My neighbor has abandoned his cat. The cat has adopted me and I am fine with that, except that I pulled 8 ticks off the poor thing in 2 days and he has fleas. I can't let him in my house until this is taken care of. If I treat him with frontline will that kill the existing fleas or just prevent more?

By Luvn29 on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 09:31 pm:

It is supposed to kill the existing fleas, and prevents more from living. It also kills the eggs. We had a difficult time with fleas this summer, even using Frontline, but we just put another application on our dogs yesterday, and no more fleas today! They are laying around not scratching at all! Yay!!!

By Hol on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 09:52 pm:

Colette - Good for you giving that poor abandoned kitty a home! We, too, battled fleas something awful this summer and I found Frontline Plus useless. I was upset, too, because that stuff isn't cheap. My vet said to try Advantage (not AdvanTIX. That is just for dogs and deadly to cats), and to also give them Program, a pill that keeps the fleas from reproducing. You give both once a month, and you can give them together. Advantage only kills fleas, not ticks. But ticks you can see and remove a lot more easily. 48 hours after using Advantage, there wasn't a flea on anybody.

If you have already used the Frontline, you can't put Advantage on him for four weeks. However, get some Program and give it to him, too. It REALLY works. At this time of year, you may only need to do it for one month until Spring. The Program for kitties comes in pill and liquid form. I prefer the liquid. I put about two tablespoons of "people tuna" in a small dish and mix the Program into it. They chow it down, and that way I'm sure they got it all. I do it separately for each kitty.

I get all of my flea supplies from drsfostersmith.com. They are very reasonable and the shipping is fast. (I also feed only their pet food, too. It has really given everyone a nice soft coat).

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 - 04:24 am:

If it were me, I'd take the cat to the local vet, explain that you are rescuing it, and have the vet de-flea and de-tick it, as well as checking for anything else. As bad as fleas are, I would be much more worried about the ticks. I know from very sad and personal experience that ticks carry Lyme Disease, and it can affect animals. Scott's first dog, Kayla, died from Lyme Disease. And, if your neighbor is the kind of person who abandons a cat, most likely the cat hasn't had any shots, and should have them.

If you call your local SPCA and explain the situation, they may know a local vet who gives discounts for rescued animals, or the vet the SPCA contracts with might be able to take care of the cat for a much lower cost. I had a train-friend who rescued cats and her vet always gave her a huge discount for taking care of the rescued animals.