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I have two indoor cats that I do not regularly treat for fleas since they do not go outdoors. Recently, we've unofficially adopted our neighbor's cat that is an indoor-outdoor cat. He spends a few hours a day inside my house with my cats, and even spends the night sometimes. This week, all three of them have been scratching a little, so I think the neighbor's cat may have brought some fleas in with him. If they do have fleas, it is a very mild issue right now, and hopefully easily treatable. If they don't, yet, I'd like to prevent this from occurring since it is probable that the neighbor's cat will bring some inside now that the weather is warmer and he is in and out of my house all the time.
I'd like to use Advantage II drops on all three cats (and will definitely check with the neighbor before using them on his cat, to make sure we are not double dosing, etc.), and was wondering if that is enough to rid my home of any fleas that may be hanging around in the carpet or on furniture, but not on the cats. Meaning, if the cats are treated, will any fleas that are not on them also die off since they don't have the cats to feast on? What I'm trying to avoid is any unnecessary treatment, especially with chemicals, etc., of my house itself, if it isn't really needed.
From your experience, are the flea drops enough in a situation like this? If not, do you have any recommendations to treat my home?
Thanks in advance! Three-layer kitty picture attached for your viewing pleasure! (The neighbor's cat is the orange cutie, the other two are mine.)
I have two indoor cats that I do not regularly treat for fleas since they do not go outdoors. Recently, we've unofficially adopted our neighbor's cat that is an indoor-outdoor cat. He spends a few hours a day inside my house with my cats, and even spends the night sometimes. This week, all three of them have been scratching a little, so I think the neighbor's cat may have brought some fleas in with him. If they do have fleas, it is a very mild issue right now, and hopefully easily treatable. If they don't, yet, I'd like to prevent this from occurring since it is probable that the neighbor's cat will bring some inside now that the weather is warmer and he is in and out of my house all the time.
I'd like to use Advantage II drops on all three cats (and will definitely check with the neighbor before using them on his cat, to make sure we are not double dosing, etc.), and was wondering if that is enough to rid my home of any fleas that may be hanging around in the carpet or on furniture, but not on the cats. Meaning, if the cats are treated, will any fleas that are not on them also die off since they don't have the cats to feast on? What I'm trying to avoid is any unnecessary treatment, especially with chemicals, etc., of my house itself, if it isn't really needed.
From your experience, are the flea drops enough in a situation like this? If not, do you have any recommendations to treat my home?
Thanks in advance! Three-layer kitty picture attached for your viewing pleasure! (The neighbor's cat is the orange cutie, the other two are mine.)
Definitely find out if the neighbor's cat is treated. Then find out for sure if there are fleas. Make sure you don't have ticks instead or as well. Advantage will kill all the fleas that come in contact with any of the treated cats, but won't kill any in carpet or bedding. You would have to try and wash all those things yourself. If you vacuum, you have to throw the bag out right away and if you can steam clean, that's better. Soap and hot water kills fleas just fine, so do laundry and I'm going to guess your cats don't love baths? If it doesn't seem bad, you should be fine, but don't waste time if it is fleas.
I have two indoor cats that I do not regularly treat for fleas since they do not go outdoors. Recently, we've unofficially adopted our neighbor's cat that is an indoor-outdoor cat. He spends a few hours a day inside my house with my cats, and even spends the night sometimes. This week, all three of them have been scratching a little, so I think the neighbor's cat may have brought some fleas in with him. If they do have fleas, it is a very mild issue right now, and hopefully easily treatable. If they don't, yet, I'd like to prevent this from occurring since it is probable that the neighbor's cat will bring some inside now that the weather is warmer and he is in and out of my house all the time.
I'd like to use Advantage II drops on all three cats (and will definitely check with the neighbor before using them on his cat, to make sure we are not double dosing, etc.), and was wondering if that is enough to rid my home of any fleas that may be hanging around in the carpet or on furniture, but not on the cats. Meaning, if the cats are treated, will any fleas that are not on them also die off since they don't have the cats to feast on? What I'm trying to avoid is any unnecessary treatment, especially with chemicals, etc., of my house itself, if it isn't really needed.
From your experience, are the flea drops enough in a situation like this? If not, do you have any recommendations to treat my home?
Thanks in advance! Three-layer kitty picture attached for your viewing pleasure! (The neighbor's cat is the orange cutie, the other two are mine.)
I forgot to say thanks for the picture. We can't get enough of them here.
Wow! Great photo of three buddies enjoying each other's company!!
I won't go there about your neighbor's belief that outdoor roaming is okay ... oops I think I just did go there :-)
Thrilled to see you welcome that orange cutie (yes, indeed, he is a cutie!) Thank you for that!!
Hopefully the neighbor does flea treat his/her cat. If not, and if you can get permission, yes, treat the orange one. Any fleas on him will succumb to the treatment, and their eggs and larva will also die. Any fleas that he brings in that haven't been exposed to the neurotoxins, and jump off him and onto your treated cats, will then meet their fate there.
So, in theory, a topical treatment of the three cats should keep any infestation at bay. My cats are indoors, but I'm sure my dog brings in fleas all the time. Throughout the years I've only had a couple of infestations that the topical treatments couldn't handle. But considering that the dog makes frequent visits every day outside into flea world, and the house is not full of fleas, I'm believing that topicals usually work well. However, if on rare occasion my dog brings in a boatload of fleas that drop into the carpet and then lay eggs there, it becomes more difficult to eradicate them. It's possible to accomplish, but it's sometimes time-consuming that's all.
Until all three cats are on a treatment regimen, you may need to flea treat your carpets, furniture, and cat furniture to get rid of any "healthy" fleas that might be there. Sounds more toilsome than it actually is! And so well worth it since the orange cutie looks SO happy in your home!!
