CAT PEOPLE OF A2K HELP

The most major step in getting rid of fleas is getting rid of any and all wall2wall carpets within a quarter mile....

Thanks for asking. I haven't had a bit of flea trouble since moving to New Mexico. Do get opinions before rushing out to get some of the liquid that is dropped onto the cat. I used to hear bad stories about the stuff. I'm not even sure they make the stuff, anymore.

Sure hope this is not a romantic situation you are running into with fluff.

Naw, Claws has been declassified and I don't know what Fluff is.

Seaglass

You mean the flea stuff (in little tubes) that you apply to the back of the neck/head? That is supposed to do the trick, if used regularly.

Feeding Claws inside would be a good idea. At least you'll know the food you're supplying is actually going to the right place. When you say "feral" do you mean that Fluff has no one else looking out for him/feeding him, etc ..? <sigh>

I suspect (sigh) that Claw's fleas are not going to vanish until Fluff's do, if they continue hanging out together. <sighing again> ... & until the house is de-flead, too.

Sadly, if Fluff learns to depend on you for food, you don't know if the house owners will continue to oblige him. (It'd be wonderful if they were interested!)

um .. you wouldn't be interested in adopting Fluff yourself, would you? He sounds a pretty good cat to me.

Fluff won't let anyone near him. Grabbed him once and checked for gender. Runs like hell when he sees me comming.

Feral is the term for abandoned cats and kittens that live on their own.

When I say Fluff, he is a mass of tiger ring fur. He got into the house once and sprayed. Yuk.

I am a bit puzzled.

The stuff here that you pop on the back of their neck is very effective, and you only need to apply it very seldom.

I guess the only other thing is a flea collar.

Oh so a real feral cat then?

I have to admit, Seaglass, I'm a bit stumped as to what to do next to solve your problem, if the two cats continue spending time together.

Here's a couple of good articles that will help you with the battle:

https://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1985-05-01/Natural-Flea-Control.aspx

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1987-07-01/Natural-Flea-Control.aspx

Thanks Butrflynet, I've read both articles and I am fascinated by some of the remedies. Particulary the herb pennyroyal. Look out Fluff, here I come.

The topical flea treatments work fine and , like msolga said, they dont need to be applied daily. When you get to touch Fluff, you should have a tube of this on hand and apply it quickly behind the neck. Itll work over a few weeks. Meanwhile , keep Claws bedding clean and vacuum the house and treat it for every two weeks until the problem ge away. Its an issue of eachanimal reinfectin each other until the cycle is broken. Fleas are a real problem and can carry all kinds of diseases.
You have to get Fluff, even if you have to trap him and handle him with thick gloves.

Yeah, catch him. Is there a garage where you could start feeding him? Leave the garage door up 6 inches and put food at the back of the garage so you have time to hit the button and get it down before he runs out, or crack a side door. Leave him in the garage for a bit, offer him a litter tray, keep him fed. It may take a few days of you feeding him but hopefully if you sit quietly, move slowly around him for a few days he might warm up to you. When he does you can apply the treatment with one hand as you distract him with the other.

Since others have suggested it, I'm guessing the little drops of flea treatment aren't harmful, what with cats licking themselves and each other?

Amother thing to be careful of is using the flea treatments bought at the grocery store....the Harts tube things had warnings out a few years ago. Advantage always seemed to do the trick and that is used once a month but you have to by that at a pet pharmacy (1800petmeds) or the vet. The other ideas sound like they would work.

Being a cat lover, but at the same time practical, my opinion is you have to get rid of the feral cat.

Not only will it continue to spread fleas to the owners cat, but could give the cat any number of diseases.

Or, you can warn the owners when they come back that there is a feral cat around.

To catch the feral cat, set up a trap you can buy at some hardware stores.
The kind you put food in, and when the animal walks in, the trap closes.

Then take the cat, in the cage, to a shelter. Don't try to remove the cat from the cage or you will get scratched and could very well pick up something nasty from it.

We dealt with a feral a while back. My husband is soft hearted, and was feeding it. Our indoor cats picks up the fleas coming in on pants legs.

It was not a pleasant decision, as this cat had absolutely no chance of ever being a pet, but these things must be done.

Indoor cats do not need to be outside. So keep claws inside.
Forget the rubbish that he will some how be mentally damaged by not 'having a friend". Since it is your job to keep him safe and your job to keep the house safe, that cat should be inside.

The drops that you apply to their neck work over 2 weeks I think.. To be 100% effective, they require use that lasts a couple of months. But with out a trip to a vet, that is the best thing you can do for that cat besides keeping him inside.
You are not required to feed feral kitty, nor are you responsible for him. Im sure the owners of Claws would be happy to know you made an executive decision like keeping him inside and feeding him inside to keep him safe.

There are communicable diseases kittys can pass to each other as well. Keeping Claws inside assures that , while he is with YOU , he wont catch anything.
Cats do not need to be outside. Outside is dangerous for an indoor kitty.

Get him the drops and if in a few weeks he is still scratching, take him to a vet. He could have gotten Mange from friend kitty as well as a host of other things. Dont let Puffy kitty inside. Puffy kitty is dirty, covered in fleas, and has obviously given Claws something... may not be just fleas.

Same here. This stuff is easy and works well.

It's toxic, so don't go licking your fingers or anything and yes you need to apply it in a place they can't lick but other than that it's pretty simple, a drop behind the neck and no more fleas.

Best way to apply the stuff is to pick the cat up in the air by the scruff of his neck, put the tip directly against the skin, and then squeeze while moving the end of the applicator slightly towards the base of the skull. You need to get the stuff directly on the skin as much as possible.

If you're getting ANY on your hands, you're doing it wrong and it won't work on the cat... I talked to the vet a while back, and while you wouldn't want to eat the medicine it won't hurt you if you get it on your hands - just don't waste it, it's aspensive.

Cycloptichorn

Ahhh...the other Voice of Reason.

If I was Claws mommy, and I came home to find out the pet sitter, even if it was my best friend, had started feeding a feral cat that had apparantly not been around before....I'd be very, very VERY upset. If Claws was supposed to be an indoor cat, and I found out my friend was letting it out...I'd be questioning my friends sanity and my intelligence.

Well thanks Janey for the gift of a feral cat I didn't want around in the first place. That's why I'm still advocating getting rid of the cat before them come home. It'll cost you some money, but the other way of leaving the feral around for the owners of the house to deal with could cost a friendship, or at least damage it.

Don't leave it for the owners to deal with the expense and hassle of getting rid of an animal they weren't responsible for bringing around.

I've never gotten any on my hands, but I'm still going to wash them after handling anything toxic. My point was that they are simple solutions and the warnings are to the effect of "don't do something stupid like eat this or squirt it in your eye" and aren't something to be afraid of.

Hardest part of the whole thing is catching the cat.

that would only apply if the family in question never allowed claws outside.

Since we dont know , we cant assume that they kept him indoors his whole life.
And if the feral kitty found his food, then that means he was outside to begin with.
Which.. again.. leaves the only safe decision is to get rid of fluffy kitty.

But, thats just my strong sided opinion.

I would though.. get Claws to a vet.
Another disease that causes skin patches to appear is ringworm. And that can be passed from kitty to kitty as well.