Cat flea collar

rockchick113

We’ve been looking at flea collars, one of our cats is a nightmare to put flea drops on, so been looking at a collar, I’ve seen one called seresto that lasts 8 months but it’s about £38 😬.  Happy to get one if it’s got good reviews, or any others we can look at. 

Thank you 😊 

Brie

I feel your pain. 

We had cats for about 30 years and struggled to deal with fleas.  Worst was the foam spray that you were meant to rub into the cat's back.  Which meant you were spraying what looked like whipped cream but immediately behind the cat's head.  And the cat thought it was a huge cat hissing so would go berserk.  

The very best treatment (whose name I forget) was recommended by a cattery.  It was a tablet purchased at the vets and cost about £30.  For one tablet.  BUT it absolutely killed off all the fleas and they never came back.  Officially it was suggested to give the cat a tablet every 6 months but truthfully after the first one we never saw another flea.  Granted this was in a one (very elderly) cat household but there were other cats in the garden, plus foxes and hedgehogs so no doubt fleas were there.  Certainly didn't prevent her having slugs hitchhike into the house.

We never had any success with flea collars as our cats could all have been called Houdini as they wouldn't have a collar for more than a few hours before they abandoned it somewhere.  Granted our one cat had a habit of fetching random collars home with her, just refused to wear them!!

Exodi

Brie said:

The very best treatment (whose name I forget) was recommended by a cattery.  It was a tablet purchased at the vets and cost about £30.  For one tablet.  BUT it absolutely killed off all the fleas and they never came back.  

Similar and possibly related to this, we had very poor success with spot on flea treatments (we were applying one monthly, combing daily, leaving Diatomaceous Earth on soft surfaces, vacuuming regularly and flea bombing rooms monthly and it still didn't make a difference). I was kind of realising that while we could mostly eradicate the fleas round the house, they always seemed to be on the cat and I couldn't put Diamotaceous Earth or flea bomb her!

So I started researching flea treatments and found out the FrontLine Spot On Plus I'd been applying without much luck for the past year used the active ingredient 'Fipronil' (much like many of the popular spot on treatments). After a bit of reading there seemed to be some reviews and other articles that suggested that fleas can be become resistant to Fipronil as it's been used for decades. As a test I swapped to a spot on treatment that used a different active ingredient (Advantage which uses 'Imidacloprid').

The difference was incredible. She had completely stopped scratching by the next day, after a vacuum and a comb I have not seen a flea seen. I've been applying it monthly for 3 months without doing anything else and she's still flea free and not scratching.

So to bring it back to the comment above, it's entirely possible, like in my anecdote, that they just prescribed a treatment with a different active ingredient.

I haven't had much luck with collars - as Brie says, cat's can get out of straight jackets if you look away for more than a minute.

marcia_

 I've never used a flea collar because if outdoor cats collars can be dangerous. I get advocate from the vet for £14 a month. Apparently advantage and frontline are no longer effective, the fleas have become immune to them. 

Katiehound

A long time ago I used Program flea treatment for my dog. This broke the flea cycle in that it made them sterile.  It used to be available for cats too but google has mixed reports- not sure if it has gone for good........

Lorian

Our cat (rip) was not good at having flea drops. And I echo everything above about several types no longer being effective.

 I would have to open the packet out of earshot and twist the top off quietly and then apply it while she was distracted at which point she would be very annoyed!

 Towards the end of her life we used a sorento collar and it seemed to be effective longer than stated on the tin, but still pretty expensive.

Exodi

marcia_ said:

 I've never used a flea collar because if outdoor cats collars can be dangerous. I get advocate from the vet for £14 a month. Apparently advantage and frontline are no longer effective, the fleas have become immune to them. 

I'd assume this is alluding to my comment as you refer to the both treatments I mentioned, and echoed my views on resistance to FrontLines active ingredient (Fipronil). That said the comment about Advantage is quite odd, given Advocate relies on exactly the same active ingredient as Advantage (Imidacloprid).

