what flea products do you use on your cat(s)? And how much do you use? for example the frontline plus comes in

Question

a little 'capsule' that you put on their shoulder/neck area once a month.

but I was looking at all the flea meds that their are now for cats and comparing prices but doing that requires knowing how much you need to use.

I have 2. Both older cats. One male and one female. Are ALL the flea meds safe? For cats with health problems? One has a heart conditon and the other is hypothyroid. Both are controlled with meds. Would all the flea meds be safe?

Answer 1

I use Front Line or Revolution on my kitties, when I actually need to. But fleas don't come in this house in the first place, so it's not a huge problem here.

Now, I've never had a kitty that didn't have a bad reaction to flea collars. So I don't use them!

You'll need to read the packages on the flea repellant you use to see if they're safe for your cats. And if you're not sure, ask your vet.

Good luck!

Answer 2

The major flea control methods for cats are Frontline & Revolution. They both are once monthly application and are water proof 2 days before or after a bath. The difference between these two products are their main ingredients If your cats go outside them I recommend using Revolution: its active ingredient is selemectin which prevents heartworms, sarcoptic mange, fleas, ticks, ear mites and feline hookworms/roundworm parasites. Frontline (active ingredient: fipronil) protects against lice, fleas and ticks only. Do not use any product that contain pyrethrins. They are toxic to cats and cause neurologic disorders in cats ie tremors/seizures. Over the counter products I don't typically find reliable. Flea collars only prevent fleas around the neck so they are useless.

Answer 3

They should be safe, but ask your vet to make sure.
I personally prefer Revolution, which is only available from a vet's office. The dose is based on the cats' weight. Revolution not only kills fleas, but ticks, earmites, heartworm and mange mites as well. It costs about $15 a pop but is far superior to the stuff available at the pet store. I highly recommend it.
And unless you live in a very flea-prone area such as the Deep South, you might wish to purchase it only on an as-needed basis, as I do.

Answer 4

Products from vets (your vet will tell you the dosage you need to use):

If your cats are indoor-only, you could use Program
http://www.program.novartis.us/cat/en/about.shtml
It is a pill (or suspension) that doesn't kill adult fleas, but prevents them from reproducing, so if a flea gets into your house and bites one of the cats it will just die and not cause a flea population explosion. Program is supposed to be very safe, even for senior cats. Before I got a dog, I used Program on my cats. I gave the pills (broken into quarters & given 1/4 pill at a time b/c the pills are huge), as I had trouble getting them to eat the suspension in their food.

I currently use Advantage
http://www.nofleas.com/Advantage-for-Cats.asp
on my senior cats, because I have a dog who comes in & out frequently, and I live in a climate where fleas are a year-round problem, so I want to use a medicine that will kill any fleas that make it into the house. In my personal experience, Frontline doesn't seem to be as effective for fleas as Advantage is. But if you have ticks in your area, you'll want to use Frontline
http://frontline.us.merial.com/products/index.asp
or another product that will kill ticks, as Advantage doesn't work for ticks.

Revolution is another option
http://www.revolution4cats.com/display.asp?country=US&lang=EN&drug=RV&species=FL&sec=100
I use it on my outdoor feral, but not for my indoor-only cats, because they're elderly, and Revolution is a relatively new product (I prefer to wait to use products until they've been on the market for several years, in case adverse reactions start popping up & it ends up getting recalled). Revolution is good for cats who go outdoors because it kills fleas, ear mites, mange mites, and heartworms and intestinal parasites. But I believe the product has warnings about using it on sick or elderly pets, so double-check with your vet first.

Capstar
http://www.capstar.novartis.us/cat/en/about.shtml
is another option - it will kill all the fleas on a cat, but it doesn't have any residual effect, so it would have to be used in combination with another long-term flea control product if you live in an area where fleas are a problem. I've never tried it on my pets.

Since your cats have health conditions, I would strongly recommend asking your vet for a recommendation for flea control. Your vet will know which product is the safest choice for your cats.


Products from grocery, discount stores, and pet stores:
Please stay away from these flea products. Some of those flea drops have been associated with severe and even fatal reactions in some cats. Cats are very sensitive to pesticides such as permethrin (extremely toxic to any cat) and pyrethrin (can be toxic to sensitive cats - better not to risk it!). Flea collars aren't good either - they can cause skin irritation or toxic reactions in some cats, and they aren't very effective against fleas.
http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/family/3384622/detail.html
(An Internet search for similar stories will yield several similar events.)

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

when fleas are on my ki ki's, what I do is pour honey all over them and put them in a nice hot tub of water and the fleas come running off, and it costs barely anything.