Home from vacation update

[Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA]

Let's see... Jeddie - no surprises there. Basically the same numbers (I still ahve to update the SS with two weeks worth of numbers). Mid 200s, occasional low 100 or low 300. He did great in the car both ways and the crate was plenty big enough for all of them. Once, on the way home, I glanced back and he was alone on the "floor" of it and the other four were sleeping on the suspended shelves, the"loft".

OK, there were/are the fleas. I am plenty upset over this from the fact that they are suffering from bites to the $80 for Frontline. We got home late Sat and I still am finding adult fleas when I comb Ariel and Leanne. And Jeddie is still scratching and has scabs on his necl. I think he has more of a reaction to the bites than the others. Beau seems clean (I think it is the Diltiazem medication as he never seemed to have any adults on him after that first one I saw).

Then there was Ariel's car-sickness. Someone suggested Feliway, but that is for anxiety-type issues and she was not anxious. I just think it was plain old motion sickness. Odd that she never has this response before. She did hack up the largest furball I have ever seen before yesterday. I wonder is that could have had anything to do with it? And if not, what I can do to prevent it in the future. It is just the last (or first when leaving) 18 miles of hills and curves that seem to get her. And I think it may be the really steep hills and drops from them. Some of those are 500-600 feet and in less than a minute or so.

Yesterday was Beau's birthday. He is 12 now. And his BG was 98 this am about an hour after eating. And, also this am, they got into a bag of dry food I had in the closet. I never thought I would be one of those posters here with "OMG, the cats got into the dry food!" because I NEVER have dry food in the house anymore. But I bought a big bag to give to someone that feeds ferals nearby and didn't get it to her before I left so I brought it upstairs and hid it in the closet. The closet is a folding door, so very easy for them to open. I think only the two younger girls got into it, but I can't be sure. Now it's in a large metal tin.

OK, that's it for now.

 

[Melissa&Paul-Kyle]

depending on how desparate you are about the fleas ( and I would be desperate!) there is a pill you can give called Capstar that will kill all fleas ON the cat within 20-30 minutes or something like that.

Otherwise, I have not had any problems from Frontline Plus....killed all fleas in the house/cat within a short while ( few weeks and itchy kitty quit itching) and I rarely use it at all now...once this year on the boys (dogs) and twice on itchy kitty...none at all on any of the other kitties.

There were fleas in the house I bought- hadn't had fleas for 17 years before that! I know what you are feeling!

Good luck.

 

[Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA]

Oh, man, Melissa, I would have been furious if the house I bought had fleas in it! So, Frontline may take a while to kill all the fleas? I am just afraid that even one flea will survive and replicate. That's just what I need. I have a few bites too, but I don't know if they are fleas or mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are getting bad around here - probably around everywhere.

I combed Jed today and he had a lot of bits of skin - like really bad dandruff - that I think is from scratching. He goes after spots on his rump a lot, but I have not seen living fleas on him since before we left MI.

 

[Melissa&Paul-Kyle]

So, Frontline may take a while to kill all the fleas? I am just afraid that even one flea will survive and replicate. That's just what I need.

Let me clarify- itchy kitty (jennifur) actually has a flea allergy so all it takes is for one ot crawl over her once and she breaks out in itchy spots and gets miserable. So, that it took a few weeks for her to stop itching is b/c of the allergy, not necessarily presence of fleas.

I only ever saw ONE single flea on her last year and this Spring, ONE single flea on Caleb Luis.

Frontline Plus is good b/c it breaks the life cycle of the flea by killing eggs, larvae and the actual flea. So, as new fleas hatch and get on kitties, they will die. You may need a month or more of treatment if it is a severe infestation, but like I wrote before, itchy kitty is the only one that gets it regular, the other kitties only ONCE in our almost 2 years here and the dogs every few months during flea season or when somebody gets itchy.

 

[Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA]

Thanks for the clarification. Jeddie does seem to have more of a reaction to the bites, as I said. He is still scratching and excessively grooming in spots - to the point of having wet spots on his fur. Poor guy. I just combed his ruff and no fleas, but plenty of dead skin pieces.

His SS is updated, BTW. Today will be a spot check day in preparation to raising the dose - I think to .75u (from .55u)

 

[Michele&Molly]

There is absolutely nothing worse than flea season! One of mine, Lincoln, attracts them like no other! I'm convinced that just like there are humans that get bitten more by mosquitoes and such (the dh is fortunate enough never to get bitten by mosquitoes as they all bite the crap out of me!), some cats get it worse than others. I don't think Favorite has ever had a flea whereas one day over the flea meds month protection, Lincoln is practically infested. Must be our sweet blood

Glad your home safely Sheila. Poor little Ariel with her car sickness.

Can you tell me more about the flea comb please? Do they sell them at pet stores? Is it like a regular comb?

 

[pamela and tigger]

Yesterday was Beau's birthday. He is 12 now. And his BG was 98 this am about an hour after eating. And, also this am, they got into a bag of dry food I had in the closet. I never thought I would be one of those posters here with "OMG, the cats got into the dry food!" because I NEVER have dry food in the house anymore. But I bought a big bag to give to someone that feeds ferals nearby and didn't get it to her before I left so I brought it upstairs and hid it in the closet. The closet is a folding door, so very easy for them to open. I think only the two younger girls got into it, but I can't be sure. Now it's in a large metal tin.

Wouldn't you know it! They smell that stuff out like candy don't they? The girls probably thought they were in heaven. Glad Beau doesn't seem to have gotten into any. And nice that you are helping her out with the ferals.

 

[Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA]

You can get a flea comb at any pet store. They look like the Furminator, except with longer teeth. If your cat had thin fur you might be able to use a Furminator, but they are only about $4-5. They are like very fine tooth combs so the fleas get combed out because they don't fit between the teeth. I read a great tip from someone on sticking any living fleas you comb out into petroleum jelly. I did that up north - just smeared it onto a sheet of wax paper and pushed them into it, then I folded the paper over and over to trap them completely. Ugh.

I have to wonder what they put in/on dry food that makes them be able to smell it in a closed package in a closet. It really is like kitty crack.

I heard from my sister that she has a cat that gets car sick near that same area. She comes from the SE where I am coming from the south, so different roads, but both go through the hilly area, and the road she drives is almost stick straight, so it has to be the up/down that gets them. Man, I feel a little queasy just typing about it.