Recent Shedding And Fleas?? Please Help!!

[Mochicat]

Hello, I have an 8 month old cat named Mochi! She is a Shorthair but I noticed that lately she’s been shedding so much, I brush her hair now but it still doesnt change the amount that fall off, is there anyway to stop this? She eats the Hills Science Diet Healthy Development Chicken Recipe Dry Kitten Food and she drinks water regularly. I also noticed that she has a lot more fleas now, she was using flea medication but I haven’t been able to purchase any because it’s out of my budget, what can i do? I gave her a shower using dish soap beause I read it was a good way to get rid of fleas, but they’re still there.

 

[abyeb]

This article gives some great info: Skin Conditions In Cats

Fleas are frustrating and tricky to get rid of, but it can be done!
Cat Fleas

 

[duckpond]

The shedding could be due to the diet, and the fleas. I hear this a lot from people who feed science diet. Maybe try a different dry food, or at least add in some wet? The Fancy feast classics are easy to find, and a lot of cats really like them. This may help with the shedding. even just 1 can a day or so, and a different dry. Or leave off the dry, and try fancy feast, or friskies, my cats have always enjoyed the shreds. Feed mainly chicken, turkey, duck, or beef. not much fish.

as far as the fleas they are hard to get rid of. Until you can get her back on the treatment, i use a drop that goes on the back of the neck, and works for a month. I get mine from the vet, but you can also pick one up from the pet store, or walmart. I would watch out for the cheapest ones they have, normally hartz, it can definitely be bad for a cat. wash the cat well, then in a day or so when she is good and dry, use the drops. you will need to treat for several months, or the fleas will come back. You will also want to have her treated for parasites as soon as you can get with your vet. Where there are fleas the cat will normally have parasites too. You will need to wash everything in the house that you can. and vacuum everything else. Vacuum vacuum vacuum... lol Best of luck to you and your cat!

 

[basscat]

For fleas, I use Advecta II (for dogs over 55lbs). It's $20 for 4 capsules. Each capsule is 4.0ml/cc.
I empty the contents of two capsules into an old small perfume bottle. That's 8.0ml/cc
I then use a cheap syringe and pull out .1cc for each lb of cat, and then squirt .2cc back into the bottle.
For my 10lb cat, that's .8cc, per application/month.
For my 7lb cat, that's .5cc, per application/month.
For my 8lb cat, that's .6cc
For my 12lb cat, that's 1.0cc
My 36lb cat gets 1.0cc every two weeks. This only because you just can't put any more than 1.0cc on a cat without it running down their neck. And I'm just not going to apply this stuff every week.
The main reason for this is cost. For a typical cat, that's going to cost around $5/month.
None of my cats have ever had any adverse reactions to Advantage II for cats.
Advecta II for dogs lists identical ingredients. It seems to work the same, and again, no adverse reactions.

NOTE! Just as humans are allergic to certain medications, cats are also. Do NOT do this just because it works for my cats. Do your own research and do not do anything you don't feel 100% sure about.

If fleas are bad, I'm a firm believer in your 1st line of defense being frequent bathing until you get your flea population under control.

 

[lacy2000]

For the fleas, the dish soap is good to kill adults, but I don’t think it kills the eggs or something like that. Until you can get her some flea medication, make sure you are washing everything in hot water and vacuuming often to prevent them from multiplying in your home.

 

[FordChick]

The Dawn dish soap bath does work....but i do 3 in a row with flea combing in between each bath...all at one time, to be clear

Also...your cat should be indoor only!!! It is safer for Mocha...for wildlife...and easier on your wallet as you can't even afford flea medicine!@@

 

[maggiedemi]

Walmart has a good affordable knockoff of Frontline called Pet Armor Plus For Cats. Just make sure the ingredients are Fipronil. Stay away from Etofenprox in the ingredients!