Indoor cat flea protection

I live with 3 indoor cats who are occasionally allowed into our well secured backyard (only under supervision)

There are  squirrels and the odd raccoon that pass through the yard at night, when the cats aren’t outside.

What steps do we need to take to keep our cats flea/bug/worm free?

This is my first time being in a house with a cat proof yard so I’ve never had to deal with this before

(( the cats vaccinations are all up to date))

We use Advantage monthly during the summer and have never had a problem with fleas. We use it because they did get fleas once we they were little. We take them outside for walks, so they are possibly exposed to fleas, so we think it's a good idea to use a preventative.

Revolution is a great broad spectrum "preventative" as it kills adult fleas, flea eggs, and flea larva, roundworms, hookworms, heartworms, and ear mites. Off label efficacy of feline Revolution for 2 species of ticks has also been noted clinically/anectdotally by owners and veterinary staff.

It's a topical parasiticide, applied directly the skin, parting the hair at the nape of the neck, starting at the base of the skull, so they're less likely to reach it and over groom that area. The fatty oils (sebaceous oils) of the skin will hold onto the medication, gradually releasing from glands to kill fleas for 30 days. So, apply once a month.

Topical Profender is a good option intermittently, every 2 months during spring to fall, to kill any tapeworms that could infest the GI tract from an infected flea groomed off the coat and swallowed or from infected rodents/rabbits your cats may eventually show enough interest to predate and consume once more avid in the outdoor environment (including squirrels, mice, rats, voles, moles, and rabbits). Birds, lizards, frogs, and insects cats often like to also eat do not carry any of the actively infective feline parasites.

If any of your cats are sensitive to a topical medication, which usually includes scratching at the site persistently, hypersalivating, and sometimes hair loss at the site or severe inflammation of the exposed skin, oral flea parasiticide is best, including monthly tablet of Comfortis, fast-killing of adult fleas only, or an injection of Program every 6 months. But Program is only effective for flea eggs, so an adult flea will live out it's full 2 week lifespan before dying on your cat but it won't procreate, bringing fleas indoors by viable eggs shaking from cats' coats to the carpet/furniture and maturing in a few weeks to hundreds of thousands of fleas.

Oral heartworm and intestinal worm treatment would be additional, such as Interceptor tablet, or Heartgard chew, depending on what you can "trick" your cats into eating versus pilling them manually. Oral Drontal is effective for tapeworms, rather than topical Profender, as well as rounds and hooks, but it is very bitter and a bulky dry tablet to pill or hide in food/treats such as pill pockets. And they tend to regurgitate it in the car if pilled at the vet's office, so waiting to give at home is best, yet difficult. Tough balance!

There's your options, with Revolution being the easiest and broadest coverage, and low incidence of superficial/hypersalivation reaction compared to Advantage Multi, a similar product, and topical flea-only parasiticides, like Frontline Plus and Advantage, that would warrant additional oral heartworm and intestinal worm parasticides monthly if used.

Thank you Puck that was really informative, I think that we are going to go with Revolution we are just looking at prices right now.

Is Revolution a product that's safe to buy online? I called my vet and their price is around $108 (Canadian) but looking online I'm seeing it was less expensive around $75..

Depends on your source. Veterinary pharmacies certified to sell online without a vet-client-patient relationship with the purchaser have been utilized by many of my regular medicine clients with no poor delivery of product yet. Speed, knowing it isn't being stored in excessively cold or warm conditions, is the most important. Pfizer/Zoetis packages well so damage to the product is unlikely.

My clients have used Foster and Smith, California Pet Pharmacy, 1800PetMeds, KV Vet Supply, and in person Costco and Target pharmacies with high savings and good customer satisfaction.

In shelter medicine, we even calculate dose mL per lb of cat, and with the help of your vet calculating this you could maximize each tube's volume. Some vets' are okay with extra-label use of topical meds like this, as we use over 100 drugs this way already for cats, and some say stick to the full tube's contents for "FDA/EPA" regs... these just aren't comfortable drawing from the tube/pipettes or don't want to sell less tubes themselves.