Flea Treatments On Cats

We all want out cats to have that "just walked out of a pet portrait" look, with shiny coat and bight eyes. But it is an unavoidable truth that our little heroes will, on occasion, pick up fleas. Spring is a time of year when they become susceptible to infestations, but with the milder winters we're having, cats can be affected all year round with this problem. In some cats it can also become quite serious, causing an allergic reaction or transmitting disease.

The problem can grow quite quickly as well. In only six months, 200 fleas will have become 10,000!

To avoid it becoming a problem it is important to treat your cat, though to prevent the fleas returning, the whole house should be treated and any areas that your cat comes in contact with. There are many products available for the treatment of fleas, but what are the ones to go for?

Off the shelf flea treatments:

The treatments to choose from are; spot-on remedies, collars, 'electric shock' combs, sprays and tablets. The one that suits you will largely depend on you and your cat:

Flea collars are an easy way to treat your cat and can offer protection up to four weeks. However, not all owners are comfortable using collars on cats.

Spot-on drops are a very effective treatment, protecting your cat from fleas for up to 5 weeks. Some brands offer two types, one for cats or one for dogs, so make sure you get the right one, as a cat can be overdosed using the dog formula.

Electronic combs is a flea comb that emits a mild electric shock, enough to kill the fleas it comes in contact with, but that is harmless to your pet. The benefit here is that no chemicals are involved, but you will need to be thorough with the comb and it can miss the eggs, so you'll have to keep repeating the process for it to be effective. There is also a slight buzzing noise when it "zaps" a flea that may put off some cats.

Flea sprays are a relatively inexpensive way to treat fleas, but cats need to be over three months of age and be pretty tolerant of the 'hissing' noise. Your cat will also need to be placid enough to sit still while you make sure the job is done thoroughly.

Tablets are a very quick and thorough way of ridding fleas on your cat, but not everyone is as good as the vet at administering the pills!

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