Question: Expert cat advice needed – they appear to have caught fleas. God knows how as they are never allowed out of the house. We suspect neighbours cat that roams the streets like an ASBO and Dad has, on occasion, petted. Best method of attack? At the moment we’re using Johnsons Spot On, a spray for the house, and Dad has acquired flea collars too. -Kate Davies
Our response: Kate, what you’re using at the moment is preventative stuff, which isn’t a whole heap of use when the cats actually have fleas. I hate to be one of those “you must visit a vet!” people (cos I hate them), but when you actually have fleas, you need a prescription flea killer. It’s about £7 plus the price of a normal consultation. The type I’ve used in the past is like a shampoo, but you can get spray as well. It stinks, though, really very nasty.
When they’re clear of this, a product like Frontline spot on is all you need to prevent fleas in the future. Flea collars are woefully inaccurate and anything you can buy in a supermarket is not to be trusted. You can get Frontline from a vet (around £14 for three sachets, one sachet per cat every three months) or on the internet, my favourite being petsupermarket.co.uk
Do you have a question for us about cat health, behaviour or anything? After over 30 years combined cat ownership, we’ll do our best to help. Please email: tonijkelly@btinternet.com or comment with your question.
Posted by tonikelly 
