Best Flea Control For The Money?

[MzDiz]

It's been a long time since I had to deal with fleas and suddenly, they're all over the cats! In the last four months, we've added four more cats to our family. They were all outdoors at one point. One of them was abandoned, one was living outside my husband's office for several weeks, one was a terribly malnourished farm kitten (we totally stole him), and the last is a completely feral cat that I couldn't watch freeze to death over the winter. Anyway, one or more of them brought friends, now they're spreading to the other cats.

My question is, what's the best bang for the buck? I know I could call my vet and they'd be happy to sell me something that will cost me a couple hundred dollars for all the cats, but I don't have that kind of money to spend. I also know to stay away from the Hartz or like products that seem to kill cats along with fleas. I have twelve (yes, twelve) cats to treat and I'm still up to my ears in a cat surgery bill from last month. Luckily, we have all hardwood floors or tile and not a lot of squishy furniture for fleas to hide in.

What do you use? What's it cost? What do you recommend?

TIA!

 

[dolphinrescuegirl]

I've tried everything out there and the only thing that really works for me is the Advantage which I get from my vet. It costs about $10 for each cat but it's worth it. Since you have so many cats ask your vet if you can get a discount for buying so much. This is what my mom did when she was getting 5 kittens fixed all at once. Sometimes they will give you a break when buying so much. Can't hurt to ask. Good luck!!

 

[MzDiz]

Ooh, group discount, good idea. Maybe I'll give that a whirl.

 

[FreshTressa]

Only thing that has worked for us is advantage.

 

[vettechick99]

I just switched from Frontline to Advantage and I'm so glad I did. It's way better!!!

ETA: 1800petmeds.com has great prices and free shipping most of the time!

 

[aynt79]

I agree with the Advantage. I buy ours on 1800-Pet-Meds, (Our vet has a thing with Frontline, which is useless to me).

 

[poohandwendy]

Buy advantage online at 1800petmeds and buy the large dog size (depending on how much you want to spend. Then you measure out the correct dose (below) in a syringe (no needle- you can get these at any pharmacy) and place it on them as directed:

0.4 cc. for up to 9 lbs and
0.8 cc for cats over 9 lbs

The ingredients are exactly the same for dogs and cats. It's just so much more pricey if you buy the cat size. Especially when you have lots of cats (I have 7, so I understand, LOL)

This link has more info:

http://www.lisaviolet.com/cathouse/advantage.html

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

The only thing that worked for us was Advantage--available at the vet. The other stuff (that they seem to promote a lot more) didn't work for us.

All the OTC stuff at the stores--in my entire life of owning cats--it was simply throwing money out the window and I have heard of some dangers of using the Hartz line with kitties.

We have gotten to the point where we don't even use advantage anymore and we haven't had a flea problem in months (maybe about a year?). We have one cat that still goes outside. We monitor the kitties and will use if necessary. But no fleas in our household.

Advantage I believe kills the eggs as well where I belive front line may not.

 

[MzDiz]

Looks like Advatage large dog size is it!

 

[winniedapooh]

Another switch from Frontline to Advantage. Love it and I do 1800 Pet meds too...saves me a bundle with 4 of the little furballs!

 

[luv2nascar]

be very careful with the over the counter. Our cat got sick from Zodiac and cost us $200 bucks at the vet. Luckily he is well now and on Frontline.

 

[vettechick99]

wow, poohandwendy! I had no idea. Thanks for that info!

 

[N&B'smom]

If you ever have trouble getting them out of your house, for example our dogs picked them up from a stray cat. (grrrr!) We got him all taken care of relatively quickly but the fleas were all over the house by then. It was horrible! On my anniversary I got into bed late after a nice dinner out with my hubby, turned to switch off the light when my I felt a bite on my face. I put my hand up and grabbed it, it was a FLEA on my face! Talk about a mood killer. Anyway, I read online about people that have used Mule Team Borax. It's in your laundry detergent aisle. You sprinkle it all over your carpet then sweep it into the carpet with a brush or broom. Let it sit for a couple hours and then vacuum it up. (keep your pets out of the area while you're treating it) Apparently it suffocates the little suckers! (I hope I don't get posts from angry flea rights activists on this one! ) We had our pest control place come out twice and they sprayed the inside of our house and it still didn't do anything. The Mule Team Borax worked great!! Just in case you need to get rid of them from your house and not just your pet!

Shelby

 

[pppiglet]

Our vet has ours on Revolution. We use to use Advantage. Revolution also kills internal parasites.

 

[mousehouselover]

Buy advantage online at 1800petmeds and buy the large dog size (depending on how much you want to spend. Then you measure out the correct dose (below) in a syringe (no needle- you can get these at any pharmacy) and place it on them as directed:

0.4 cc. for up to 9 lbs and
0.8 cc for cats over 9 lbs

The ingredients are exactly the same for dogs and cats. It's just so much more pricey if you buy the cat size. Especially when you have lots of cats (I have 7, so I understand, LOL)

This link has more info:

http://www.lisaviolet.com/cathouse/advantage.html

She's right about Advantage and being able to split it. I have done it many times and was told by a Bayer rep that it's ok. It can be done with Frontline too. Kitty dose of frontline is 0.5cc.

I work for a vet and have more kitties than you have so I can totally relate to how to control the fleas w/o breaking the bank and I get a discount on my flea products. I like the fact that FL had an insect growth regulator which adv doesn't have and it can be effective against fleas for up to 90 days. We had a pretty bad flea problem this year and the kitties I treated 2 mos ago are still flea free even though I still occas find them on the dogs.

Another poduct I really like is called Knockout by Virbac. It kills and controls fleas for up to 4 mos.

My personal fav website is www.kvvet.com, they have really good prices and free shipping on orders over $50.

 

[poohandwendy]

wow, poohandwendy! I had no idea. Thanks for that info!

No problem, I found out at thecatesite.com. It has saved me quite a bundle.

Obviously, the people who make Advantage don't advertise that the contents of the little tubes are all the same. But, it is true and it really does save alot of money.

For example:

6 pack for Cats up to 9 lbs- $60.29 (shipping included)
6 pack for large dogs over 55 lbs- $62.99 (shipping included)

$2 difference!!! Over 6 times as much product.

Each of the large dog tubes are going to have enough liquid in them to cover at least 4 cats, where one cat tube is one application. And the tubes come with caps, so you just use what you need.

 

[poohandwendy]

She's right about Advantage and being able to split it. I have done it many times and was told by a Bayer rep that it's ok. It can be done with Frontline too. Kitty dose of frontline is 0.5cc.

I work for a vet and have more kitties than you have so I can totally relate to how to control the fleas w/o breaking the bank and I get a discount on my flea products. I like the fact that FL had an insect growth regulator which adv doesn't have and it can be effective against fleas for up to 90 days. We had a pretty bad flea problem this year and the kitties I treated 2 mos ago are still flea free even though I still occas find them on the dogs.

Another poduct I really like is called Knockout by Virbac. It kills and controls fleas for up to 4 mos.

My personal fav website is www.kvvet.com, they have really good prices and free shipping on orders over $50.

Hey, thanks for the link, they have even better prices than 1800petmeds!