New cat

picklepick

Sorry, i didnt mean to sound alarmist but its a subject that makes me angry to think about.
It annoys me that pet shops continue to sell them.

Lots of cats can suffer chemical burns and fur loss from flea collars and uncontrolled flea spot ons. At the very least they're uneffective anyway!

nanokitten

The best flea treatments are: frontline (available wihout prescription from pet stores and online) some folks experience resistance but I would try this first as the others are prescription only and so more expensive.
Stronghold, Advantage are also good but will need to be bought from the vet. If puss doesn't go out I might just treat for fleas once on arrival and then check regularly and only treat when you see evidence (little black bits of dirt found when combing that turn red brown when wet, you'll never see a flea until its really bad as they are good at hiding).
You'll also need to worm puss every 3 months (as they can catch worms from fleas even if they don't go out) Bets ones are milbemax (from vets) or drontal tablets or profenderdrops (vets) if you have problems with tablets, these cover the most worms (round, tape, hook). Again I wouldn't touch bob martain (my cat had the worst rash when I used it).

JoolzS

I just feel horribly, horribly, sad for a cat that is supposed to be an "indoor cat".

It is just unnatural and cruel and I cannot belive that anyone who loves cats can force any one of them to endure such cruelty!!!

SnowyOwl_2

JoolzS wrote: »

I just feel horribly, horribly, sad for a cat that is supposed to be an "indoor cat".

It is just unnatural and cruel and I cannot belive that anyone who loves cats can force any one of them to endure such cruelty!!!

And that is a completely different debate. This doesn't answer the OP's question in any way. She has taken a cat from a refuge and is giving it a good home, there is no cruelty involved. Get a grip.

Lilith1980

JoolzS wrote: »

I just feel horribly, horribly, sad for a cat that is supposed to be an "indoor cat".

It is just unnatural and cruel and I cannot belive that anyone who loves cats can force any one of them to endure such cruelty!!!

I find that quite offensive - I live near a main road and as I said in my first post there are a lot of wild cats around here. I think it's safest for the cat that he stays in and we have a massive flat (on two floors) so he has got plenty of room to wander around.

Like someone else has said, we have taken him from a rescue centre and he's gone from being a stray to being extremely loved in his new home. I didn't ask anyone's opinion on him being an indoor or outdoor cat.

My original question was about fleas but never mind eh :rolleyes:

walwin

There's some good advice from nanokitten re. the flea and worming treatments, so I needn't add my voice to that.

I just wanted to wish you all the best with Charlie and welcome you to the pet forum

Lilith1980

Thanks Walwin

I think I will take Charlie to the vet first and see what he says. Probably best to see what an "expert" says rather than me making a mistake

lowis

JoolzS wrote: »

I just feel horribly, horribly, sad for a cat that is supposed to be an "indoor cat".

It is just unnatural and cruel and I cannot belive that anyone who loves cats can force any one of them to endure such cruelty!!!

absolute rubbish. thousands of well-cared for and loved cats are absolutely happy and fine as indoor-only cats.

OP - have you got insurance for your cat? might be an idea if you do not have ready access to pots of money. their medical bills can run into thousands if anything fairly significant happens...!

nanokitten

Good point about insurance Lowis - check out the insurance sticky (and the cheap pet meds sticky once you've decided which ones to go for). we normally reccommend a true for life policy (you have to be careful as some make out they are but aren't) which will pay out for the life of the cat if they get a chronic condition such as diabetes etc. Axa, petplan (not the budget one) NFU, HSBC, M&S (though they may change underwriters so be careful). Obviously budget is a factor and there are cheaper policies which give more limited cover (eg just for the first year of a condition or up to a limit which is not replenished each year). If Puss appears healthy and was checked over at the rescue place you may want to get insured first and go to the vets once the (normally 2 week) lag period is over. (obviously not if the cat seems poorly) Otherwise any conditions discovered by the vet will not be covered by the policy (an never will be by any insurer).

emlou2009

what a load of rubbish about it being cruel to keep a cat indoors. if they dont know any different how can it be cruel? and even if they do know different, its less cruel to keep them in than have them knocked down on a main road, after which they will either die in extreme pain, crawl away to die in extreme pain or have to have numerous ops to fix broken limbs, again resulting in extreme pain! also there are a lot of cruel people in the world who are less than pleasant to cats. i'll be keeping my cat indoors, he is a balinese and i would be forever worried he had been catnapped for his fur if i let him out.