Cat Care Question
 

Wednesday of last week I first noticed a bald spot around my cat just above his tail on the left side. This afternoon I found a flea on him in that area. He has been really healthy in his nine years but when he was scheduled for his check up a year after being fixed he nearly had a panick attack trying to get him out the door to go to the vet. I only got him there once back in June 2007 when he had a cat cold of some kind because he was so weak. He is in indoor cat that gets thirty minutes a week outside under supervision. That is it. He acts as if nothing is wrong and has not changed in mood or activity.I hate seeing that bald spot on him and want to treat what appears to be a flea problem,but its near impossible to get himt to a vet. What should I do to get ride of the fleas and get his hair to grow back? Any help is greatly appreciated and would ease my mind.

Get him a flea collar.

You can pick one up at Wal-Mart for a good price.


Make sure that it actually is fleas, though. Bald spots on animals can also indicate ringworm. It is contagious even in humans.


Go with the flea collar and see if that helps. If it doesn't, you will have to go to the vet and get him tested.


You did say you found a flea there so that is good (I mean compared to him having ringworm)


I would honestly suggest you keep your cat indoors. They are less likely to get any illness or fleas and bring it inside. I have two cats that don't go outside. Indoor cats also live longer. I mean, yeah, have a window area or something where your cat can look outside and feel a breeze, but the outdoors just brings about trouble.


You should also brush your cat to get rid of any other fleas that are hiding in his fur.


You have to be careful with a flea collar, though. Sometimes, the medication is too strong and causes a reaction so just watch your cat at first to make sure he is okay with it.

I had a cat who was allergic to fleas and would chew his hair out at the base of his tail. We had to feed him special food that prevented fleas. A flea collar won't work. They hardly ever do. Ask your vet about garlic pills. Fleas hate garlic and feeding those to your cat will cause the garlic to be in his system causing the fleas to avoid him/her. Worked on my cat that was allergic.

I recommend you use Frontline for cats, you just put those drops on his back and you don't have to worry about it for a couple of months,I'm guessing if you get rid of the fleas his hair will grow back, if it doesn't I highly suggest to put him in one of those travel crates for cats and take him to the vet.

Ditto on the frontline. It will kill them on you animal and get the ones in your house. Cause if you saw one.....they're in your house too. It's expensive but it's the best thing going. Also they sell a generic at Target and places like that now.

There's really no reason for any animal to have fleas these days given the availability of that product.

This might be the best thing. I gave him a bath yesterday afternono with a special shampoo. He screamed bloody murder when he was scrubbed. He hates baths so much I doubt getting him to a vet would work considering his scaredy cat nature. I got a flea collar from PetSmart as well. It does not seem to do anything. I was told it only works around the neck when its near his tail that is the problem. Two questions: 1.What is the name of the Frontline generic? 2. How is this applied? Thanks,Katie and the rest of you. I was not sure really who to ask so I thought it would not hurt posting here.

It's called PetArmor. It has the same active ingredient as frontline and is used the same way. On my cat I put it at the top of his neck behind his head. On my dog it goes between her shouder blades.

Works just as good as the name brand...but about $40 cheaper

If you are a Costco member you can buy Frontline there for a cheaper price.

+1 for Frontline,
We have four cats in our househould and we use it once a month on all of them.

Would reccomend taking yr cat to the vet tho, just to make sure everything's OK. I know he doesn't like travelling, but he'll soon forgive you and settle down again afterwards (esp. if you poach some chicken breast as a treat :) )

Cheers,
Doug

I forgot to post I brought him in on September 25th.I was right it was FAD or flea allergy determatitis as its called. The vet gave us a 8 month supply of Revolution. It seems tol have worked. Most of the house was santized and the bed spreads dry cleaned and sheets washed and all carpet vaccumed. The hair seems to have started growing back but it could be the end of November before its back in full.Are the fleas gone?I hope and time will tell. I tested it by wiping a lint brush on the bed spread he sleeps on and it went from a good amount to almost nothing if any at all.

Glad to hear it was taken care of.

That's great news!
Glad he's on the mend :)

Didn't realise how old the original thread was when I posted in it

Cheers,
Doug

Glad your kitty is better!:tgrin:

He seems to be flea free. Is there any sure way to know that the house itself is? I have not seen any,but one nevers knows if its between generations.

I can see his hair is already starting to grow back. I will feel better once that spot is filled back in.

Fleas prefer to bite animals rather than humans, so as long as all the animals in your house are treated, the fleas will eventually die off.

I had a dog at one time who went from being completely outside and not much attention, to living inside with me. I treated her and the other dogs with Frontline for 2 months and there were no more fleas anywhere. (Or ticks or anything)

If you are treating, they'll be gone

get a flea collar put it in a vacuum bag and vacuum all of the rooms in your house.

