Flea poison application for cats

[Deleted]

I use the spot-on stuff.  I'm sick of the chase, capture and wrestle method, so I've started doing it while they're eating dinner.  This eliminates the chasing but I can only do one cat per day because the struggling alerts the others and they get ready to run.  I did Lamington tonight and he's STRONG, I may have sprained a finger.  This is the cat who can escape from a latched cat carrier just by using his brawn.

I grab them by the scruff and they go flat to pull the scruff out of my hand.  Then they try to back away.  Then they try to roll on their back, all the while yowling or growling.  I squirt the stuff on, rub it in, let them go and they're FINE, perfectly fine like nothing's happened. 

Why aren't they used to it after all these years?  It isn't like this on the TV ads.

Does anyone here have a co-operative cat?  If not, how do you handle "that time of the month"?  Dogs must be so much easier, they'd just stand there placidly panting.

[Deleted]

Do you have to scruff them? Sometimes less restraint is better. Can you do it while they're asleep? I sneak in nail trims that way but I'm a wimp when it comes to doing anything they don't like.

[Deleted]

Maybe I'm lucky but both of my pets (cat and dog) really like their neck massaged, so it's only a matter of having the dropper handy. I'll sit down on the couch by them, start scratching away, apply and try to keep them there as long as possible. The cat usually starts to squirm and gallops off to try to clean it wipe it off.

The dog figured out my ruse, but plays along with it as he knows there are treats if he stays put.

We looked into the tablet options and tried Nexgard tablets on my dog. Vet warned us up front that some dogs just don't tolerate it and apparently he's one of them. He was violently ill for 3 days. Pretty scary. Never again.

[val2525]

Am I the only one who wonders what is in the stuff that makes the topical application so distasteful to the pet? I doubt it's the application process itself.

[kritter]

For mine, it has something to do with the smell of Revolution/Advantage.

I start with the trickiest ones to dose because once I have gotten one or two done, the rest get a whiff and it is all over for that day.

Several of them don't mind at all so they are the last ones that I do.

None of mine have ever had a skin irritation or shown any other side affects after dosage.

[Deleted]

Nov 27, 2015 18:11:43 GMT @poppyshops said:

We looked into the tablet options and tried Nexgard tablets on my dog. Vet warned us up front that some dogs just don't tolerate it and apparently he's one of them. He was violently ill for 3 days. Pretty scary. Never again.

Sorry for your dog, Poppy! 

I heard of this stuff called Comfortis that comes as a chew.  It started off being for dogs but is now approved (in Australia) for cats.  What worries me is it's the same stuff for dogs and cats - and I thought dogs and cats were different in what they can digest?

And cats being cats they really might not eat it even if I chopped it into smaller pieces.  And there's $60 down the drain.  But maybe I'll try it if my spot-on stops working.

[Deleted]

I agree, Kritter, mine hate the smell. It alerts them and they bolt when they see I'm going to grab them, that's why I can't use Poppy's "neck massage" trick.

They always cringe when they feel the wetness and when you think about it it wouldn't be very a nice sensation.

Funny, my latest batch of Advantage doesn't smell, but it seems to work better than last time's lot.

[chapeaunoir]

The DH is the application specialist. We grab both cats and he holds them one at a time in his lap and just squirts. The tux, who is like one little muscle and really slippery has to be clamped under an elbow and armpit lol. LB just sits there but it takes so long to find her skin under her fur that she gets impatient. The tux gets weirded out by the sensation, I think, as she creeps around low to the ground until it dries. LB just trots off. We do the tux first because if she sees LB getting the treatment, she runs off.

ETA: I'm looking for a hairball treatment they'll eat. When Petromalt changed their formula they wouldn't touch it after that, when they used to get excited when they'd see the tube and wait for their little dose. I've tried some other things but they're resistant - the tux has a tendency to hairballs. LB doesn't but she gets combed at least once a day - the tux won't stand for more than a few bushes along her back then starts hissing and throwing paws.

[Deleted]

lol at LB. I was actually wondering how she'd take it.

[chapeaunoir]

LB seriously is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but she IS the sweetest! (and the most lethal)

[Deleted]

I must have easy cats. I just do it while they're eating - easy peasy. I don't grab, wrestle, etc - just walk up and squirt or give a little head rub & squirt. I have one who likes to run if she thinks I'm going to do anything to her, but I'm fast & usually get it applied before she realizes.

[kritter]

I think it has become a game between mine as to who can get by the longest without getting treated.

Of course, Augie would always win because I can't even look at him without him running so he is disqualified.

[Deleted]

Have any of you tried Seresto for cats? It's the long lasting flea collar. We use it for our two puppies and neither has ever had a flea on them. We have one cat that no matter what drops we use, he ALWAYS has fleas....like within hours of application.

ETA: for the puppies it's like $45 and lasts 8 months

[Deleted]

That collar sounds great but I can't put collars of any sort on my cats. Two would hang themselves on a fence or tree and the other two would go mental scratching to get it off and end up with bald necks and sores. One's an over-groomer and the other has very sensitive skin.

So it looks like I continue with the ol' grab n wrestle. Ugh.

[treasuresencore]

Two of my cats are awful about the flea stuff. Mayhem hates it with a passion and will run away. The first time I ever put it on her she raced around the house trying to get away from it. My sons cat which is a long haired Tux also hates it and has to be held down. He took a week to forgive me the last time. His hair is so thick it is really hard to get to the skin. Truthfully those two are also the worst for getting fleas because the hair is so thick. My dog is the one who brings them in the house but they hop off of her and go to the cats. I need to spray the yard again but it has rained so much this fall the grass has almost never been dry enough to do it. I have thought about the pills but the only thing worse than trying to put the spot on stuff is trying to pill the cats.

[Deleted]

Treasures, you're right, pills and cats don't mix, lol. I even have one of those plastic syringe things you stick down their throat and I can't manage it. I always marvel at the vet's skill. Mind you, dogs aren't easy either. When I was a kid we had a labrador that was very tricky. Mum used to cut a slit in a piece of steak to put the pill in, but it was the one piece of food the dog refused to gobble down. She'd spit it out and then work on it really delicately til she got the pill out, and eat the steak, leaving the pill behind.

Maybe you could try the Comfortis chews for the difficult cats?