Flea's now all my cats have them

daones

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It is weird because this is first time noticing my cats having fleas in all the years I have had them here... I can see because all of them are itching their necks much more often now and my girlfriend has even spent some time picking them out of their fur. I plan to go to the vet on Tuesday and ask them if they have it available what i read is Advantage and frontline for cats is probably what we need. I am thinking we had a dog outside for about a year and she also had fleas we did use frontline on her and it got better, but we took her to a relatives house out in the country since then so no dog except the neighbors wondering where they came from as we dont let the cats out.

Question is do we apply this just on one spot on the back of their neck or multiple sites? Also since i have cats who are siblings and the mother together they sometimes like to groom each other im scared they may lick their neck, is this something to keep in mind? Lastly I have one female 7 months old about we want to spay very shortly will fleas have any effect on worrying about the surgery?

This is my bed, this isnt dirt or mold in the covers but its the feces i believe of the fleas, I clean the bed everyday with a scotch lint remover the bigger one and just noticed this recently in the last few days.
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MissClouseau

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Advantage doesn't get into the bloodstream. The ones that do, like Stronghold / Revolution from Zoetis are more effective and their effect lasts longer.

The vet will give you instructions I'm sure but you need to apply on the neck where they can't lick and nowhere else. Not wash them or wipe the area for the first at least 24 hours and not let them lick it off from each other too. I have only one cat so I can't really give tips on that I'm afraid.

Not all fleas stay on the cats all the time though. As you will read, you need to also thoroughly clean the house couple times a week for at least couple weeks.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. I think it would be worthwhile for you to take a look at this web site (see link below) - very informative with tons of information about fleas, flea cycles, how to get rid of fleas, including various treatments for your cats and their environment. It helped me a lot when - out of nowhere, for the first time in Feeby's life (15+ yo) she got fleas. She is indoor only, but does spend time outside on our screened in patio. However, you can actually track fleas into your home from outside, explaining how your cats might have gotten them.

I use Advantage II on Feeby, but think that it may not be as effective as some of the newer treatments that are out. So, you may want to do some research on the various ones that are available before you decide. Or, you can always use something now and move to another later down the road. All of the topicals, regardless of which one you choose, are applied at the base of the neck on one spot, not in multiple spots. Adv II is also relatively greasy, and can take up to 48 hours to completely dry when I apply it to Feeby.

FleaScience
 
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daones

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Hi. I think it would be worthwhile for you to take a look at this web site (see link below) - very informative with tons of information about fleas, flea cycles, how to get rid of fleas, including various treatments for your cats and their environment. It helped me a lot when - out of nowhere, for the first time in Feeby's life (15+ yo) she got fleas. She is indoor only, but does spend time outside on our screened in patio. However, you can actually track fleas into your home from outside, explaining how your cats might have gotten them.

I use Advantage II on Feeby, but think that it may not be as effective as some of the newer treatments that are out. So, you may want to do some research on the various ones that are available before you decide. Or, you can always use something now and move to another later down the road. All of the topicals, regardless of which one you choose, are applied at the base of the neck on one spot, not in multiple spots. Adv II is also relatively greasy, and can take up to 48 hours to completely dry when I apply it to Feeby.

FleaScience
Okay thanks for the info, yes thats interesting you had the same issue after that many years now just happened to me... How do you track them though maybe looking for signs outside im assuming? We have two entries to the house we may have to clean outside of the doors really well with bleach and water too.
 

FeebysOwner

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Okay thanks for the info, yes thats interesting you had the same issue after that many years now just happened to me... How do you track them though maybe looking for signs outside im assuming? We have two entries to the house we may have to clean outside of the doors really well with bleach and water too.
If you own a home, your best bet on the outside is to spray insecticides quarterly over the entire area. As you will see in all the data on that web site I provided a link to, there are products that contain IGR (Insect Growth Regulators - which are also in topical flea treatments for the cats) that help to sterilize adult fleas as well as prohibit the development of flea eggs/larva. Those can be used in the home, as well as door mats leading into the house to help out with minimizing the number of fleas in your home. Once the fleas are under control through cleaning and treatment, the topical flea treatments done monthly on the cats should keep the fleas to a minimum. I will never say eradicate them, as it has been six months since Feeby first had fleas, and I still find a few on her now and again. Also, wildlife outside carry fleas - squirrels, birds, etc. So, you can't really look for signs of fleas outside, you just kind of have to assume they are there.
 
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daones

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You know i just remembered, we keep our older cat sticker separated from the younger cats during the night when we sleep so when we woke up we put her litter box outside the house a few times when we were cleaning, im wondering if fleas could of got on there... kind of makes sense because suddenly this happened and we hadnt put the litter box out there before... There is also a stray tomcat who likes to sleep around outside.
 

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You know i just remembered, we keep our older cat sticker separated from the younger cats during the night when we sleep so when we woke up we put her litter box outside the house a few times when we were cleaning, im wondering if fleas could of got on there... kind of makes sense because suddenly this happened and we hadnt put the litter box out there before... There is also a stray tomcat who likes to sleep around outside.
Stray cat is more likely the possible 'culprit' as opposed to a litter box, but I guess you never know... I have never figured out why this happened to us all of a sudden. We have lived in the same house for 36 years and have never had a flea issue - and, have always had wildlife in yard, not to mention stray cats coming through from time to time. I gave up a couple of months ago even pondering how it happened. I do know that I am keeping Feeby on flea treatments for the rest of her life!!
 
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daones

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I read that site earlier, waiting for the sun to come up over here and we are going to do a good cleaning of the house and outside of the house, floor mats and everything.. We will go to the vet on tuesday about topical treatments for the cats. But will probably have to clean again after that im sure.
 
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daones

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I updated on another thread about the cat were going to spay but ill post here about the flea's we got Revolution and we already got it on Greenie but i was so tired yesterday I haven't yet applied it on the other cats but will be doing that today... I was just going to apply it and keep that one separated for 2 hours and do that one by one so they dont end up licking each other... I didn't like where the vet applied to Greenie it was below her neck nearly on her shoulder blade it was so far down im pretty sure she can reach and lick it... Luckily its been 13 hours and haven't seen any issues though.
 
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