered items like couches.  You can cut up a flea collar and put it in the bag of the vacuum.  Then empty the vacuum bag and dispose of outside.  

You should also comb your cat every day and put the fleas into water with dish soap.  

@mumicatlover