What flea medicine should I get for my cats?

[kittielover1195]

I have three cats and I'm not sure what flea medicine I should get them. They stay inside but they also go outside a lot during the day. There's a field behind my house and they go in it a lot and catch mice and just play in it. Since they're in the field and outside I think I need one that also protects them from ticks. I've heard that K9 Advantix is good for fleas but it doesn't protect against ticks. I know that Frontline protects against fleas and ticks but I've heard that it doesn't work anymore because the fleas are immune to it.

 

[red top rescue]

Actually ticks are rarely a problem for cats because they groom themseles and remove any ticks, unlike dogs.  I have inside-outside cats and I use Advantage II and sometimes just Advantage in the summer because it is less expensive on eBay and I use it more often in summer (Advantage II has a second drug that gets the eggs and larvae, while Advantage just gets the adult fleas.)  I have two with flea allergies and I use it on them every two weeks.  The others get it every three weeks or every four weeks.  I can tell when the start scratching whether its needed at three weeks or not.  Three weeks is the flea's life cycle.  It's extremely safe.  Since I have multiple cats, I buy the extra large dog size and measure the doses out with a 1 ml. syringe, 0.4 ml. for the small cats, 0.6 ml. for the medium cats and the ones with flea allergies, and 0.8 ml. for the two who are over 10 lbs.  Bayer's individual cat doses are 0.4 ml. for under 10 lbs. and 0.8 ml. for over 10 lbs.  Advantage and Advantage II are exactly the sae formula for cats and dogs, the only difference is the size.  The extra large dog size is 4.0 ml., which is 10 normal sized cat doses.  Right now if you ordered from 1800petmeds where they are having a big sale, you could get a 4-pack of  Advantage II for $40.99 without free shipping, a 6-pack for $58.48 with free shipping, and a 12-pack for $112.96 with free shipping.  Then you select your pet's weight from the dog column or the cat column, but the price does not change.  Therefore, if you order the extra large dog size, you are getting 10 times as much as if you ordered the normal cat size for the same price.  When I have extra, I sell "flea kits" to my neighbors, consisting of one factory sealed vial of the extra large dog Advantage II, a glass vial to put it in, and a syringe to measure it with, plus a dosage chart by weight (good for dogs or cats).  I live in a poor area and it is a blessing for many of them who would otherwise not use flea medicine or worse, use a dangerous over the counter cheaper type like Hartz or Sergeants that can actually kill animals that are sensitive to it.

In addition to using Advantage, if your area is heavily flea or tick infested, you can just flea comb them as they come in and knock fleas or ticks out of the comb and into a bowl of water with a little dish soap in it, and they will drown.