Hello,

Can anyone recommend on of the treatments where you drop the drops on the cat's neck.

I don't have any problems with fleas in the winter but as the weather has got warmer I sure my kitty will pick up the dreaded fleas soon.

I have heard about some of these treatments making cats ill though so would appreicate your opinions.

Many thanks
Emnat

We've used frontline for years .Ever since Bob Martins powder poisoned our cat .

advocate, advantix, (both prescription only, advocate is also a round-wormer, advantix is effective against fleas and ticks)
advantage and bob martin double action are all good. (available without prescription)

they contain imidacloprid rather than the more traditional fipronil (frontline)
in personal experience imidacloprid treatments have worked better than fipronil ones. (last year a friend had a very persistent flea infestation (we're talking months), after switching to advocate from frontline it was rectified within about 2 weeks)
our dog has always had either the bob martin double action or advantage and we've never had fleas.
same story with the stray cat we look our for.
we flea and worm him as he hands around our animals a lot (sharing parasols with the rabbits and guinea pigs, used to join our older dog in her bed etc.)

Things are moving away from neck treatments to injections.

I use Advantage once a month and spray the house once a year with Indorex (?)

I'm toying with changing to program either injectable (every 6 months) or tablets once a month.

For worms I use Milbemax once every 3 months.

Yes I have heard bad things about Bob Martins products.

I hope your cat made a full recovery.

Oh I didn't know that. How long do the injections last for, are they safe etc?

Six months..

It says it is safe, effective and very convenient.

And for the cat?



Oh I know...too too funny..

Vacuuming regularly is a must also. As far as product goes, do not buy any kind of preparation from the supermarket. Always go to your vet.

Frontline worked surprisingly well for me. After trying Bob Martins and others, I was very sceptical about the blurb on the back of the Frontline box, and only bought it (it's very expensive) because other people I trusted ranted and raved about it. But it really did work as it claimed.

I first applied it in a summer when my cat had picked up fleas and was twitching a lot. 24 hours later I couldn't find any fleas, even on its belly. A month later and there were still none. The box advises to re-apply every 5 weeks, but given the cost, I just apply it whenever the cat needs it. It does leave a slightly tacky patch on the back of the cat's neck that remains for about a week. My cat rolled around in the dirt a lot to try to get rid of it. It's important you get it at just the right point at the back of the neck. High enough so it can't lick it by turning its head or scratch it with its back paw, and low enough so that it can't wipe it with its paw when it cleans its head. I squirted a bit at a time, making sure each squirt sank into the fur and dissipated on the skin.

The last box cost me (I think) £14 for 3 pipettes, or it worked out cheaper for a box of 6. I got them from the pharmacy desk of Asda.

It only deals with fleas, though there is a vet-only injection version of Frontline that also takes care of worms. I'm not sure if that's also the one that lasts 6 months, or how much a vet charges for it. If you just want a flea/worm treatment, you'll probably still have to pay a consultancy fee on top of the injection.

I don't know how the injection works, but it seems a bit odd to me that a chemical can linger for 6 months in a body!

I used advocate on my two. One of them is absolutely fine, and it just makes him a bit sleepy, my girl doesn't react very well to it, and it makes her wobble a bit when she walks for the next few hours, she's also very sleepy, and when I first put it on, she runs round like a lunatic like she's trying to get away from a horrible smell. I've started giving her 3/4 of the tube on her neck instead, and she was better this month when I did it.

Am going to talk to the vet again about it, as they didn't seem too concerned when i've mentioned it before.

The only time i've had fleas in the nearly year i've been using it, (I always get bitten, so knew they were here) was when I had the slightly feral work cat on my lap briefly, and some of the fleas decided to come home with me. The cats showed no signs of infestations at all though.

You really shouldn't have bothered with this one.

I didn't think I had tbh. I thought it but my fingers must have strayed back of their own accord in the dead of night and made busy. Curses.

I still use Frontline on my cat because he is utterly traumatised by visits to the vet and I can buy it on line. But it isn't 100% effective. Last year I looked after my daughter's cats just after they had been frontlined and ended up calling in the council to deal with a flea infestation. Horrible.

Frontline doesn;t seem to deal as well as it did a few years ago. Heard much better things from Advantage, but needs a visit to the vet and a prescription.

I follow up Frontline with a spray in the areas he uses and also the dreaded flea comb. I am not sure if there is a single answer!

You don't need to take them to the vets repeatedly. Mine just let me go in and buy more advocate without the cats being there? I buy 3 months worth at a time

You buy advocaat for your cats?

not THAT stuff!

Advantage is available online without prescription in the UK, i tend to buy from VetUK or Medicanimal
i use it alongside Drontal tablets for worming

all off prescription flea and wormers for my dog at the minute - i prefer milbemax as a wormer, but as he's over weight (30kg), he needs two tablets, making it's £13 a treatment, where as drontal XL(1 tablet for dogs up to 35kg) is only around £4.50 a tablet.

i'm considering going to my vet to enquire about advantix for him (advantage for fleas, but with an extra ingredient which is effective against ticks) as there seems to be an increase in their numbers this year.

The problem with Frontline is that fleas have become immune and vets have recommended Advocate for a very long time.

Now the shift is heading towards injections as vets were worried about the cats becoming poisoned.

Our vet prescribes Stronghold spot on for our two cats. It covers against fleas, tics and some worms. I apply the drops to their necks religiously once a month and they haven't had any problems with fleas yet.

The cats get treated with Droncit drops against tapeworm every three months, They're not too bothered about the Stronghold drops, but don't like the Droncit at all. I've never seen any evidence of tapeworm.

I have two cans of Indorex on standby for use in case of any sign of flea infestation in the house.

She was fine after 24 hours .She licked the powder and started to salivate profusely .At one stage her head and neck were covered in a bubbly foam .It was quite scary .

Both my cats are generally indoor cats (with one or 2 minor exceptions). When we got them we had them checked and they were flea-free, however at about 6 months old they developed quite a few fleas. We have been treating them with Bob Martin neck drops and methodically sprayed and hoovered the house.

All was fine until earlier this afternoon I found a flea and flea-poo on one of them. Their last treatment was about 2 weeks ago.

a) Should I be worried? One flea is hardly an infestation and they can be brought in from anywhere?

b) Is it worth taking them to the vets for a better treatment programme, perhaps Advocate or an injection?

c) If I did change over to a different format would I have to wait until the next treatment is due? Is there such a thing as flea prevention overdose? lol

You can buy the advocate from the vets and treat them at home.

treatments can be repeated after one week in heavy infestations.
you can overdose, but the products are tested and found to be safe at 10x the recommended dose with most products so it's not a common place thing to do.

which bob martins drops were they exactly?
their standard flea & tick drops, double action, or the newer "flea clear" ones?

the standard drops and flea clear aren't worth the price of the plastic they pack them in, never mind whatever the shop charges you.
double action is one which actually works.

if over the counter drugs aren't working for you then you can buy from your vet, pets at home or if you know the weights of your cats then you can order them online (for a much lower price)

i'd go for Advantage over Advocate, unless your cats are in need of a round worm treatment.

if they have fleas, then they need to be wormed, but that will need to include a treatment which will be effective against tape worms as well, as fleas are a vector for tapeworm transmission.
Advocate doesn't include this and a separate product like Droncit would need to be given in combination. (personally i find it much easier and cost effective to give a drontal tablet every three months, worming monthly with advocate just seems like too often to me)

one flea isn;t an infestation, you're right, but topping up flea protection just in case is a better bet than having to eradicate them from your home.