Flea Allergy

malt

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My grandma's cat is allergic to fleas. Poor Tabby gets driven crazy by them the second they start to get a foothold. She'll scratch the inside of her ears until they scab then scratch them some more. She gets twtichy and miserable and it's so painful to see. 

We were giving her a comfortis pill every month and it kept her mostly comfortable. Now by 'we' I mean I was the only one brave enough to pill her. She's semi-feral and can be very aggressive at times, and my mum and grandma are too afraid to put their fingers near her mouth. In October when I was trying to give her the pill the new dog frightened her and she took it out on my leg. And my arm. And my shoulders. And my face... My grandma won't let me give her the pills anymore because she doesn't want me to get hurt again (I've tried explaining to her that it wasn't Tabby's fault, but my grandma is extremely stubborn and over-protective). So now she's getting that liquid on the back of her neck. It's not doing such a good job as the comfortis and she's getting pretty itchy between doses. 

My grandma vaccuums Tabby's sleeping places every morning to try to keep the flea/egg count down, but there's no way she can get every one. And it only takes a couple for Tabby to suffer because she's so severely allergic. 

Is there anything I can do to help Tabby? Are there any particularly effective brands of flea ointment or any home remedies or de-fleaing tips? She's so badly allergic and if I can't give her pills anymore I'd like to find something at least equally effective. Thanks for your time. 
 

pocho

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I am very lucky to have no first hand experience with fleas yet. But I am only into five yrs of being a catlady. I can't give you advice except that I have been on this site for awhile now and only recently realized the thread search bar has libraries of knowledge from years of discussion. The subject of fleas especially has volumes. There you can find out about OTC meds, what vets give, special consideration for particular cats and even home remedies. Hope that helps. Btw, I think that is why the veterans and advisors are slow to answer sometimes...
 

posiepurrs

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If she is indoors, just vacuuming her bed will not be enough. There are fleas and fleas eggs where ever she goes in the house. The house needs to be treated as well as the cat (and dog). I hope you can help this poor baby! I use Advantage n my pets, but some find it doesn't work well. Whatever you do please don't use an over the counter topical - get it from your vet! Some OTC fleas medicines have made cats ill or killed them. I had a scare with my girl Koko years ago. I ended up bathing her at 3AM to get it off of her. We were lucky - that did the trick, but the outcome could have been much worse.
 
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malt

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She's an indoor-outdoor cat. Because of that I doubt even flea-bombing the entire house would do it, there would probably be fleas/eggs in her usual haunts in the garden and garage too. She's happiest outside, I'm sure there are spots in the garden where she sits and birdwatches and sunbathes for hours each day. On top of that, my grandma's kind of a hippie, she really doesn't like the idea of things like flea-bombs because she doesn't want to kill the spiders and other insects in the house. Yeah... She can be a very difficult person sometimes. Don't get me started. 

Really, it's down to me to treat the cat around my grandmother's weird hangups and the cat's lifestyle. I will go through the archives tomorrow and see if I can find some good tips! The dog gets treated and I don't get over-the-counter stuff, so that's something at least. 

PS - I know a lot of people on this site feel cats should be strictly inside pets, but we live in NZ so the risks for outside cats are different here. Where my grandma lives the only potential risk to Tabby is cars, and Tabby's far too timid to go onto the road. Plus, she'd be so miserable being an inside-only cat there's no way we could make up the quality of life she'd lose from being trapped inside. So just, before anyone lectures me on that, she's safe, and for her particular case inside-outside is the kindest option. 
 

miss mew

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Fleas can be tricky.  One of my cats has a sensitivity to fleas but thankfully the medication does the trick.  Here is a link to some articles on fleas.  There is also a section on homemade flea remedies as well.
 

pocho

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Good for you to give her access to nature. Not all of here are indoor only Nazis :)
 

pocho

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I just tried to find an old thread I read once that talked about a bug you can buy that eats flea larvae outside. I know I have heard it mentioned before but can't remember its name. Hope it is spoken about in attached articles. Good luck!
 

catpack

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Have you tried putting the Comfortis in a bit of wet food and just letting her eat it? Comfortis is beef flavored and I've had good luck getting our ferals and semi-ferals to take it this way.
 
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