I tired the flea collar and was told it did not work after a couple days trial. I have vaccumed every other day since then,but how do you attach a flea collar to the vaccum cleaner?

put it in to the vacuum bag or the bin depends on the model you have
http://www.pawesome.net/wp-content/u...lea-collar.jpg

I thought I would bring back this topic for another cat care question...My family noticed just a moment ago that the family pet, a nine year old black american short hair cat has a sore on his skin near his stomache. No one knows how he got it. He is indoor and no one noticed anything that could have caused it. Is it a bruise or a bite or something that needs medical attention? Since its hard to determine something is wrong not being human and I love the little guy so I am worried. Please give any advice you can. Its hard getting this scaredy cat to the vet so I would like to do it as a last resort if possible.

I'm not much of a pet person, but maybe if you post a picture of the sore the cat has on his stomach, maybe some of the pet owners here could help you determine what it is.

Hope everything works out. :)

Sometimes my guy will lick a nipple on his belly to the point of bleeding/scabbing. He doesn't do it all the time so I just chalk it up to OCDish type behavior. He is fine otherwise, and it heals in a week.

If your black cat's wound looks more than just slightly superficial and you notice that it isn't healing or maybe infected, it's best to have a vet look at it.

Turned out he was just fine with the small bruise. I tend to worry easy about him because its harder for an animal to communicate to us when something is wrong.

This morning I noticed a bald spot directly above his right eye. There were no signs of it before. I am not sure how it got there or what could be the problem. He is acting normal. It could not be natual baldness since it was overnight. Could it be another round of fleas or something else? Its near impossible getting this super skittish cat to the vet but if time can be found in the schedule he will be taken there if neccessary. What do you all suggest it could be? What do I need to watch for or do? Thanks.

I had a cat years ago that had the balding thing above the eye. It was some kind of skin thing she caught from another cat, but was easily treatable. The vet gave us a kind of cream we had to put on the spots for a few weeks and it cleared up and went away.

There is a cat that is allowed to wonder the neighborhood. I found where he is coming from, a poorly kept house with roughl 7 cats. My cat gets roughly 20 minutes of time a week outside not much more than that. Could it be possible the cat that my family occasionally feeds have indirectly passed something on to my cat? The internet says ringworm is a possibility but reading on the internet tends only to make one worry and not solve the issue.

Another possiblity is the air condition was knocked out almost a week ago,leaking freeon. I read its possible alrgeies/chemical algerens could effect cats. The air condition problem will be taken care of tomorrow, but could that have been the reason for the sudden bald spot on his right eyelid? I am just trying to think of scenarios that could have caused the problem.

It's totally possible to have gotten it from one of those cats. The one mine caught it from came from a similar situation and wasn't looked after.

The thing is the cat that is allowed to wonder has never met my cat. He is given milk like every three days or so. I think he comes around because he does not like to share with his family at the not so nice looking house about 1/3 to 4/10ths a mile away. Its not like they shared milk or food. Also, the roaming cat has a routine which he sits on the front door welcome mat and meows when he dees someone then gets abotu ten feet away no closer until he is given food/milk. He has never been touched.

Could there still be a possility without any direct contact just the fact he has been around reoccuringly since early June have something to do with it or the other possibilty mentioned above have anything to do with it? I hope I am just overreacting but I would like to hit the nail on the problem before it really becomes one. Thanks for the back adn forth,Peanut.

It won't become a huge issue, man. Don't worry about it. It's just a small thing if it's what I'm thinking about, but probably a little uncomfortable for your cat.

Yes, he can get it without ever coming into contact with the other cat. It's like if I'm hanging around your house with a cold, getting germs everywhere, you can get it even if I'm not rubbing my hands all over your face.

The only advice I can give you is to just go see a vet and take care of it. Also, when cats, or a lot of animals in general, are actually sick they hide away. If your cat is just chilling around the house, it's nothing serious.

A lot is going on in the next week,but when schedules have time he will be taken in for his check up. Its just a matter of getting him there.

Just for curiosity sake, what is it you are thinknig that is minor discomfort for him? It may narrow down all the possiblities I have listed.

He is acting normal. It was just an observation that a patch of fur was missing in an odd place without warning. Thanks for the help.:tgrin:

Like I said my cat had a similar thing many years ago. It was a skin condition that itched and bothered her and caused fur to fall out in that area. I can't remember what it was called, because it was at least 10 years ago.

Sounds like ringworm.......which is basically just athelete's foot somewhere besides your feet. The vet will give a special antifungal medication....maybe a cream. No big deal. May be a little itchy for the cat but harmless. My dog gets it occasionally. My niece had it once too. It's incredibly common where I'm from because of the climate.

Just wanted to say this really made me laugh.