Since this is a money saving site, I'd recommend giving Advantage a go. It doesn't require a prescription and you can pick up 4 months worth for £12.98 with free delivery (so under a quarter of the price you're paying).

https://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/advantage-spot-on-flea-treatment

marcia_

Exodi said:

marcia_ said:

 I've never used a flea collar because if outdoor cats collars can be dangerous. I get advocate from the vet for £14 a month. Apparently advantage and frontline are no longer effective, the fleas have become immune to them. 

I'd assume this is alluding to my comment as you refer to the both treatments I mentioned, and echoed my views on resistance to FrontLines active ingredient (Fipronil). That said the comment about Advantage is quite odd, given Advocate relies on exactly the same active ingredient as Advantage (Imidacloprid).

Since this is a money saving site, I'd recommend giving Advantage a go. It doesn't require a prescription and you can pick up 4 months worth for £12.98 with free delivery (so under a quarter of the price you're paying).

https://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/advantage-spot-on-flea-treatment

 From the cattery I use. This is on the advice of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. 

"Alot of people are already struggling to purchase prescription flea treatments from vets and are being told to buy flea treatments from pet shops. Unfortunately because many years ago when we used to accept cats with pets shop brand flea treatments we had many many outbreaks of fleas in the cattery because these over the counter brands that you can buy without prescription are simply not strong enough for a cattery environment. Over the past several years since we started accepting prescription only flea treatments weve managed to beat flea outbreaks! 

These new rules from vets could make it really difficult to purchase flea treatments it's only the first week in September and already 3 customers can't manage to get flea treatments from their vets due to supply issues so please make sure you order your flea treatment in advance of your holiday"

Green_hopeful

We use Credelio flea tablets because our cat hates the drops. They are prescription only. We pay £48 for six tablets including the prescription. They have different risks than drops but they work for us. They treat cats up to 8kg so I cut them in half. They say they don’t recommend giving half because they don’t have a line to cut them. https://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/credelio-chewable-tablets-for-cats-48mg I haven’t bought them online but you would need a prescription to get them. 

Exodi

marcia_ said:

Exodi said:

marcia_ said:

 I've never used a flea collar because if outdoor cats collars can be dangerous. I get advocate from the vet for £14 a month. Apparently advantage and frontline are no longer effective, the fleas have become immune to them. 

I'd assume this is alluding to my comment as you refer to the both treatments I mentioned, and echoed my views on resistance to FrontLines active ingredient (Fipronil). That said the comment about Advantage is quite odd, given Advocate relies on exactly the same active ingredient as Advantage (Imidacloprid).

Since this is a money saving site, I'd recommend giving Advantage a go. It doesn't require a prescription and you can pick up 4 months worth for £12.98 with free delivery (so under a quarter of the price you're paying).

https://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/advantage-spot-on-flea-treatment

 From the cattery I use. This is on the advice of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. 

"Alot of people are already struggling to purchase prescription flea treatments from vets and are being told to buy flea treatments from pet shops. Unfortunately because many years ago when we used to accept cats with pets shop brand flea treatments we had many many outbreaks of fleas in the cattery because these over the counter brands that you can buy without prescription are simply not strong enough for a cattery environment. Over the past several years since we started accepting prescription only flea treatments weve managed to beat flea outbreaks! 

These new rules from vets could make it really difficult to purchase flea treatments it's only the first week in September and already 3 customers can't manage to get flea treatments from their vets due to supply issues so please make sure you order your flea treatment in advance of your holiday"

With respect, it's most likely that the "pet shop brand flea treatments" that they refer to are Fipronil based. As I said in my first comment, this is by far the most popular active ingredient (used in FrontLine).

I don't want to repeat myself but the idea "over the counter brands that you can buy without prescription are simply not strong enough" is nonsense.

