9/13 Ruby AMPS 61/+3 97/+6 197/PMPS 210/+3 167

[Katherine&Ruby]

Yesterday's saga!

The flea treatment seems to be working as the kitties seem a lot more relaxed and aren't scratching and licking as furiously as they were before. I am still grossed out and am now covered in itchy flea bites myself. What a nightmare!

Thankfully Ruby is back in greens and I am home today to monitor her while I wash and vacuum absolutely everything. Sigh.

Hope everyone has a great day!

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

Has anyone ever used Wondercide flea and tick spray? I'm looking for something all natural to spray down our couch and bed. Will use the diatomaceous earth in areas that the kitties can't get to like under the mattress and cushions.

https://www.wondercide.com/products/natural-flea-tick-mosquito-control-for-dogs-evolv

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

I also use VICTOR flea traps that help me to know when they are hatching out again. They are a little night light in a dome with a sticky pad inside that attracts them. Of course Ray got her paw stuck on one so I have only one going right now LOL!

I did not know such things existed! Thank you so much, Kathy, added them to my cart now!

 

[carfurby (GA)]

I'm glad the kitties seem more relaxed. I hate dealing with fleas. I hope you get rid of them soon. Nice greens today for Ruby.

 

[FrostD]

Whoa ruby! Nice greens.

As for the waterless shampoo, not sure, I've never used that. But if they have a lot of bites and broken skin then I'd lean towards probably not, unless you know it's very gentle/won't sting.

I've not used the wondercide, perhaps you can be our guinea pig! I'm a fan of essential oils for treating pests and things, but unfortunately the "safe for pets" list is small. Anything is better than flea bombing everything

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

Whoa ruby! Nice greens.

As for the waterless shampoo, not sure, I've never used that. But if they have a lot of bites and broken skin then I'd lean towards probably not, unless you know it's very gentle/won't sting.

I've not used the wondercide, perhaps you can be our guinea pig! I'm a fan of essential oils for treating pests and things, but unfortunately the "safe for pets" list is small. Anything is better than flea bombing everything

I went to the "fancy" pet store near me and got a bottle of the Wondercide. It ain't cheap, but the ingredient list looked good and there were some good reviews online so I thought ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I came home and I found some fleas wriggling around on the bed where one of the cats was sleeping (so gross!!!!) and sprayed them with it and they died! So it does work. You can even spray it on your pets and says it even kills eggs and larvae. The house smells of lemongrass now.

 

[Tina Marie (GA) and Jan]

Katherine - I have also read a lot of reviews on Wondercide. Several reviews included sensitivities in cats. I know phenols are not included but I’m always super cautious with cat’s sensitive livers. EOs that aren’t diluted properly can burn skin too. Careful not to use too much AND if you want to spray on a cat - do a small skin test first. Goodness I’m sure you know, but shake very well before spraying.

I hope you have great results, Katherine. You are a woman of action!! Love to Ruby and Olive; they love that you are in on the fight with them!

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

Katherine - I have also read a lot of reviews on Wondercide. Several reviews included sensitivities in cats. I know phenols are not included but I’m always super cautious with cat’s sensitive livers. EOs that aren’t diluted properly can burn skin too. Careful not to use too much AND if you want to spray on a cat - do a small skin test first. Goodness I’m sure you know, but shake very well before spraying.

I hope you have great results, Katherine. You are a woman of action!! Love to Ruby and Olive; they love that you are in on the fight with them!

Hi Jan, I've sprung into action because I'm getting bitten all over, so I have so much empathy for the poor kitties. I'm not spraying Wondercide on the cats even though it says one can use it that way. I already have Advantage on them and don't want to combine things when I don't know that they are compatible, even if they are "natural." I've sprayed it on the couch after vacuuming it thoroughly and will keep the cats away until it's dry.

