Treating non trusting feral for fleas?

I've been caring for a TNR'd male feral. He is very cautious. In-fact I have been unable to trap or touch him after three years. Someone else had him fixed. He lives in a heated cat house outside my screen porch. Since my three cat's spend a lot of time on the screen porch, I'd like to minimize any potential flea problems. 

The ferals safe zone is under my porch. As he goes in and out, his back and butt will rub the porch. Can I put Advantage on the porch so it rubs onto his back, butt? What if he licks the medicine?

No, do not use that on him that way. Mine are trusting during feeding time so I can drop some on them.  In this case, I've heard diatomaceuous earth, please excuse the spelling, its a powder made of dried fossilized sea animals that has very sharp edges that cuts and kills fleas. I've not used it yet but I've been told about it. You could sprinkle it in the cat home or you could use regular flea powder, stay away fram any Hartz products, they have a bad reputation for harming and even killing cats. If he were to lick the advantage, he would be sick, if he were to have a rare, but still a reaction to it, you could not wash him. I'd advise against that. They do make tablets for fleas that you can put in a piece of cheese and give him that. I've heard of Program for cats, vets sell it, but I do not use it.

Definitely don't put Advantage on the porch. A friend of mine accidently administered it orally once (she was on heavy meds at the time, and in the habit of giving daily lactulose by mouth). It caused major chemical burns in his mouth and down his throat. Especially knowing that, I wouldn't want to take the risk of even the tiniest amount being ingested. If you can't apply it correctly, use another method.

I like the diatomaceuous earth idea. I know that Hartz is bad news. Thanks everyone. I think it is just flea season. I parked my white car under a tree yesterday, I must have had 50 fleas on the car. 

You can also get plug in flea traps and flea repellents that you could put in his cat house to kill the fleas in there. There are lots of them on the market.

i keep my yard clear of leaves and debris -- hiding spots for fleas. i also spray insect growth regulator like Nylar or Precor in shaded areas 

I've used Comfortis for some ferals, broken up in a small amount of wet food. It worked very well killing adult fleas. It's kind of expensive, though. I have also used Program, as @nansiludie mentioned, in the liquid form. Program doesn't kill adult fleas, but you can use it along with Capstar.

@detmut where do you purchase the Nylor and/or Precor in a size large enough (and affordable) to use outside? Do you get it concentrated? After reading your post I read a little about it and it seems to be safe for use on the cats' bedding, too?

There is really no safe way to give a topical treatment to feral cats. Even if you "drop" some on the cat, and the application is not fully dispensed behind their scull, they will lick it off, foam at the mouth and ingest the product and it will be useless against fleas. For my feral cats, I would give Capstar http://www.capstarpet.com/dogsAndCats/dogsAndCats.htm It works within 30 minutes to kill all fleas on the cat. You put it in a small amount of canned food as long as you know your feral cat will readily eat on a schedule and finish the small portion. My feral cats were scheduled fed and this made it easy to treat them for various things via canned foods. I also used; Program http://www.budgetpetcare.com/program-oral-suspension-for-cats/cat-wormers-treatment-22.aspx which is given in the canned food once per month and this will be a preventative for flea control for a feral cat. Program will not kill adult fleas but cease the larvae and eggs from hatching. It is very difficult to keep feral cats flea free completely without a topical application, IMO. But, still I tried!!

Kenneth Haley said:

 
I've been caring for a TNR'd male feral. He is very cautious. In-fact I have been unable to trap or touch him after three years. Someone else had him fixed. He lives in a heated cat house outside my screen porch. Since my three cat's spend a lot of time on the screen porch, I'd like to minimize any potential flea problems. 

The ferals safe zone is under my porch. As he goes in and out, his back and butt will rub the porch. Can I put Advantage on the porch so it rubs onto his back, butt? What if he licks the medicine?

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If he is a good eater, like if he will eat a pill pocket you can give him capstar, a pill that kills all fleas in about an hour from ingestion, but it has to be given daily or they come back....

Please do not use anything OTC for any cats for flea control. There can be deadly consequences. No powders, sprays, collars or OTC topical flea control. We have had many members come here looking for help after innocently using an OTC product on a cat. Terrible neurological and devastating reactions. http://www.thecatsite.com/a/otc-medications-safe-for-cats

@Feralvr   Your post redirected to over-the-counter medicines like tylenol and aspirin. Was that supposed to happen?   With any pesticide product you run the risk of side effects, which will vary, if any, from cat to cat. I know this as recently, a community kitty I have named Flint, had a nasty reaction to Advantage. I've used it for years on cats,dogs and even rabbits. Yet on him, it was too much. Thankfully he is well now, his fur is growing back as he ended up with a nasty sore on his shoulder blades which was odd as I applied it to the base of his head as he is one of the more friendly ones. I was able to bathe him and not get scratched badly.

