My cat needs flea advice

[earthbot1]

She says Frontline does not work for her and I'm an idiot.
Her fur is coming out and she is miserable.
I've bathed her and put Frontline on her, but I think it did not work. I think this happened once before and
I should try something else. Can't go to vet till tomorrow.
Any home remedy that will ease her suffering?


THanks

[rocktivity]

1. Welcome to DU (though I wish it were under happier circumstances)

Don't worry -- between all the "kitteh lovers" around here and the DU Pets group, (which you can subscribe to by clicking on the orange button), you'll have the right answer in no time!


rocktivity

[siligut]

2. Get some salmon oil to put on her food and buy some Revolution from the vet

Is she just shedding or is she pulling out her fur to get to the fleas?

[earthbot1]

3. thanks

i think she is biting/pulling her fur.
would a fish oil capsule do in a pinch?

[siligut]

4. Don't know about squeezing out the contents of a fish oil cap

The supplement I give our cat says it contains salmon oil. Our fish oil caps say they contain oil from sardines and anchovies. Buddy is sleeping now, but I would try and see if the cat would like it. I put the salmon oil on his wet food and he likes it quite a bit. It has helped his eyes and fur. The Revolution costs around $30, it says for monthly use, but I use it every few months and just work to keep him healthy in other ways.

[earthbot1]

5. thanks

thanks...I'll see if I can exchange the unused frontline for revolution.
Double ugh...I just got over poison ivy and I have a huge new outbreak...I'm getting paranoid now. Something is contaminated...hope my cat wasn't rolling in it.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. she is probably allergic to fleas and is having a reaction. my little girl is highly allergic to

fleas. The vet had to give her a cortisone shot. Don't know what to tell you about the Frontline though because the cheap knock off stuff keeps them away from my baby girl, thank goodness.

Good luck with your baby

PS: all the hair grows back.

[rrneck]

7. Okay, I have to do this...

Welcome to DU!

[love_katz]

8. I don't use poisons on my cat.

I use a flea comb, and I drop any fleas I catch into a quart jar with a small amount of water that has a drop of dish soap in it. The dish soap penetrates the waxy coating that fleas have, and they drown.

I use the quart jar because the tall sides prevent the fleas from jumping out before they drown. If needed, I give the water in the jar a swirl, to make sure the fleas go under.

I believe that the use of poisons on pets weakens their immune system, which makes them more attractive to fleas. Natural methods of flea control can be more work, but they seem to work better in the end, and they don't have any negative effects on either my health or the health of my cat.

If her problem is real bad, you might need to give her a bath. Good luck with that, if that is what you end up having to do.

I have also found that a grooming tool called 'The Furminator' helps remove loose hair from their undercoat. The undercoat hair can mat, makes our fur friends hot and itchy, and provides a place for fleas to really chew up our critters because the loose hair makes it hard for out pets to get at the fleas. And, the loose hair contributes to the hair ball issue. Swallowing too much loose hair seems to undermine a cat's health. The Furminator can be purchased at PetSmart stores, or online.

A long term remedy is to start feeding natural foods to improve your cat's health. I favor raw meat diets, which I can purchase from our local natural products pet food store.

Good luck, and I wish your kitteh a more comfortable evening.

[earthbot1]

9. thanks again

even though she hates it, will keep bathing her if I have to. I do have a furminator, so will keep using that.

between her fleas and my poison ivy we are a mess, but it will go away.
ugh

[siligut]

10. Along with using the flea comb and furminator, vacuum everyday

Use all the mechanical means you can to reduce the flea population. You have poison ivy? Oh my, you take care too. I hope you used some sort of treatment to remove the urushiol.

Good luck to you and kitty

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. Frontline stopped working for ours so we switched to the

Comfortis pill, which works for about a month. I also vacuumed and applied Mycodex flea spray to the floors and cloth furniture. Got both from our vet.

It's a bit of work, getting the pills into them, and the spraying required me doing it when everyone was out of the house and the cats were locked in my bedroom for the day. No one is supposed to come in contact with it while it is wet. However, after many months of flea troubles they have been gone for several weeks. If they show up again, out come the pills and the spray again.