Ruby isn't feeling well. A few days ago Frank noticed she was sneezing and I heard some sniffling. This morning she sneezed 10 times in succession. My poor girl. I have to get in touch with Ruby's oncologist to make sure that the flea treatment I've given her is all right to use, as I know that the prednisolone can suppress her immune system. I panicked about the fleas and Frank did not think it was worth a vet visit. Oy vey.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Just be careful- like Jan says - because of their liver and its inability to process a lot of things (like most essential oils, fragrances, including scented candles and the like. If you applied Advantage II (NOT NOT NOT Advantage Multi) your fleas should be gone very quickly. Advantage II has a good safety profile and I can use it in very tiny foster kittens (just two drops of course). It kills adult fleas, flea larvae, and eggs. Now, if you feel like you have a bad infestation and want to do more - get Capstar. It will kill every flea on your cat within 24 hours and, in my experience far less time. It is safe for even very small kittens (one of the only things approved for tiny kittens of 2 lbs. ). As for your bedding, of course just wash it. You already have, I think. As for the couch. Just vacuum it and any rugs, etc. After you have given the Advantage a few days to work, you can vacuum again. Back in the day, we used to have to take our cats to the vet for a “flea dip and bath” and flea bomb the house. Put a chair in the center of the room and cover it with newspaper. Do this on every floor of your house. Set offf the bombs (mister/fogger) and get the heck out of the house and stay out for hours. Then come back inside and open up the windows to air out the place! Then go back to vet to pick up the cats and bring them home. It was quite an ordeal. And once I had a cat have a very bad reaction to their flea dip at the vet. She had to go back for an injection because she was hyper salivating and almost seizuring.

But those days of bombing the house are over now that we have better options. Still, I hate putting flea topicals on my cats and that’s one reason why they stay indoors. How did y’all get fleas anyway? Through a window? Sometimes if we don’t get the foster kittens de-flead or quarantined quickly enough we will get fleas. And then one pr two of my cats is sure to get flea allergy dermatitis and need a depo shot :-( because it won’t stop! And then I have to de-worm everybody with Drontal to make sure they don’t get tapeworms! It’s expensive and a hassle.

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

Just be careful- like Jan says - because of their liver and its inability to process a lot of things (like most essential oils, fragrances, including scented candles and the like. If you applied Advantage II (NOT NOT NOT Advantage Multi) your fleas should be gone very quickly. Advantage II has a good safety profile and I can use it in very tiny foster kittens (just two drops of course). It kills adult fleas, flea larvae, and eggs. Now, if you feel like you have a bad infestation and want to do more - get Capstar. It will kill every flea on your cat within 24 hours and, in my experience far less time. It is safe for even very small kittens (one of the only things approved for tiny kittens of 2 lbs. ). As for your bedding, of course just wash it. You already have, I think. As for the couch. Just vacuum it and any rugs, etc. After you have given the Advantage a few days to work, you can vacuum again. Back in the day, we used to have to take our cats to the vet for a “flea dip and bath” and flea bomb the house. Put a chair in the center of the room and cover it with newspaper. Do this on every floor of your house. Set offf the bombs (mister/fogger) and get the heck out of the house and stay out for hours. Then come back inside and open up the windows to air out the place! Then go back to vet to pick up the cats and bring them home. It was quite an ordeal. And once I had a cat have a very bad reaction to their flea dip at the vet. She had to go back for an injection because she was hyper salivating and almost seizuring.

But those days of bombing the house are over now that we have better options. Still, I hate putting flea topicals on my cats and that’s one reason why they stay indoors. How did y’all get fleas anyway? Through a window? Sometimes if we don’t get the foster kittens de-flead or quarantined quickly enough we will get fleas. And then one pr two of my cats is sure to get flea allergy dermatitis and need a depo shot :-( because it won’t stop! And then I have to de-worm everybody with Drontal to make sure they don’t get tapeworms! It’s expensive and a hassle.

