New cat

Lilith1980

Hi all

I'm totally new to this area of MSE as we got a cat from a rescue centre yesterday called Charlie :j

He is four years old and will be an indoor cat as we live near a main road and there are a lot of feril (sp.) cats in our area too.

We bought him a flea collar but will give him time to get used to us before trying to put it on, just in case he caught any from the other cats in the rescue centre. But after this collar has "run out", do we need to put another one on him if he is being kept indoors and there are no other pets in the house?

Sorry if I sound daft but I've not had a cat before, although my husband has but he's not sure either lol.

Thanks

Fire_Fox

Congratulations on your new cat! I am getting an indoor rescue cat in the next couple of weeks too. There is a thread that I started asking about indoor cats and fleas were covered:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1932035

Flea collars are pretty rubbish at getting rid of fleas, and the cat can be allergic to the chemicals in them, or get his collar caught and strangle himself. If you want to use a collar try a quick-release one. Is your new cat microchipped?

geri1965_2

If it's a Bob Martin collar you may as well throw it away for all the use it will be.

Does he actually have fleas? I wouldn't get anything if you don't know there is a problem. I had two cats until recently and one of them was never treated for fleas - she just didn't need it. The other one has to be done every month or she starts scratching madly.

Lilith1980

Hi, no we don't know if Charlie is microchipped - we'll be taking him to get resgistered at our local vet next week.

I have no reason to think Charlie has fleas - he's no scratching and neither are we. So maybe nothing needs to be done at the moment?

If we did need to "de-flea" him, would drops be better than a collar?

Thanks

geri1965_2

Drops are better, and it's best if he is checked by a vet first. The drops you get from a vet are more expensive but worth it as they actually work.

If you're getting him from a reputable place I would have thought he should be free of fleas anyway though.

picklepick

Please dont put the flea collar on your cat, it may well kill him!!

Go to the vets and get a prescription from over the counter flea treatment.

BeenieCat

picklepick wrote: »

Please dont put the flea collar on your cat, it may well kill him!!

This is a bit of an extreme thing to say without elaborating, don't you think?!

picklepick

Not really.

Bob Martin Flea Products contain ingredients that some cats are allergic to. I've seen it, its not pleasant.

jessbob

BeenieCat wrote: »

This is a bit of an extreme thing to say without elaborating, don't you think?!

I think that there's some talk about problems with the Bob Martin stuff. I know my daughter was telling me something about it the other day, but wasn't listening:rotfl:

jessbob

Congratulations Lileth on your new addition:T

Animals are priceless:j

BeenieCat

picklepick wrote: »

Not really.

Bob Martin Flea Products contain ingredients that some cats are allergic to. I've seen it, its not pleasant.

Well, i didn't know that so i doubt everyone else did, thanks.