Wow! Great photo of three buddies enjoying each other's company!!
I won't go there about your neighbor's belief that outdoor roaming is okay ... oops I think I just did go there :-)
Thrilled to see you welcome that orange cutie (yes, indeed, he is a cutie!) Thank you for that!!
Hopefully the neighbor does flea treat his/her cat. If not, and if you can get permission, yes, treat the orange one. Any fleas on him will succumb to the treatment, and their eggs and larva will also die. Any fleas that he brings in that haven't been exposed to the neurotoxins, and jump off him and onto your treated cats, will then meet their fate there.
So, in theory, a topical treatment of the three cats should keep any infestation at bay. My cats are indoors, but I'm sure my dog brings in fleas all the time. Throughout the years I've only had a couple of infestations that the topical treatments couldn't handle. But considering that the dog makes frequent visits every day outside into flea world, and the house is not full of fleas, I'm believing that topicals usually work well. However, if on rare occasion my dog brings in a boatload of fleas that drop into the carpet and then lay eggs there, it becomes more difficult to eradicate them. It's possible to accomplish, but it's sometimes time-consuming that's all.
Until all three cats are on a treatment regimen, you may need to flea treat your carpets, furniture, and cat furniture to get rid of any "healthy" fleas that might be there. Sounds more toilsome than it actually is! And so well worth it since the orange cutie looks SO happy in your home!!
I second mawipfl's advice. It doesn't take long for a few fleas to turn into a flea infestation too prolific for the treatments to handle. If I were you, I would do a thorough vacuuming of your carpets/rugs, and wash anything that will fit in the washer... just to be on the safe side.
Personally I prefer to use Revolution because it treats for ear-mites and some forms of worms, and does a good job on fleas and ticks.
One thing to remember with topicals no matter the brand, it needs to be applied regularly to build up the protection, and maintain it. At a minimum, I treat mine through the spring, summer, and fall. If I skip the winter months I start again in Feb. or Mar. to give it time to build up in their system before warm weather hits. Hit and miss application of topicals is very much less effective, and can cause a problem if you are in a flea-heavy environment. And those little buggers can and will come into your house on you, if they are prevalent in your yard.
Thank you all for your responses. I did confirm at least one flea on one of my cats, so I went ahead and treated my cats with Advantage II, shampooed the carpets (just bought a new shampooer a few weeks ago, coincidentally), and washed all the sheets, blankets, etc. My neighbor is out of town, so I haven't been able to ask him about using the Advantage II on his cat, but will as soon as he gets back home. I figure I may need to re-shampoo and rewash everything once the neighbor's cat has been as well, but I can deal with that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mawipafl
I won't go there about your neighbor's belief that outdoor roaming is okay ... oops I think I just did go there :-)
There's actually a sad back-story to this... It was a newly married, young couple who owned the cat, but last summer the wife died unexpectedly. Now it is just the man and the cat. He told me a few months ago that he started letting the cat out after his wife died because previously she was home with the cat all day, and after she died the cat was very sad to be left home alone all day while he was at work. I know that cat is very happy to be outside, and thankfully everyone in the neighborhood loves him, but I have some reservations too about roaming cats.
We started letting him in during the winter after a long "let them meet through the cracked door" process between him and my cats. Then we started letting him in for a few minutes at a time, just to see how my cats reacted. At first my cats did some hissing and growling, but they never got aggressive or tried to fight the neighbor's cat. Actually, I was quite surprised that the neighbor's cat was not at all afraid or intimidated by my cats -- he would walk right up to them and try to rub heads. Very cute. It was clear that he wanted some friends.
Now, he comes and go basically whenever he wants to. Sometimes he just comes in to eat, then goes right back to the door and meows to go out; other times he hops up on the cat tree and takes a six hour nap. He also spends the night a lot.
I thought he was just really happy to be around me and my son (he is 19 and animals LOVE him), but have recently realized he is just THRILLED to have cat friends. As soon as he walks in the door, he goes straight for my cats, lets out a bunch of meows announcing himself, and rubs all over them. It's like he's saying, "LOOK GUYS!! I'M HERE!"
I asked his owner a few weeks ago if his cat lived with other cats previously, but he said he didn't know because they found him as a stay. It made me realize that he is probably just a nomad by heart and likes to roam around.
He looks and sounds really sweet. I can see why you'd let him in with your guys. And at least he may get some "Advantage" to rubbing hello on them. But he should be treated, too, since it doesn't sound like the neighbor knows a lot about cats and he probably didn't do any treatment. If all you confirmed was ONE flea, and you did all that cleaning, you should be fine if you continue extra cleaning for a while along with the meds. I agree with CatDad that I would go with Revolution instead because of the mites/ear mites thing. But you're observant about all three of them, so just watch the ears and do what you're doing. I'm so glad you caught it before it was a real problem. You're a great pet parent.
Thank you for tons of things such as sharing Orange Cutie's backstory (wow - double wonderful that you are making two lives better, Orange Cutie's and your neighbor's - it must give him a great deal of peace of mind that his cat is being so well-cared for and loved!)
Thanks for the photos, too!
My opinion about Orange Cutie and why he melded quickly with yours is that his "air" is not one that's threatening nor intimidating, so yours didn't have to go on alert - no red flags raised! That shows a confident demeanor in yours since cats sometimes shoot first and ask questions later.
Totally off topic, but could you DM me with which carpet shampooer you have? After a thousand years of use, my Hoover just quit making my flea battle a bit more difficult. On the hunt for a new one, but too many choices with each stating "the best".
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