Susank521 said:

 
I've used Comfortis for some ferals, broken up in a small amount of wet food. It worked very well killing adult fleas. It's kind of expensive, though. I have also used Program, as @nansiludie mentioned, in the liquid form. Program doesn't kill adult fleas, but you can use it along with Capstar.

@detmut where do you purchase the Nylor and/or Precor in a size large enough (and affordable) to use outside? Do you get it concentrated? After reading your post I read a little about it and it seems to be safe for use on the cats' bedding, too?

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on Amazon in the 1 ounce concentrate size. and i got 1 small and 1 gallon sprayers from Lowes. i used the Precor inside and the Nylar outside. all under $10 each. i have never used it on bedding. you can also get 4 ounce concentrates for a better deal.



http://www.lowes.com/Spreaders-Spra.../pl?Ntt=sprayer#!&Ns=p_product_price|0&page=1

nansiludie said:

 
@Feralvr   Your post redirected to over-the-counter medicines like tylenol and aspirin. Was that supposed to happen?   With any pesticide product you run the risk of side effects, which will vary, if any, from cat to cat. I know this as recently, a community kitty I have named Flint, had a nasty reaction to Advantage. I've used it for years on cats,dogs and even rabbits. Yet on him, it was too much. Thankfully he is well now, his fur is growing back as he ended up with a nasty sore on his shoulder blades which was odd as I applied it to the base of his head as he is one of the more friendly ones. I was able to bathe him and not get scratched badly.

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I believe she is linking to a page warning of the danger of OTC meds.

I'm not sure as her post mentioned collars and sprays.

I use program liquid(called suspension)and capstar tablets both in wet food one kills fleas and the other eggs. I also sprinkle diamataceous earth in sleeping quarters.

bonepicker said:

I use program liquid(called suspension)and capstar tablets both in wet food one kills fleas and the other eggs. I also sprinkle diamataceous earth in sleeping quarters.

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I used to use Program as well, but it was discontinued.  Any that you are able to purchase is just extra supply.  Watch the expiration date. 

detmut said:

 
on Amazon in the 1 ounce concentrate size. and i got 1 small and 1 gallon sprayers from Lowes. i used the Precor inside and the Nylar outside. all under $10 each. i have never used it on bedding. you can also get 4 ounce concentrates for a better deal.



http://www.lowes.com/Spreaders-Spra.../pl?Ntt=sprayer#!&Ns=p_product_price|0&page=1

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Thank you, detmut!

@ShadowsRescue you can still get Program liquid. It's no longer manufactured in the US, but can be purchased from UK, etc. I buy from bestflea.com

Susank521 said:

 

detmut said:

 
on Amazon in the 1 ounce concentrate size. and i got 1 small and 1 gallon sprayers from Lowes. i used the Precor inside and the Nylar outside. all under $10 each. i have never used it on bedding. you can also get 4 ounce concentrates for a better deal.



http://www.lowes.com/Spreaders-Spra.../pl?Ntt=sprayer#!&Ns=p_product_price|0&page=1

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Thank you, detmut!

@ShadowsRescue you can still get Program liquid. It's no longer manufactured in the US, but can be purchased from UK, etc. I buy from bestflea.com

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Thank you so much.  I bought some last summer and it was expired.  I will check it out.

ShadowsRescue said:

 
Thank you so much.  I bought some last summer and it was expired.  I will check it out.

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That is the wonderful thing about The Cat Site! It was someone here that originally told me how to obtain Program when they stopped making it available here a couple of years ago.

anyone who uses nitenpyram (Capstar) might want to read this study. even though it is very safe, cats don't need as much per weight as dogs. so, i always split the pills.

"Conclusions: Nitenpyram administered orally at doses ranging from 0.05 mg/kg to 0.4 mg/kg was effective for the treatment of flea infestations on cats as determined by the number of live fleas 24 hours after treatment.

Although the highest dose tested in this study was 0.4 mg/kg, the dose selected for further study was 1.0 mg/kg. The decision to increase the dose was based on the results of another pilot study conducted in dogs. The dog study showed that some of the fleas that had fallen off dogs treated at 0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg were still alive 24 hours after treatment. The minimum dose needed to ensure dead fleas on dogs was 1.0 mg/kg. Since safety is not a concern at these doses, the cat dose was also increased. "

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Animal...lDrugProducts/FOIADrugSummaries/ucm117258.pdf