Cat Body Bug Control

[voyager]

Dummy [Dexter] has had the Seresto collar back on for a while.
Plus, we've put one on Tubby [Hunter] also.
Both cats seem to be just fine, so far.
Dummy's lethargy must have been from another cause.
I will continue to watch them closely for awhile longer to be sure.

As a final observation on this.
I find that I am still very disturbed by the idea of purchasing a Bayer product.
Although, time has diminished my very strong feelings against them.

What many people do not know is that the present Bayer company is a direct descendant of the German Bayer company.
The same one that supplied the poison gas used in the extermination camps in the WWII years.
I still will not purchase Bayer aspirin and haven't for nearly 50 years.
I seem to have become able to make an exception for these collars.
We'll see if there is an acceptable alternative.
Although, I suspect not.

 

[maggiedemi]

How big is the Seresto collar? I never tried one for my boy cat because he has a huge neck and head, I wasn't sure if it would be long enough to fit him.

 

[voyager]

They've been placed on the cats, the excess has been trimmed and the packaging has been thrown away.
But, the collars, after the tags were attached and being closed, were long enough to slip over the cats' heads, then tightened to fit their necks before trimming.
We did trim about 1-1/2 to 2" off the ends.

I would assume it is long enough for most nearly normal sized cat,
not something approaching the size of a bob cat or lynx though.

 

[maggiedemi]

Well he's not a bob cat, but he has a big neck. The collars at Walmart I used to get for him wouldn't fit anymore.

 

[voyager]

You know, as I think about it, The Soresto collar is quite long.
It has what looks to me to be a 3" or more overlap of the ends.
Look up a photo of it on a cat.
You'll see what I mean.

 

[voyager]

Update on the using the Soresto collar:

We put the collars on both cats.
Within 2 to 3 weeks Dummy had lost his.
Then about a week ago, Tubby began losing hair and began a scab under the large end with the loop for the smaller end to be inserted into.
I removed the collar from him.
The scab is healing and hair is growing back except that the hair loss is now about 3/8" wide and about 2 to 3" long, going quite far from the collar's contact area.

Conclusions:
Dummy is too prone to losing his collars to put an expensive one onto him.
I now call him "Flea Bag".

Tubby seems to have become sensitized to the collar.
I think the large end, with it's square corners, may have worked through the fur and came into contact with his skin causing the reaction.
Why it formed a strip of hair loss going away from the collar's contact area is beyond me.

I went into town a couple of weeks ago and took another look at the Hartz collars.
They are still packaging them wound backwards.
But, in a lifetime of using them, I have never seen a reaction to them from any cat or dog I have ever had or seen wearing one.

M'Lady has ordered one of the topical treatments.
I'm very leery of using it, but will probably give it a try, watching closely for any reaction.

I'm going to pick up another of the Hartz collars and try rolling it in the direction it should be rolled in, then apply heat to try reforming it.

Also ordered some Drontal worm medication, and a couple of pill syringes.
The Dorontal is coming from California on the mainland, and the syringes were ordered from Hong Kong.
The syringes have already arrived, still waiting on the medication.

EDIT:
The Drontal order may be in limbo.
The eBay ad said it was coming from California.
I was given a USPS tracking number.
The vendor is in China.
The ad has been pulled.
I was notified that it had been shipped.
It may still be in transit, or may be a scam.
I'll know in a few days.

 

[maggiedemi]

Drontal is really bitter, so a pill gun would probably work best so they can swallow it without tasting it. My cats puke when they taste anything really bitter. When I ordered Drontal online I think it came from Thailand or Australia. I would be a bit worried about China. The same thing happened to Demi when he wore a flea collar, it burned the hair off his neck, but it was too small for him so it rubbed against his neck, I had it as loose as it would go.

 

[maggiedemi]

What do you mean you are going to apply heat to the flea collar? I don't think that's a good idea. Don't go blowing yourself or the cat up!

 

[voyager]

Drontal is really bitter, so a pill gun would probably work best so they can swallow it without tasting it. My cats puke when they taste anything really bitter. When I ordered Drontal online I think it came from Thailand or Australia. I would be a bit worried about China. The same thing happened to Demi when he wore a flea collar, it burned the hair off his neck, but it was too small for him so it rubbed against his neck, I had it as loose as it would go.

The bitterness would explain why I could not get the cats to eat their food with the medication mixed into it.

What do you mean you are going to apply heat to the flea collar? I don't think that's a good idea. Don't go blowing yourself or the cat up!

Not to worry.
Go back and read my post.
It says nothing about putting the collar on the cat then applying heat.
It says I'll re-roll it in the proper direction then, apply heat to remove the wrong direction of curvature from the collar, hopefully to add curvature in the proper direction to give a better fit on the cat's neck. Heat may change the elastic memory of the plastic collar.

 

[maggiedemi]

What do you mean that the collar is curved in the wrong direction? About 3 years ago I used the gray Hartz flea collars with the reflector on them from Walmart, and they seemed to fit right until Demi outgrew them.

 

[voyager]

Hi m-d,
Go back and read my OP in his thread.
The collars being rolled up backwards is the reason I began this.
I went back and checked another collar in the store a couple of weeks ago.
The problem still exists.

Every alternative we've tried has proven to be unsuitable.
I am going back to the old Hartz collar if I can remove the elastic memory from the collars.
It has done the job adequately over many years.
If I can't, I may just not use anything on them for a while until I can come up with an interim solution.

I'm convinced that the newer more potent methods of treatment appeal to people that are lazy and think technology will fix everything for them.
Often, all it does is create more problems, which is what it seems that the newer stronger acting collars, and topical treatments do.
Don't bother to argue any other view because that is my considered opinion from what I have seen while looking around at what others have experienced with these things, plus from what we have tried.
I'm convinced that even those animals that seem to be OK when these things are used on them are simply getting a sub toxic dose.
Poisoning the cat to get rid of fleas and other things is not my idea of how to treat animals that are part of the family.


We all have our decisions to make.
You do what you have to do, as I will also do.

 

[maggiedemi]

Geez, I was just trying to help. I used those same flea collars and I was just trying to picture what you are talking about, because they seemed to be rolled the right way when I used them. It's hard to understand what you meant since you didn't post a picture. That's the only reason I asked all the questions. I can post a link to the topical that I use on my cats, but not sure if you want me to now.

 

[voyager]

I did not mean for you to take it personally.
My use of the term "you" is the collective you, everyone out there.
I was simply expressing my opinion that has formed since beginning this discussion.

I seem to have a serious problem communicating with people here, probably more my fault than anyone's.
I do not fit here.
I only came back in case there was anyone that could benefit from my experience with these things.
I think all my other threads are pretty much complete.
And, this should finish this one too.

 

[maggiedemi]

It's fine, you don't have to leave. I just was trying to picture what you meant about the collar. I think I remember that it did latch on the left instead of the right, like most other collars.