Arghhh, fleas!

[Parhelion7]

I found a flea on one of my cats I'm "lucky" enough to live in a climate where fleas are completely unavoidable at certain times of the year, but now I've got Ziya, and I'm wondering what the best solution is. My dog could take an oral flea killer, but he's got a food allergy to the beef in it. And there is no pill for cats, as far as I know. I don't particularly like the pills anyway. But I absolutely hate using commercial topical flea solutions - you know, those ones you spread on their backs. I hated them before I got Ziya, and now that I have her I'm cautious about the fumes as well. I could swear I read the name of some product here on this forum before, but I just cannot remember the name and the search box isn't helping at the moment. Something that starts with an S? Or if anyone has any other ideas, please share!

 

[Brooke]

Capstar
Capstar is a one time treatment.
My dog will not chew the tablets (heart worm) so I have to force them to the back of his throat and hold his head up until it's completely swallowed. Sounds cruel... but I promise it's very harmless
I use the liquid flea medicine that you spread on their back, the next day it's completely dry. I would just apply it at night before he goes to sleep and the next morning there should be no fumes. Plus if everyone is asleep, it's easier to keep the animals separated at night

 

[Ziggymon]

Program is an oral treatment for fleas that's available for cats in liquid form or chewable tablet.

Capstar is a pill that's available for dogs and cats. It starts killing fleas almost immediately, but it's only good for 24 hours. It can be used in conjunction with the longer term (month long) treatments, either topical or oral, to get rid of fleas immediately. I use it in conjunction with the long term treatments for my JRT, who has a terrible sensitivity to flea bites.

 

[macawpower58]

I use frontline, which goes on the back (cat an dogs both) once a month. I apply it outside. My birds never come near my dogs, so there's no chance of them getting into it.

Here in Pa, fleas are also horrible right now. I tried the 'natural' approach, and the fleas soon overran me. I went back to the chemicals.

 

[Gypsy]

I found that Revolution gave my cat better results than Frontline. I think Frontline helps them reproduce.

 

[HollyT]

Revolution is the non toxic option. It is also a heart worm preventative. It also helps to treat your home. Our indoor cat ended up with fleas a couple of years ago from our dog who was in and out. We put everyone on Revolution and have never had a problem. The revolution treats wherever the cat goes so we never had to flea bomb the house.

 

[lzver]

We just started using Revolution on Jake. I can't really comment yet on its effectiveness.

 

[Tangle Elf]

I use capstar and advantage multi at the same time as soon as I see a flea. I usually only have to do it about once a year for my cat and every few months for my dog because he goes outside.