Monday, April 29, 2013

Flea season is upon us

Hi everyone! I want to remind you that flea season is upon us. Imagine if you were covered in bees. That's what it is like for animals to be covered in fleas. Fleas will bite your pet and keep it miserable.

I have been researching all the flea products available and which work the best. There are countless reviews out there. I noticed one pet medication in particular that received mostly horrible reviews. I'm not sure why even after reading over and over "It doesn't work!". In order for a flea medication to work, you must use it properly.

If you have indoor cats and you are having a flea problem, the best thing to do is put your cat in a pet carrier and place in a cool spot like on a porch or under a shady tree. The idea is to get your cat outside the house. Next, purchase roach/flea bombs. Wal-Mart carries a brand that comes with 3 bombs (some boxes have a 4th can free) and off the top of my head, I want to say it's "Hot Shot". You will need a bomb for each room in your house and maybe 2 bombs per room if they are big rooms. After setting them and then airing out your home, bring your cat back inside and immediately give it a bath using the blue Dawn dish washing soap. Be careful not to get it in your cats eyes, get water in it's nose or ears. I have experienced that once you get your cat good and soapy, turn the water off and massage your cat with the soap. They tend to be more stressed while water is running. Make sure the water is luke warm. No hotter than that. It's very easy to burn your pet with hot water. What feels warm to us will be too hot for your pet.

So now you have flea bombed your home and given your cat a bath. After waiting 48 hrs (this is very important as your pet needs to replenish the oil on it's fur), it's time to put on the flea medication. And here is where knowledge is key.

Not all flea medications are the same. It's all in the ingredients. Here is a link that will tell you what each ingredient is used for. The most well known flea treatments are Frontline and Advantage. There are new products on the market now, Advantix, Comfortis and Petarmor. Again, let me stress it's important to know the ingredients in your flea medication. Some ingredients kill adult fleas only. Some kill adult fleas and ticks. Some kill adult fleas, eggs, ticks and some do it all plus repel these pesky insects. People may want to spend the big bucks for the latter. But if you are on a budget (and who's not these days?), I am going to recommend Petarmor which is available at Wal-Mart. It has the same active ingredient as Frontline but it is much cheaper. Petarmor's main ingredient is Fipronil. It does not kill the eggs, however once hatched, it continues to kill the baby fleas. It also kills ticks.

Which ever product you decide to use, please keep your cat flea free.



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