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Flea treatments
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Just wondered if anyone had had any problem with a flea treatment called Strong**ld, its the 'spot-on' one that does all three treatments,flea's,heart worm, and ear mites. Only Ive recently given all 12 of my cats a dose after discovering that one cat had flea's (its far too expensive to use every 4-5 weeks as a preventative with so many cats so I normally wait until there's a sign of a flea or flea's then I treat all the cats. I particularly liked that one that does all 3 things because its handy for doing strays to ensure all three problems have been taken care of. Anyway, I digress (as usual). For some reason it hasn't done the job with regards to the fleas. The one cat who alerted me to them in the first place has still got them (to my horror cos for one I hate the ******* and for 2 Ive spent a small fortune stocking up on the Strong****. It was almost a week ago that I used it and I sprayed the house with Household flea treatment too. Ive an idea that its the result of the orphaned kittens that we were bottle feeding a few weeks back, the poor little things were absolutely running with fleas (I used the Frontline spray on them but one or two fleas must have managed to escape (on to one of my cats!).
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i don't envy your task - we have two cats who very recently had fleas... they infested our house!!!!!
at the time i researched alot on the net and found that these treatments dont work if you have a real problem - They suggested that the fleas become immune to the treatment and as more eggs hatch, they just latch onto the cats again (or yourself as the case was in our house). The most effective treatment is a thing called program which is an injection the vet gives the cat, it does something to the fleas fertility, as well as this you have to hoover your house and any cat bedding until it is basically threadbare - they also suggest destroying hoover bags after every use as the fleas can escape!!!!!
hope this helps!
at the time i researched alot on the net and found that these treatments dont work if you have a real problem - They suggested that the fleas become immune to the treatment and as more eggs hatch, they just latch onto the cats again (or yourself as the case was in our house). The most effective treatment is a thing called program which is an injection the vet gives the cat, it does something to the fleas fertility, as well as this you have to hoover your house and any cat bedding until it is basically threadbare - they also suggest destroying hoover bags after every use as the fleas can escape!!!!!
hope this helps!
Blimey, that was a quick response! thanks 6758 (can I call you 6 for short?). Yes You're dead right about the constant hoovering and thats something Ive gotten into the habit of doing for years (I do the whole house thoroughly once a day). If I only had one or two cats the Program injection would be ideal but I could never afford it with so many cats.
I could understand the strongh*** not working so well if the infestation was really heavy but the fact that it was only one cat I think shows it couldn't have been that bad or they all would have had them. The expiry date is Nov 2008 so that wouldnt have been the problem. Maybe it's just time to change the make. I know Frontline is very reliable so maybe I'll stick with that in future.
I could understand the strongh*** not working so well if the infestation was really heavy but the fact that it was only one cat I think shows it couldn't have been that bad or they all would have had them. The expiry date is Nov 2008 so that wouldnt have been the problem. Maybe it's just time to change the make. I know Frontline is very reliable so maybe I'll stick with that in future.
Hey lizzydrippin!
I know how you feel, although we dont have 12, we have 7 cats!
We use frontline for them all but we have to be specially careful as one of my cats has a severe reaction to flea bites. Found out a month ago, but we cant even risk waiting until one has one then treating them, as by then Spinks will have pulled out her furr and attacked herself!
She now has to have steriod injections and frontline combi every 4 weeks which comes to quite a cost!
Frontline combi not only does the cat but also the environment around them, but is unfortunately only available with prescription!
I know how you feel, although we dont have 12, we have 7 cats!
We use frontline for them all but we have to be specially careful as one of my cats has a severe reaction to flea bites. Found out a month ago, but we cant even risk waiting until one has one then treating them, as by then Spinks will have pulled out her furr and attacked herself!
She now has to have steriod injections and frontline combi every 4 weeks which comes to quite a cost!
Frontline combi not only does the cat but also the environment around them, but is unfortunately only available with prescription!
Here's a bit of scary bedtime reading for you:
http://www.apnm.org/publications/resources/fle achemfin.pdf
Be afraid, be very afraid!
One word of warning, if you are using a combined product for worms/fleas, don't then use an additional wormer/flea treatment, as you will overdose.
http://www.apnm.org/publications/resources/fle achemfin.pdf
Be afraid, be very afraid!
One word of warning, if you are using a combined product for worms/fleas, don't then use an additional wormer/flea treatment, as you will overdose.
I have 9 cats and a visiting stray and have used Frontline Combo which I find more effective than ordinary Frontline. I don't use it as prescribed, as I avoid medicating any animal unless absolutely necessary. I find that using it once every 6 or so months does the trick and then only if I see a flea! To keep costs down if you have multiple cats, buy the Frontline Combo for a very large dog - you get 3 large doses. If you decant one dose into a small bottle, you then use an insulin syringe(minus needle) to dose each cat with the prescribed small dose - it is sufficient for 8 cats. One of my cats is allergic to Frontline so I leave her out. This has solved the flea problem for me. Hope you have good luck with the ear mites - there are natural remedies available to treat them.
