FLEA AND WORMING

IMPORTANT: If your cat is in any distress or discomfort, please consult your own vet as your first priority.
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suttongreenking
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FLEA AND WORMING

Post by suttongreenking »

Hi, new kitten owner. Pick them (2) up in just over a week and am wondering about Flea and worm treatments. My vet treatments are £38 a kitten for 3 months worth of treatment, is this good?. I believe I can get a prescription from the vet and get the medication elsewhere which will make it cheaper. However, I have looked and the medication they use is out of stock everywhere. Then I wondered if non-prescription treatments are as good (there seems to be a vast selection out there) or I should be going for the prescribed treatments as advised by my vet? My vet uses Stronghold. Any advice and help would be much appreciated, many thanks, James.
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Mollycat
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Re: FLEA AND WORMING

Post by Mollycat »

Hi, will your kittens be going outside?

It's up to you to weigh up the risks, more so with worms but also fleas. For some regular treatments are important, but not necessarily as often as we're pushed to do. I have an indoor cat and a dog, the dog gets wormed 2-3 times a year, less now that he doesn't dig as much as he used to, and flea once a year before peak tick season. Last time we asked for flea treatment pre-surgery when it was critical that he had no skin issues the vet said he doesn't have fleas and refused to give it. My cat has had one wormer in the 9 years I've had her and two flea treatments, one when my other cat came home from the vet with a single adult flea and the other before a 10 day hospital isolation stay.

It's important to make up your own mind because the chemicals needed for effective parasite control are serious chemicals and it's ok to question just how much chemical load you want to put on them if it isn't needed. I'm afraid a judgement of what's appropriate for your own animals is up to you with your own reliable research, avoiding of course the fanatical tin-hat brigade!
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fjm
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Re: FLEA AND WORMING

Post by fjm »

If treating at all I would go to your vet. OTC treatments are often ineffective, and even drugs that used to work well, like the fipronil in Frontline, are becoming less effective as fleas etc become resistant to them, plus not all are safe for young kittens. I would definitely worm young kittens according to the schedule recommended by your vet; other parasite treatments do depend upon whether they arrive carrying fleas or mites and whether they are allowed outside. I presume you will be getting them vaccinated, which is the absolutely essential precaution - many vets offer a discounted package of health check, vaccinations, worming etc for kittens and it may be worth looking into that.

Once adult I tend to treat according to need - I have only needed to use flea control a few times in the past 10 years, even with outdoor cats. It would be different if I, or any of the animals, had allergies that made a few bites a major issue of course, but spotted early and treated quickly two months of appropriate treatment has usually been enough to get rid of the problem completely.
suttongreenking
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Re: FLEA AND WORMING

Post by suttongreenking »

Thank you! This information is really helpful. Yes they will be eventually going outside. Bit of a minefield all of this so really do appreciate the replies :D
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