Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hi,

A young male outdoor cat that I have been feeding was quite sick with a mucus-y respiratory infection when he turned up in my garden, so the local vet had me give him 10-days of antibiotics, which cured him totally. Now he is bouncy and dry-eyed, with a terrific appetite. But I can tell he is being driven crazy by fleas, which got the best of him when he was sick and not interested in grooming. Plus we have ticks around here, so I would like to apply some Frontline.

The last antibiotic pill was 4 days ago. Ok to apply Frontline now? Or should I give his system a rest? I am sure no one else is taking care of this cat -- he never leaves my doorstep -- and he has now been in my life for a month.

Hi,
I tend to wait a week if any of my cats have been poorly, before giving spot on. Whether waiting is necessary I don't know, just seems right to me. Also I've heard frontline or any over the counter treatments don't always work well, better to get one from the vet eg Frontline Combo. Well done for looking after this little cat, sounds like he's adopted you

Thanks. I'll see if the vet has anything better than the pet store. I live in Italy, and sometimes over-the-counter stuff is the strong stuff. But in addition to waiting for the antibiotic to fade away, I'm going to wait until it is cooler, since that is wiping him out a bit too. Also give me a chance to fatten him up more.

This cat -- who is rather endearing -- didn't so much adopt us as lucked into his salvation while we were out of town, and I had asked the landlord to feed an extremely cute stray cat who had taken to sitting in my garden. I only feed the cute stray whenever he jumps to sit on my window sill, but the landlord left out piles of dry food, 24/7. We came back to find 2 new cats hanging around, but one of them apparently has other options. This formerly sick one doesn't -- but now that he is feeling much better, he is taking over! Noisy little bleater too. The other cute stray is infuriated. My landlord loves having them all, because this is actually a small farm, and the cats keep away the rodents (and I'm the one paying for the food and drugs!)

I'm unsued to stray cats. I have a pet female cat, who is a totally docile, cuddly lap kitty, but these boys are a handful. I ended up signing on to this message board for advice on dealing with them. Thanks again!

I tend to leave it a week or so to give their systems a chance to rest as well. Funnily enough, the only time Frontline has failed for me was when I got Frontline Combo from the vet!