Looking for PROVEN plants that REPEL FLEAS AND TICKS

Our 10 year old Momma-Kat has pneumonia, bronchitis, and asthma.  OUR fault.  HAD been using cheap dusty litter.

Changed that, but want her to be able to use the new cat-coop I built outside HOWEVER, WE DO NOT WANT FLEAS, and I refuse to poison my cats with Advantage or anything else like that.

CAN ANYONE RECOMMEND PLANTS THAT ARE CAT-FRIENDLY AND PROVEN TO REPEL FLEAS (&) TICKS?

(Already have: Catnip, Rosemary, Chamomile, and Lavender).  Am looking now for PLANTS I CAN PUT ALL AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF THEIR NEW CAT-COOP.

ANY AND ALL ADVICES GREATLY APPRECIATED.  Momma-Kat's life may very well depend on this.

(She has already had steroid and antibiotic shots, tablets made her cough getting them down her.)  Her coughing is better but still there.  Her lung radiographs look awful.  She is doing a lot better since we changed litter, but she needs fresh air and craves it- I know because she begs for an open window and practically lives in front of one when opened.  Am hoping this cat coop helps; WE DO NOT WANT FLEAS!

I've heard that any kind of mint will repel fleas, maybe you could plant some different varieties in among the cat nip. Lemon grass is supposed to repel them too.

Thanks for  the input, I DID get spearmint and lemon mint!  I read "peppermint" but the nursery I went to didn't have any ,so I took a guess and e other mints and I'm glad did.  If you've heard that, then maybe it's the whole mint family.   I hope so.

Thanks again!

if your kitty has asthma have you thought about using the aerokat and puffing with the flovent and albuterol? This could save her life. The problem with not using steroids is the lungs scar inside and then you loose footage for air gas exchange.

Also I have heard the marigolds repell some insects. Mint seems to work for me as well. you can use food grade DE Diatomaceous Earth  sprinkled around outside around the pen-it kills insects that breathe through their skin and suffocates them.

Why didn't my vet offer albuterol?  Also what is Aerokat?  I'm calling my vet right now.

Yes, I have marigolds, planting them today actually! 

I was going to get the dietemacious (spelling?) earth BUT it's very powdery and I was warned about asthmatics not breathing in that powder, so I didn't get any.

I'm off to call the vet right now! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

(I swear, for over $500 YOU'D THINK MY VET WOULD'VE KNOWN THIS!)

Aerocat is the mask you put over a cat's face for using an inhaler. Yes, definitely ask your vet about Albuterol or an inhaled steroid!

my cat has asthma and I got the aerokat on amazon.

I get flovent from kiwidrug dot com as its in new Zealand-they need a prescription and I recommend having your vet write 6 refills on it so you can order 6 canisters-make sure to start with the highest dose 250 mcg or here is 220 mcg same exact meds but in Europe they measure differently.

Its tons cheaper than here. the meds are 350 here and 60 there. it is given every 12 hours. 2 puffs each time. total 4 puffs a day. I get about 25 days each canister.

yahoo groups has a feline asthma group who has lots of info or you can search the threads here.

my cat has inflammation in lungs and was coughing. she only coughs once in a blue moon.

albuterol can be given with a toilet paper roll-just put it around their nose/mouth-you cant do this with flovent.

albuterol should be given when coughing happens. it works for 6 to 8 hours if its not a serious attack.

in the field in the hospital you can do a puff every 30 min up to 4 hours-if this isn't working then you need injection of that theoth something=its another bronciodialter and works stronger than albuterol=this is rare that albuterol doesn't work.

albuterol only needs 3 to 4 breathes-it works fast but cats HATE the taste so hang on to them-they will bolt.

when you get the flovent-give the albuterol first wait 10 min then give the puffs of flovent.

the albuterol opens the airways so the flovent gets in deeper. flovent takes 10 to 14 days to get itno the bloodstream but me personally my cat improved by the 3rd day of flovent-each cat is different.

asthma is detected via xrays-inflammation with donuts and tram lines type pattern.

I started Honeybee on flovent in march 2013. She came from a smokers house-so if someone is smoking inside=make them go elsewhere outside otherwise it only makes it worse.

there is another site called fritz the brave who had asthma and there are videos and help for teaching kitty to puff.

my cat only takes puffs when she is on my lap. she wont take it when I am facing her. She is spoiled.

if you have ac then run it. Don't let them out when its 85+ with high humidity. My silly cat doesn't know enough to come in out of the heat so I just make her stay in and she whines and cries.

Thank you so much.  Been trying to get the vet to c 2 days now, starting to get a bit ticked off.

I really appreciate the info/advice!

Thank you sooooo much for all the great information!

Am waiting on a call from the vet to discuss getting flovent and albuterol.

Really appreciate all the great info. you have helped more than my vet!

