Flea Treatment for Sensitive Cat?

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Shelly & Jersey (GA)

Shelly & Jersey (GA)

Member Since 2014
Happy Monday!

Sorry for the OT post, but I'm at a loss here. And since you all were instrumental with helping me get Jersey into remission, I'm hoping you can help me out with my civvie, too. He has recently developed a skin sensitivity to topical flea treatments (Revolution and Frontline), which includes hair loss and what appears to be a chemical burn at the site of application. The vet told us to switch brands, which we did...but we got the same results. At this point, I refuse to try another topical, once-a-month flea treatment for him (despite the vet's encouragement) and am wondering about alternatives. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Shelly
 
Program is an anti-flea med.
There is also oral Capstar but only kills the ones on the cats in a day or so but has no lasting effect.
 
Is your cat an outdoor cat exposed to a risk of getting fleas? I've never given any of my cats flea meds and never had fleas. (I do live in ND, maybe we just freeze all of our fleas and our risk is much lower?) If your cat has little risk to getting fleas and the meds are hard on him, I'd skip the maintenance meds, treat fleas if you do happen to get them.
 
You could try food grade diatomaceous earth. Make sure it is the food grade type and not the type sold by swimming pool suppliers as a filtering agent. You can find the food grade type at a lot of feed & seed stores or online.

You will put a light coat of it on his fur. It will not hurt him if he grooms himself. Fair warning though, this stuff is dusty, so if you can apply it outside, I would suggest doing so. :mrgreen: You can also use this on your lawn to help control the fleas.
 
I would be very careful trying different brands of topical flea treatments. Our vet advised that some of them say they are safe for cats, but are actually very harmful. She has had several cats that almost died after receiving them.

I agree with Melanie, though. Our cat is an indoor kitty and we have never had an issue with fleas. The vet still encourages us to treat for them as a preventative, but in light of all of Tisha's other issues (all worse with stress), we have opted not to treat this summer without issues.

As an alternative, what about a good old-fashioned flea collar? Just make sure it's short enough that he can't try to chew it off. (Tisha tried to chew off the calming collar that our vet recommended and she ended up with a horrible tummy ache.)
 
Capstar is fairly safe, to the point you can buy the large dog size and split into 4ths to save money.

Food grade diatomaceous earth should be gently fubbed into the fur. It is not good for you or your cat to breathe much of this as it can irritate the lungs. You may put modest amounts on floors and furniture, as well as any favorite bedding.

Dawn dishsoap and a bath will help remove fleas, as will diligent use of a flea comb. Drop any fur and fleas into soapy water.

Use multiple tactics that haven't caused problems to get the best control.
 
Thanks for the additional advice, ladies!

Is your cat an outdoor cat exposed to a risk of getting fleas? I've never given any of my cats flea meds and never had fleas. (I do live in ND, maybe we just freeze all of our fleas and our risk is much lower?)
Click to expand...

Melanie - He's a mostly indoor cat with outdoor privileges, so he is exposed to fleas. I'm currently treating the other cats with topical flea meds and spraying our yard for fleas to try to reduce his exposure. We have about 17 acres, so the yard spraying doesn't work very well, especially since Arkansas fleas are ferocious. BTW, I spent a couple of weeks in Grand Forks in 2011. Perfect weather in the 70s at the time; back home, it was 115 degrees with a 120-degree heat index. I thought about staying in Grand Forks until someone told me how cold your winters get. :shock: Brrrrr.... Poor little fleas there don't stand a chance. :lol:

Lisa & Witn - Thanks for the advice. DH has used d.e. for the chicken coops and goats. I've just been hesitant to use it because Chappy (the civvie cat) has some allergy/asthma issues.

Lisa (& Tisha) - I've read the horror stories with the topicals; they're just terrible. :sad: I've been looking for some all-natural, safe alternatives that are long-lasting. They're so hard to come by. I'm a bit hesitant to try a flea collar because I'm afraid that might also be irritating to his skin.

BJ - Thanks for the tips on the Capstar. We've definitely done the Dawn baths in the past. It's amazing what a little soapy water can do. Chappy doesn't have a flea problem right now, but we're approaching the end of the topical's "lifespan" so I'm trying to figure out a preventative early. We may have to stick with the Dawn baths if the need arises.

Again, thanks everyone. Your advice, as always, is greatly appreciated.
Shelly
 
You could also consider comfortis. It's an oral flea prevention safe for use in kitties. It works for a month & kills fleas within an hour of application, similar to capstar but longer lasting.
 
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