Flea Treatment

It's been about a month since their last dose of flea treatment.  The vet gave me the stuff to put on the backs of their necks.  The last 2 times when the 30 days the meds were supposed to be effective were up, they already had a few fleas - not many, but some.  This time, I haven't seen any sign of fleas.  Will they need flea treatment anyway?  And the vet's assistant who gave me the last 2 doses of flea treatment said I should have them wormed one more time just in case since they had a few fleas.  Their vet's office is about 30 miles away so I was wondering if Wal*Mart would have good flea and worm meds and what would be the best to buy.  I don't see the point in driving all the way to the office if I don't have to because there's nothing wrong with them.

Hi!

It has been my experience that it is best to treat for fleas year round- especially if the cats themselves have access to the outdoors. If that sounds too extreme, I would suggest at least treating up until November (or the first major frost).

Honestly, I have no firsthand knowledge of the Walmart brand treatment and so I do not know whether the online reviews are true or false...however, they are not positive.

If it's the drive that you do not want to do, could you have your vet mail you the treatment? Also, they would probably mail you a deworming pill as well if that was a suggestion of theirs last time you were in the office.

Hope this helps you out!

HeatherNichelle said:

 
Hi!

It has been my experience that it is best to treat for fleas year round- especially if the cats themselves have access to the outdoors. If that sounds too extreme, I would suggest at least treating up until November (or the first major frost).

Honestly, I have no firsthand knowledge of the Walmart brand treatment and so I do not know whether the online reviews are true or false...however, they are not positive.

If it's the drive that you do not want to do, could you have your vet mail you the treatment? Also, they would probably mail you a deworming pill as well if that was a suggestion of theirs last time you were in the office.

Hope this helps you out!

Click to expand...

I'll call and ask them if they will.  My car is decent on gas, but I still hate to drive 30 miles each way if I don't have to.  The boys have been wormed twice already.  Once right after I got them when they got their first shots and again when they got their second shots because a few fleas had found their way onto them.  They never go outside, but for some reason, the fleas would find them anyway.

How would I get them to take the worm pill?  The vet's office uses tongs to get into their mouths and then holds on to them until they've swallowed.  I know it isn't hurting them, but they really don't like it.  And I don't have tongs like that and wouldn't know the proper way to use them if I did.  I'm not sure if they would eat it if I crushed it and hid it in their food.  They're too smart for their own good.

Hmm, that is a great point. I have been fortunate that I've never had an issue pilling an animal before & so I didn't even think about that.

I always just dumped it into baby food and gave them a special treat. I'm not sure if that'll work for you or not.

When was the last time they were treated? I believe that typically worming should occur once every three months (or at least that is the rotation my kitties are on!)

HeatherNichelle said:

Hmm, that is a great point. I have been fortunate that I've never had an issue pilling an animal before & so I didn't even think about that.

I always just dumped it into baby food and gave them a special treat. I'm not sure if that'll work for you or not.

When was the last time they were treated? I believe that typically worming should occur once every three months (or at least that is the rotation my kitties are on!)

Click to expand...

I think it was about 2 months ago?  But they had a few fleas and she suggested having them treated again when they came in for neutering - just to be safe.  But, they hit puberty early and I had to get them neutered at a different vet. I think I'll call their regular vet tomorrow and see what they suggest.  I'll make the drive if I have to cuz they're my babies but spending less money on gas means more on catnip.  LOL

You can either mash up the pill in wet cat food or cover it in butter and throw it down their throats. The butter lubricates the pill and makes if taste better. You can usually only find the medicine for roundworms at the store... My boy had tapeworms so I needed the stuff the vet has. I ordered them off Amazon for pretty cheap. I only deworm indoor cats when they have fleas though.

I have more experience than I would like at pilling cats. I have rescued many and kept all the kitties with medical conditions, including several feral cats.

Whether a cat is easy to medicate or not and a lot aren't; I do not want to cause them excess stress anyway and some medications taste downright disgusting.

I do not recommend crushing pills and putting it food for cats. If the medication tastes bad, a cat is not going to eat it and then they won't get their medication.

What I recommend is buying #3 gelcaps which you can get online at iherb.com. in the USA. They're less that $10.00 for 1000. They're small and so they only come in quantities of 1000, still a cheap investment when you have to medicate a cat.

You get a pill cutter at any pharmacy (approx $5.00) and you cut the medication up small enough to get it into the #3 gelcap. Once you've done this, I like to crush the pill a little to make sure there's no sharp edges and you dip it in a gravy from their favourite food or treat and then give it to them like a normal pill.

Using this method, I actually have cats lining up for their medications. My biggest concern is that one cat doesn't get another cat's medication because they get so excited about having their medications, they don't want to wait.

I once had a cat that use to spit her medications out, over and over, she was a pain, but using this method, I got to the point where I just use to have to hold her capsule in my fingers dipped in gravy and she would voluntarily eat it out of my hand.

No matter how large a pill and some deworming pills are large, you can cut them up to fit in these capsules. You may need 2, 3 or 4 capsules on occasion, for most medications, you only need the one capsule, but it's a much less stressful way of medicating a cat.

Unfortunately, due to the small size of the capsule, you can't just buy them at any pharmacy. They're usually human size and they're too big for a cat.

I do recall that if the stuff that goes on their backs doesn't touch the skin, it's not going to be as effective. I've given my cats fleas twice now (thanks to working outdoors--little buggers catch a ride on my work boots and then found their ways to my kitties!) and one shot of that revolution or advantage and whammo--problem solved.

Oddly enough, my first two kitties went out during the day, and they used those hartz flea collars and NEVER got fleas---until they were older. And when I mean fleas, I mean 1. Those kitties lived a good long time, though my girl stopped going out when I moved ---her last 3 yrs she was a happy indoor kitty.

Revolution and Advantage come in shot form? How long are they effective?

No, Revolution/Advantage are liquid to apply to the back of the neck, but my vet explained if it doesn't touch the skin (aka if you miss or have a fluffy cat), it isn't as effective. My two are short haired so we never had an issue and I think Mom's persian was so furry we figured any fleas would suffocate