• The non-prescription Imidacloprid based spot on I buy (Advantage) includes 40mg of active ingredient (for use on a cat up to 4kg).
• The prescription Imidacloprid based spot on you buy (Advocate) includes 40mg of active ingredient (for use on a cat up to 4kg).

The idea that Advocate is stronger because of its prescription status or branding is simply not true.  The only difference between the two (except the name) is the latter includes Moxidectin which is added to prevent worms. Some people may be happy to pay more for the worming aspect, not going to debate that, but the cattery has arrived at a false conclusion (pointing at the prescription status as the problem, instead of flea resistance to the specific active ingredients commonly found in pet shop brand flea treatments).

And before the appeal to authority (e.g. 'so you think you know more than my vet?'), I'll just say it's not a surprise that the vet would recommend you buy the prescription version from them.

I mentioned it to save you over a tenner a month (this is a money saving site after all), obviously it doesn't affect me one iota whether you choose to continue buying from your vet or not. But I would add you can also buy Advocate online (with a valid prescription) for likely a lot less than your vet would charge: https://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/brand-advocate

marcia_

Exodi said:

marcia_ said:

Exodi said:

marcia_ said:

 I've never used a flea collar because if outdoor cats collars can be dangerous. I get advocate from the vet for £14 a month. Apparently advantage and frontline are no longer effective, the fleas have become immune to them. 

I'd assume this is alluding to my comment as you refer to the both treatments I mentioned, and echoed my views on resistance to FrontLines active ingredient (Fipronil). That said the comment about Advantage is quite odd, given Advocate relies on exactly the same active ingredient as Advantage (Imidacloprid).

Since this is a money saving site, I'd recommend giving Advantage a go. It doesn't require a prescription and you can pick up 4 months worth for £12.98 with free delivery (so under a quarter of the price you're paying).

https://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/advantage-spot-on-flea-treatment

 From the cattery I use. This is on the advice of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. 

"Alot of people are already struggling to purchase prescription flea treatments from vets and are being told to buy flea treatments from pet shops. Unfortunately because many years ago when we used to accept cats with pets shop brand flea treatments we had many many outbreaks of fleas in the cattery because these over the counter brands that you can buy without prescription are simply not strong enough for a cattery environment. Over the past several years since we started accepting prescription only flea treatments weve managed to beat flea outbreaks! 

These new rules from vets could make it really difficult to purchase flea treatments it's only the first week in September and already 3 customers can't manage to get flea treatments from their vets due to supply issues so please make sure you order your flea treatment in advance of your holiday"

With respect, it's most likely that the "pet shop brand flea treatments" that they refer to are Fipronil based. As I said in my first comment, this is by far the most popular active ingredient (used in FrontLine).

I don't want to repeat myself but the idea "over the counter brands that you can buy without prescription are simply not strong enough" is nonsense.

• The non-prescription Imidacloprid based spot on I buy (Advantage) includes 40mg of active ingredient (for use on a cat up to 4kg).
• The prescription Imidacloprid based spot on you buy (Advocate) includes 40mg of active ingredient (for use on a cat up to 4kg).

The idea that Advocate is stronger because of its prescription status or branding is simply not true.  The only difference between the two (except the name) is the latter includes Moxidectin which is added to prevent worms. Some people may be happy to pay more for the worming aspect, not going to debate that, but the cattery has arrived at a false conclusion (pointing at the prescription status as the problem, instead of flea resistance to the specific active ingredients commonly found in pet shop brand flea treatments).

And before the appeal to authority (e.g. 'so you think you know more than my vet?'), I'll just say it's not a surprise that the vet would recommend you buy the prescription version from them.

I mentioned it to save you over a tenner a month (this is a money saving site after all), obviously it doesn't affect me one iota whether you choose to continue buying from your vet or not. But I would add you can also buy Advocate online (with a valid prescription) for likely a lot less than your vet would charge: https://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/brand-advocate

 

 TY I need to use advocate because my cats are in the cattery at least twice a year. They can't take cats who have non prescription flea treatment