I recently had a flea problem with only ONE cat and that was bad enough, so I realy sympathise. I used fronline combi as that is supposed to work not just on the fleas but also eggs etc. I also used Gentrix RIP which I got from the vet...it is a house spray that is applied to carpets and pet bedding. It is effective for up to 12months and also works on the flea eggs and larvae.( apparently they can live for months-yuck!) It took about a week before Cleo stopped scratching so furiously, and now,3weeks later, I have only seen a few rather tired looking fleas-thank goodness!!
Thanks for all your answers. I popped into the vets yesterday and got stocked up on some Frontline though I realized after buying it that in my panic on seeing flea's when I wasn't expecting to see them I'd completely overlooked that I wouldn't be able to actually use the frontline for at least a couple of weeks anyway (like you said iankeela). Apart from that, the vet said it had nothing to do with the stronghold but it was because there is an epidemic of fleas this year due to the dodgy weather we've been having (wet and warm etc) and all flea treatments werent working as efficiently as they should (does sound abit strange that, but I didnt buy the stronghold from the vet so he'd have no reason to defend it. In fact him saying that almost put me off from buying the frontline.
Lily Im amazed that you can use a dog flea treatment on a cat! Ive always believed they were completely different. I agree about not wanting to put these heavy duty chemicals on the cats too often and sometimes we've been lucky enough to go for two or three years without a flea in sight. I do the house as a matter of course with Acclaim (from the vet) though I hate using the stuff, I have to crawl around the house for hours beforehand evicting every spider I can find so's they don't get caught in the 'big flea massacre'.
Wiggal we used to have a cat that suffered with that flea bite allergy (she died of old age a few years back) and she was the same, one flea bite and she would really suffer badly the same as Spinks. Ennie also went on to steroids which worked wonders.
6758, How on earth do you destroy a hoover bag?
Iankeela, After your warning I was indeed too afraid to look at the link (though I think I might have to in a minute cos I can't stand the suspense! its about fleas right? okay, here goes..
Lily Im amazed that you can use a dog flea treatment on a cat! Ive always believed they were completely different. I agree about not wanting to put these heavy duty chemicals on the cats too often and sometimes we've been lucky enough to go for two or three years without a flea in sight. I do the house as a matter of course with Acclaim (from the vet) though I hate using the stuff, I have to crawl around the house for hours beforehand evicting every spider I can find so's they don't get caught in the 'big flea massacre'.
Wiggal we used to have a cat that suffered with that flea bite allergy (she died of old age a few years back) and she was the same, one flea bite and she would really suffer badly the same as Spinks. Ennie also went on to steroids which worked wonders.
6758, How on earth do you destroy a hoover bag?
Iankeela, After your warning I was indeed too afraid to look at the link (though I think I might have to in a minute cos I can't stand the suspense! its about fleas right? okay, here goes..
Hi again Lizzy :)
I would advise never using a dog treatment on cats!
I posted a while ago re Bob martin and not to use it, but when speaking to my vet about it, she said you would be amazed how many cats they see that have had the dog treatment used on them and it is highly toxic to cats and they end up in the vets seriously sick and also it can easily be fatal.
She also said about the de wormer (i asked her as had used the week before!) do not use it! They have cats in who have reacted to it and can have fits for up to 48 hours after!
So I will never be using anything other then frontline on my cats & dog!
I would advise never using a dog treatment on cats!
I posted a while ago re Bob martin and not to use it, but when speaking to my vet about it, she said you would be amazed how many cats they see that have had the dog treatment used on them and it is highly toxic to cats and they end up in the vets seriously sick and also it can easily be fatal.
She also said about the de wormer (i asked her as had used the week before!) do not use it! They have cats in who have reacted to it and can have fits for up to 48 hours after!
So I will never be using anything other then frontline on my cats & dog!
Cheers Wiggal, I do hope that Lily reads our bits about not using dog flea treatments on cats. I used to work as a volunteer at the Harmsworth (where Rolf Harris did his bit at the RSPCA hospital in North London)
and I recall on more than one occasion people bringing in very ill cats that had been given flea treatments that were meant for dogs. I hope she will at least seek the advice of her vet. I must say that the stronghold I gave my cats has now sorted all the fleas out, it just seemed to take more than the 24hrs it's supposed to take (better late than never).
I totally agree about Bob Mart*** not working, the same goes for any treatments bought in supermarkets or petshops. Its a false economy. Better to pay out abit more and get something that works (like Frontline) from the vet.
and I recall on more than one occasion people bringing in very ill cats that had been given flea treatments that were meant for dogs. I hope she will at least seek the advice of her vet. I must say that the stronghold I gave my cats has now sorted all the fleas out, it just seemed to take more than the 24hrs it's supposed to take (better late than never).
I totally agree about Bob Mart*** not working, the same goes for any treatments bought in supermarkets or petshops. Its a false economy. Better to pay out abit more and get something that works (like Frontline) from the vet.
Blimey, I hope the neighbours cat has been done by now or it'll be running alive with the little rotters! Did you know (anybody) that it is illegal to not treat your pet for fleas when needed? you can actually be prosecuted for it (causing uneccessary suffering to an animal) and it really does cause them suffering if left untreated.
http://www.town-and-country-vets.co.uk/flea.ph p
This will tell you about it Gwennie
This will tell you about it Gwennie
http://www.fleafree.co.uk/index.shtml
everything you ever wanted to know about fleas and more!
everything you ever wanted to know about fleas and more!
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