Thanks, Suzanne, for all of your thoughts! I'm exhausted right now from washing and vacuuming. I did another comb through on each of the cats this morning and there were many fewer fleas. I think they are falling off the cats and I did a good hoovering everywhere and will do so again when my next order of vacuum cleaner bags arrive in a few days. I sprayed a bit of the Wondercide around and don't plan to do so again. The main ingredient is cedarwood oil and is deemed safe and an effective pesticide, but I've kept the spraying to specific areas of the house. The Advantage II seems to be working, but both kitties have been pretty lethargic all day. I was afraid of giving Capstar, but I will ask Ruby's oncologist to see if it would be ok for me to use if the fleas come back. She has an appointment with her next Wednesday, during which I hope and pray that the flea situation will be under control. I am so afraid of anemia and tapeworms!

I have two theories about where the fleas came from: our basement flooded badly during Ida, and that might have driven some fleas upstairs. Fleas love warmth and humidity, and the house was positively damp for at least a week after the storm. The other theory is the pet sitter brought them. He has a very well behaved little toy poodle he brings to the house when he does his visits to Ruby. He also does pet sitting for others in the neighborhood and he might have had fleas on his clothing. Since he's always picking Ruby up to test her and give her fluids, he is the most obvious carrier. Neither Frank nor I have been in close proximity to dogs, so the source of the fleas was seriously baffling until I made the pet sitter connection. He came again today to give Ruby fluids, but I might ask him to not come for a little while until we get this situation under control.

 

[carfurby (GA)]

I just thought of something for you to consider. Last year I had fleas really bad when the flea medicine I was using quit working. My cats would go and lay in the litter box to try and get away from the fleas. Of course that caused flea eggs to fall off of them into the litter. Thankfully I thought of that before they hatched and completely emptied each litter box and put new litter in. I sealed the bag and put it outside. I left it outside for a while before I could get it out with my garbage. One day I was outside and heard noises like it was raining, but it wasn't raining. It was the fleas that had hatched inside the bag and they were hopping around inside it. There were a lot. If you think your cats have been laying in the litter you should empty it and get rid of it.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Hi Jan, I've sprung into action because I'm getting bitten all over, so I have so much empathy for the poor kitties. I'm not spraying Wondercide on the cats even though it says one can use it that way. I already have Advantage on them and don't want to combine things when I don't know that they are compatible, even if they are "natural." I've sprayed it on the couch after vacuuming it thoroughly and will keep the cats away until it's dry.

Ruby isn't feeling well. A few days ago Frank noticed she was sneezing and I heard some sniffling. This morning she sneezed 10 times in succession. My poor girl. I have to get in touch with Ruby's oncologist to make sure that the flea treatment I've given her is all right to use, as I know that the prednisolone can suppress her immune system. I panicked about the fleas and Frank did not think it was worth a vet visit. Oy vey.

Hi Katherine you seem to have all the bases covered and have a lot of different things to spray on your bed and couches and the stairs. I hope Ruby is feeling better .Nice to see those greens today

 

[Wendy&Neko]

I'm feeling itchy just reading today's news!

One of my SCL civvies started sneezing on pred. I starting giving him L-Lysine regularly, and that seemed to help.

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

I just thought of something for you to consider. Last year I had fleas really bad when the flea medicine I was using quit working. My cats would go and lay in the litter box to try and get away from the fleas. Of course that caused flea eggs to fall off of them into the litter. Thankfully I thought of that before they hatched and completely emptied each litter box and put new litter in. I sealed the bag and put it outside. I left it outside for a while before I could get it out with my garbage. One day I was outside and heard noises like it was raining, but it wasn't raining. It was the fleas that had hatched inside the bag and they were hopping around inside it. There were a lot. If you think your cats have been laying in the litter you should empty it and get rid of it.

That is the most horrible story! The sound of fleas hopping! GAH! Ruby was laying in the litter! I HAVE to get rid of it!

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

Just when I thought of everything, @carfurby, you made me realize that I did not. Thank you SO much for reminding me about the litter box. There was evidence of much flea activity in there already, I can’t imagine what would have happened if I left it to the weekend!