Repelling Fleas for cat who goes outside on harness

C.W.

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Does anyone have any advice on repelling fleas for my cat, a way to keep them from wanting to jump on him at all??
Short of not taking him out on his harness?

He is on a monthly flea/tick treatment, and I also spray the yard with flea spray as well as a IGR to control the fleas. But he still picks up fleas when I take him out on a harness. The treatment should kill them within 24 hours, but that long enough for him to eat one while grooming. So he ends up getting a Tapeworm, about every 6 weeks! So I have to treat that as well. I feel like that must be hard on him with the constant Tapeworm treatment meds.

There are no fleas in my house, and he isn't infested with them either. So I know his flea/tick treatment works, it just doesn't repel the fleas. I also use a flea comb after every "walk" in the yard and I usually find 1 or 2.

I really want to find a way to keep the fleas off of him in the first place. Is there any cat safe flea REPELLANT?

TIA 😺
 

Furballsmom

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Hi
I realize you're already spraying your yard, but you might check on Only Natural Pet to see if their yard spray or other products work better for your purposes.
 
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C.W.

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Hi
I realize you're already spraying your yard, but you might check on Only Natural Pet to see if their yard spray or other products work better for your purposes.
Will do, thanks for the advice!
 
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C.W.

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Also I forgot to add that I do use diatomaceous earth in the yard as well.
 

Furballsmom

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I've been wondering, you only take him out in your back yard? Do you put the DE along the periphery to try and keep the little nasties from coming into your yard from the areas outside your fence?

Do you have squirrels and other animals regularly entering your yard as we do here? This alone makes it challenging.

Could you flea-comb him right away when you finish the walk?
 
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C.W.

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I've been wondering, you only take him out in your back yard? Do you put the DE along the periphery to try and keep the little nasties from coming into your yard from the areas outside your fence?
Do you have squirrels and other animals regularly entering your yard as we do here?
Yes he only goes in our back yard and I do put the DE everywhere. It's kind of a loosing battle with getting rid of the fleas since we have squirrels, raccoons, opossums, and of course other cats that travel through our yard. We live in the city in South East GA, so it's hard to keep all those critters away. Sometimes I feel like I should quit the outside walks, but he loves them so much..
 

FeebysOwner

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Could this be mosquito related rather than flea affiliated? I am not sure most flea treatments, including those for the yard, work on mosquitoes. I only ask because for as much as Feeby has been through bouts with fleas, the one and only time (knock on wood) that she had tapeworms appears to be related to mosquitoes. That can happen if your cat is bitten by a mosquito, or even drinks some rainwater on his outside journey. So, certainly do not let him drink, even lap, dew covered grass/landscapes.

You could try a lemon juice/water spray - just a very subtle wipe of it to his coat before a walk. Or perhaps something like this.
VET'S BEST Natural Mosquito Repellent Spray for Dogs & Cats, 8-oz bottle - Chewy.com

You are doing so much already as it is, I would go down the mosquito prevention path and see if that helps at all.
 
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C.W.

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Thanks for all the suggestions, I will definitely be trying them. Does anyone have experience with cedar oil? I have read that it could be toxic for cats, but they also sell it as a flea repellant that you spray on their coat. Thinking maybe a drop on each paw could repel. I will also be looking into the mosquitoes as well.
 

Caspers Human

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Does anyone have experience with cedar oil? I have read that it could be toxic for cats, but they also sell it as a flea repellant that you spray on their coat.
No, cedar isn't toxic to cats but they don't like the smell very much. Cedar is a good way to help deter cats from getting into things they aren't supposed to. I can't imagine that many cats would like having the scent of cedar all over their fur.

On the other hand, aromatics like cedar do deter fleas or, at least, make them uncomfortable...hopefully uncomfortable enough to go elsewhere.

Maybe you could try some in the places where your cat frequents to see if it deters fleas without deterring the cat as much.
 
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