Glad we could help. Please keep us updated and let us know what works best for you.

Hi FoxxyCat,

Hey could you please tell me how much does your asthmatic kitty weigh AND what amount or dosage are on your "puffers" both the Flovent AND Albuterol.  Please be as specific as possible.

My vet doesn't have a lot of xperience w asthma in cats and is really putting Momma in jeopardy as she has been having worse attacks in the past 2 days.

Vet FINALLY called me yesterday but STILL says he has to do some research before he'll prescribe albuterol AND Flovent as he is not familiar with Flovent.

My friend has a nebulizer with an albuterol medicine and we managed to rig a chamber and use it on her once yesterday but then at 2 am this morning she woke me having a terrible attack.

I tried to do the nebulizer myself, not sure she got much of the mist into her lungs and the thing scares her, makes too much noise, and I just end up stressing her out, which I know isn't good.

Then at their 5:30am feeding this morning, she ate, had an attack, then barfed up all her food.

I told the vet yesterday to please get something figured out by first thing today because it's obvious that the injected steroid is wearing off, I'm so scared I am going to lose her or that the damage to her lungs is already too far gone.

This really stinks.  ANYHOW, I thought if you could let me know how much your kitty weighs and the exact medication and dosage/rate per puff you are giving; maybe it will help my vet figure a regiment for Momma Kat.

I hope you get this soon and can help me out before the vet calls this morning so I can tell him.  Fingers crossed.

Thanks a lot, in advance for everything.

Sandi

sorry I just saw this=I will get back to you in an hour=tell the vet google fritz the brave-

print out the info on fritzthebrave website-  www.fritzthebrave.com

also there is a group called feline asthma http://www.felineasthma.org/

Are two sites that have lots of info to print and give to the vet

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/felineasthma/info?referrer=feline-heart

this is where I first went to get info for my Honeybee-they have all kinds of info on how to get used to the aerokat. youtube videos are where you want to go for howto to this.

this will take about 2 to 4 weeks to get kitty used to. I have two cats I use albuterol on. One is for occational wheezing/coughing due to allergies and the other has damage in her lungs from smoking. one is on flovent daily and the other is not-the one that is not just has albuterol given when she gets stressed and pants-only at the vets office or groomers-she actually lets me put the mask on her face right away-

I thought I saw you mention something about nebulizer=is the meds albuterol? if so-you can set it up so the mist comes out near her face-not necessarily have mask on her face. don't forget about steaming up the bathroom with the shower on full hot for 15 min several times a day-this may help loosen up the junk-it may make her cough but that's fine-its to clear the airways.

My vet didn't know much about asthma either-she was only going to do albuterol until I printed out the info about why we have to treat with steroids-you may ask to get pred started in the meantime. pred targets inflammation. We generally recommend inhaled meds vs pred due to the long term affects of said medication BUT if its a matter of breathing or not breathing-breathing always takes precedence over not breathing.

The side effects go away after time with pred and some kitties do well on every other day dosing. my cat did well on once every 48 hours at 2.5mg but that's because she is already on flovent 250 mch 2 puffs am and again pm-total 4 puffs a day.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. HAVE TO TAKE HER BACK TO VET tomorrow. Still not breathing well. Definitely congested. I might try the steamy bathroom now. Just gave her albuterol now going for the Flovent. Put her back on Tabs today, we've had a rough day. Thanks again, Sandi and Momma Kat

To everyone who tried to help, I'm sorry to say that my poor girl had to be put out yesterday. I'm afraid this was all my fault for not catching this early enough.
At our vet appointment yesterday, the vet said she was actually blue. Her little lungs were so far gone that she could not get enough oxygen in. I tried everything, even an oxygen tent at home, I knew she was having a hard time breathing but really thought she'd be better after almost three weeks of meds, and even after the Albuterol and Flovent while still on prednisone tabs, steroid and antibiotics injections; she was getting worse. I only wish our cat babies could talk, I'm still not sure this was the right thing to do. And, am not looking for anyone to tell me one way or the other. It was a very difficult decision especially since her four"kids" were really attached to her. How do you explain to a cat? Anyway, I'm just letting you all know and thank you all again for such good information. Now I know where to go for help and I will never wait again, should (heaven forbid,) any of Momma's kids even sneeze. I didn't even know cats could be asthmatic. Sure wish I had. BTW, Momma literally was one of my best friends. She will never be forgotten.

Google search: Momma Kat Braves The Storm. (The animal rescue site)

I'm so sorry to hear she didn't make it. You did everything you could for her, I'm sure she knows how much she was loved.

We always lock the thread after a cat passes away, so I'll lock this one now.

When you feel ready please start a tribute thread for her in our Crossing The Bridge Forum.

http://www.thecatsite.com/f/19/crossing-the-bridge

Rest In Peace Momma Kat.