Why Are Flea Collars Bad?

[MarcEwing]

The doctor strictly forbade wearing a collar at home, they say that flea collars is only for cats who walk at the street.
Our cat is always at home, but it leaves on the balcony often so he can catch a flea.
The question is how do you protect your cats from fleas and what is the harm of collars?
P.S. Sorry if my English is bad :3

 

[Willowy]

Cats can get their collars caught on something and choke. Also, many flea collars are made with dangerous pesticides that can be toxic to cats. Can you get a flea product you put on their skin, like Advantage or Frontline? Those are usually best for housecats.

 

[jen]

I agree completely but just to clarify.... and because I find that I don't know the exact answer myself... we tell people that flea collars are bad due to the pesticides but is that not exactly what the topical flea product is? I struggle to find the right words to explain why the flea collar is bad but the topical flea products (Frontline, Revolution and Advantage) are fine, despite knowing it is true. Someone help?

Is it because they are not from a reputable company such as Revolution, Frontline and Advantage are? If those companies would put out their own flea collars would those be ok?

 

[maggiedemi]

I think it's the type of chemical in the flea collar that some consider bad.

 

[molly92]

I agree completely but just to clarify.... and because I find that I don't know the exact answer myself... we tell people that flea collars are bad due to the pesticides but is that not exactly what the topical flea product is? I struggle to find the right words to explain why the flea collar is bad but the topical flea products (Frontline, Revolution and Advantage) are fine, despite knowing it is true. Someone help?

Is it because they are not from a reputable company such as Revolution, Frontline and Advantage are? If those companies would put out their own flea collars would those be ok?

Seresto (made by Bayer) is pretty much the only flea collar (that I know of) that I trust medically. The rest--Sentry, Hartz, Zodiac, etc--all get terrible reviews for side effects and reactions. Flea and tick products use a wide range of chemicals, and some of them are safer than others.

But I prefer topicals for the physical choking hazard of the collar, mentioned above. Revolution is my favorite. It works well, and it also protects against mosquitoes.

 

[Willowy]

Most flea collars use the toxic old-school pesticides, the kind you'd find in cheap spot-ons like Hartz. Cats don't handle those types of pesticides well.

Currently only Seresto uses a more modern pesticide (same as in Advantage), and it's really expensive. I'm sure more companies will jump on the bandwagon soon. But I'd still rather not use collars for cats.

 

[Kieka]

My vet once told me flea collars are a fence nothing more. They keep the body fleas from going to the head and the head fleas from going to the body but do nothing for the fleas further from the collar.

 

[jen]

Most flea collars use the toxic old-school pesticides, the kind you'd find in cheap spot-ons like Hartz. Cats don't handle those types of pesticides well.

Currently only Seresto uses a more modern pesticide (same as in Advantage), and it's really expensive. I'm sure more companies will jump on the bandwagon soon. But I'd still rather not use collars for cats.

Thank you for clarifying. I figured it was something along those lines but recently someone asked me and I was thinking, I don't know the right answer.

 

[MarcEwing]

My vet once told me flea collars are a fence nothing more. They keep the body fleas from going to the head and the head fleas from going to the body but do nothing for the fleas further from the collar.

Interesting information, but how do you make sure of the concrete collar?

 

[javannalynn]

I used flea collars when i first got my kitties because one had horrible fleas. I had never done any research or ever been to this site before that. Once i started reading you definitely read some horror stories. I was skeptical as i had never heard anything about this before. But i did decide to take them off. they had only been on a few days. All the fur was gone around their necks. I was shocked. They were not tight. I never used them again after that.

 

[ArchyCat]

Here's a horror story. A neighbor put a flea collar on her indoor/outdoor cat. The cat would visit me for pets & screches. The third day the cat had the collar, I was giving her ears a scratch. Looked down and saw some bloody flesh. Looked closer, and saw that the collar had so irritated the cat's flesh that the skin was gone where ever the collar touched the cat. I cut off the collar and put some topical antibiotic. on the wound. I told the owner what had happened. She did not use anymore flea collars. And neither do I.