Cat Flea Treatment

Curry_Queen

The active ingredient in Frontline is Fipronil, but yes, it does work in the same way and is just as good, and is also effective against ticks as well as fleas. You can either buy it in the "spot-on" vials the same as Advantage or in a bottle with a pump-type aerosol, which is much quieter than your usual aerosol can so as not to startle the animal too much, although I'm not sure that my cats would agree!

If you've got a multi-cat household (or dogs as well, because Frontline is used on both of them) then it is more cost effective to buy a bottle than the vials. I would also advise interchanging the products you use annually as fleas can build up a tolerance over time, thus reducing the effectiveness of the product you use and having to treat them more often. A vet I spoke to recently told me current advice was to use Frontline every 4 weeks now, opposed to every 8 weeks that was recommended when the product first hit the market. If any of you own horses then it's the same principle as you would use with a worming regime for them.

A couple of other products you might want to look at are Stronghold, again effective against fleas but also against ear mites, sarcoptic mange mite and roundworms too! You would still need to treat separately for tapeworm though. And Program, which doesn't actually kill fleas but sterilises them to stop them from breeding, so would initially be used alongside a topical application, but is a good long term preventative product, and comes in an oral liquid or injection.

I'm aware there's a new product on the market too, called Capstar, but I know very little about it at the moment so maybe Allycat could comment further on this if she has any experience of it. I think I'm right in assuming she's currently in practice, whereas I'm not at the moment.


Edit: I forgot to mention household sprays! I don't know which ones you've tried already but the best one to get is Acclaim, made by a company called Vetkem, again available from your vet and is also a POM, if I recall correctly, so you would need a prescripton to buy eslewhere as with all the other products.

Good luck!

penrhyn

If you have a flee infestation you might wish to consider using your local authorities pest control service.
Our council, Erewash, charges £50, or free if on means tested benefits.
BTW I use Staykill as a household treatment, last time it cost me £16 for a can from the vet.
Program injections cost £30 per animal at our vets.
A friend of mine has had an infestsation recently and followed the procedure that curry queen suggested ,(frontline +program+houshold spray) she seems to be on top of the problem now.

bennygod

My vet told me that Bob Martin flea treatment was dangerous to cats and that we shouldn't use it. But I hardly think that they would be able to sell it if this was the case. Anyone heard anything similar to this or is my vet (PDSA) just slandering Bob Martin cos he want's me to buy from him?

taxi97w

bennygod wrote:

My vet told me that Bob Martin flea treatment was dangerous to cats and that we shouldn't use it. But I hardly think that they would be able to sell it if this was the case. Anyone heard anything similar to this or is my vet (PDSA) just slandering Bob Martin cos he want's me to buy from him?

I gave this to one of my other cats and he had a minor stroke and suffered (not sure of the spelling) enclampsia.

Curry_Queen

penrhyn wrote:

BTW I use Staykill as a household treatment, last time it cost me £16 for a can from the vet.

Nuvan Staykill (household spray in large yellow can - not to be confused with the small orange cans of Nuvan Top flea spray, which contain organophosphates and are highly toxic both to us and animals) is good and works, but only gives 6mths protection, whereas Vetkem Acclaim only needs to be used once per year usually, and is slightly cheaper too at £12-£14 for the same size can

Claudie

We too use Frontline; our Vet also said to stay away from Bob Martin - not because it was dangerous but because it just doesn't work and ends up being a false economy.

When we first got our cat last year he was full of fleas, a quick bath with anti flea soap and some Frontline and he has been perfect ever since.

travel_freak

Curry Queen - thanks a million for taking the time to reply with such full detail. I now know exactly what my options are and I am determined to obliterate those little blighters from my house. One of our cats has been eating a lot recently so may well have worms too so I'm going to get her well dosed up. I do usually look after them much better than this - honest! - I've been trying for about the last month using supermarket stuff which turns out to have been a false economy - have lost count of the number of times I've washed their bedding, our bedding and the rest of the house now! Anyway, thanks again - and too everyone else who has replied.

aeuerby

I used the acclaim household spary on my carpets and soft furnishings. It worked almost immediately. I used it as a last resort before giving in the pesky blighters and having to pay extortionate consultation fees at the vets just to be told my cats have fleas!

I didn't use any other treatment on the cats (which has got to be better for them) and we have stayed flea free for 6 months ish so far.

I got mine from http://www.vet-medic.com/

It came within a day or 2.

Angela.

Jay-Jay_4

It really is false economy to keep buying pet shop and supermarket treatments.

I think I put on one of the other threads that I frontlined my cats, hoovered the entire house, squirted Acclaim in every corner, nook and cranny. Closed all the windows and doors and went out for a few hours. When I came back I hoovered again and the problem was sorted for good

Fondue_2

We had an <eugh> flea problem about a year or so ago.

My little cat rocked up at the back door with a dead mouse. Disgusted though I was, I was quite impressed that my wussy cat had brought me a present back. However, when OH got home (and was ordered to clean up the mouse on the doorstep) he reported that he'd seen it in the alley a couple of days ago. Ick! And lo and behold we got a flea infection, probably caught from all the other kitties who'd played with the dead mouse.

But I digress...

Best thing that worked for us was the yellow aerasol that CurryQueen mentions. We basically moved everything in the house, hoovered and sprayed. The little buggers were literally jumping across the sofa pre-treatment and post-treatment, nada.

Also, we very enthusiastically frontlined for about 3 months but haven't bothered since and no problems. We bought cheap frontline from a French website. Forgot the addy I'm afraid but if you google you might find them.

Supermarket stuff is totally useless.

ETA- we also bought an electric flea comb from argos. Not sure how useful it is, but quite fulfilling when you see the fleas fry! Cats not so impressed however...