Flea and Tick prevention on Indoor only cats.

[plisa21]

I have two strictly indoor cats. I have my 3 year old treated with a seresto collar. My 6 month old was treated about a month ago with flea and deworming medication and I’ve been debating on whether or not I should get him a collar.

Is treating just one cat sufficient or should I just start treating both?

Thanks in advance

 

[Hannah518]

Hello!!
I would treat both. Indoor cats can still get fleas and things

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I haven't heard too many good things about the effectiveness of flea collars. Can you treat both with a flea treatment? There are brands that are OTC and can be purchased online - or, find out what was used on the 6mo and use that on both. If one of them isn't being treated and gets fleas, they will continue to use him as their host and possibly infest your house as well.

 

[plisa21]

Hello!!
I would treat both. Indoor cats can still get fleas and things

Thank you for your reply! I'm definitely looking into treating the 6mo. Now I'm not sure what would be my best option for treatment. I like to convenience of the Seresto collar but I am worried about their effectiveness.

 

[plisa21]

Hi. I haven't heard too many good things about the effectiveness of flea collars. Can you treat both with a flea treatment? There are brands that are OTC and can be purchased online - or, find out what was used on the 6mo and use that on both. If one of them isn't being treated and gets fleas, they will continue to use him as their host and possibly infest your house as well.

Thank you! I am considering the treatment options for my 6mo. I have wondered about the collars, my veterinarian did say they were effective but I still wonder.

 

[jen]

I have heard nothing good about Seresto or flea collars in general. I would recommend a flea and tick and also everyone seems to forget about heartworm prevention. I see way more mosquitos in the house than I do fleas and ticks, even when I lived in California but all 3 carry disease and problems.

 

[plisa21]

Thank you for your advice! I didn't really think about heartworm medication but now I realize its something I need to start. Do you recommend a specific brand?

 

[jen]

I use Revolution Plus, but everyone has different opinions on that sort of thing. Some like to go more holistic/natural. If someone knows a holistic medication that prevents heartworm (I don't mean a mosquito repellent either) I am all ears. I would talk to your vet and stick with the bigger name brands. Avoid anything from a grocery store, dollar store, or Walmart. I have used Revolution products on many many cats and never had an issue, but like ANY medication there is always an exception out there who is overly sensitive to a product.

 

[molly92]

Seresto is the best collar out there, but I agree, my favorite option is always Revolution because it protects against heartworm, which is rare but incurable in cats. Collars, especially on kittens, always have the added risk of getting caught on something during playtime.

Ask your vet what would be appropriate for the 6 month old. Although in shelter work we used Revolution on kittens all the time, my personal vet recommended I only use it on my healthy adult cat and not my underweight elderly cat. It is considered one of the safest options in flea and tick prevention though.

Also, and take this with a huge heaping of salt because this has not been confirmed, but an early stage study showed ivermectin to be effective against the coronavirus, and what do you know, Revolution contains a similar active ingredient. There's no proof at all yet, but there's enough potential to make me a little more careful to keep up with my cat's monthly doses right now, just in case!

 

[asus389]

Is there any more info on the seizure risk with some of these products? All of the vets near me seem to recommend revolution plus and say they haven’t seen any issues. But there is the warning. Is there a way to get more info? We’d like to treat our cat because we are in a mosquito/tick area. He’s mainly indoors but sometimes is out on the porch and spends a lot of time in the windows.

 

[Bobsk8]

Is there any more info on the seizure risk with some of these products? All of the vets near me seem to recommend revolution plus and say they haven’t seen any issues. But there is the warning. Is there a way to get more info? We’d like to treat our cat because we are in a mosquito/tick area. He’s mainly indoors but sometimes is out on the porch and spends a lot of time in the windows.

The ingredient in Revolution Plus is basically the same as the ingredient in Nexgard for dogs. There is a dedicated forum on Facebook with hundreds of posts about dogs that took as little as one dose of Nexgard and died of seizures.
Action Against Nexgard USA

 

[Azazel]

I don't put any chemicals on indoor cats. The chances of them having a reaction to the chemicals is much higher than getting fleas or tick bites.

 

[molly92]

The ingredient in Revolution Plus is basically the same as the ingredient in Nexgard for dogs. There is a dedicated forum on Facebook with hundreds of posts about dogs that took as little as one dose of Nexgard and died of seizures.
Action Against Nexgard USA

There's an interesting biological reason for this.

Sometime during the history of dog breeding, a mutation arose in collie breeds that became widespread in heading dogs and lots of dogs with mixed backgrounds. The mutation affects the MDR1 protein, which, among other things, controls what substances make it past the blood-brain barrier. In mammals with the normal protein, ivermectin and selamectin cannot make it through. That's why it's such an effective flea killer, because insects don't have a blood-brain barrier. Studies have been done dosing animals with 10X the recommended dosage and absolutely nothing happens to them because the drug can't access the brain. In animals with the mutated protein, however, some of the medication does make it through and causes neurological problems.

I would never give Revolution-like drugs to a dog that I hadn't done genetic testing on for this reason. The mutation is far too prevalent in dogs to risk it. It is possible for a cat to have a similar mutation, but it was never propagated through breeding like in dogs, so it is much, much rarer. Interestingly, this mutation also can cause unpredictable reactions to other medications, including some anasthetics and antibiotics, either as an overreaction or under-reaction, so if your cat has an unusual history with medications, that might be a sign to tread carefully. Personally I think the chances are rare enough in cats that it's usually worth it, but talk to your vet if you have concerns.

I do not believe there is currently a widely available genetic test for the feline MDR1 mutation because there is not a demand for it, but it would be interesting if that changes in the future.