Fleas and Your Cat or Kitten

Fleas and Your Cat or Kitten

If your cat is allowed outside, chances are it’s going to bring fleas into your home. Most indoor cats will not have this problem.

Your first course of action should be to treat your yard. Bring in all pets and spray the yard with an insecticide to kill fleas, flea larvae and ticks. Next, you will need to treat your carpet and your furniture. Fleas will burrow into carpet as well as your seat cushions, slipcovers and bedding.

Begin by vacuuming your carpet and your furniture. Be sure to get all cracks, crevices and corners of the room. You will also want to use a powder, spray or fogger in your home as well. Powders are used on carpet and you simply shake and vacuum them back up. They can penetrate down into the matting to kill the fleas.

Sprays are short-term flea control. They kill adult fleas, but not the eggs. Foggers can be difficult to use because you have to leave your home for several hours and keep your pets out as well. You also have to be sure that they don’t get on food or appliances used to cook and prepare food.

After your home flea free, you will want to prevent any further infestations. Preventing is a lot easier than getting rid of fleas and you can begin by using these products:

Flea Baths & Dips: Flea baths use a medicated shampoo that is used to treat fleas. These are good for short-term, but they wear off quickly. Flea dips are more effective and last for several weeks. Flea dips should be a last resort as they often contain heavy chemicals.

Flea Powder and Spray Treatments: Flea powders and sprays are also a short-term defense. These treatments only affect adult fleas.

Flea Collars: Flea collars are also popular. These exude a gas that fleas do not like and is absorbed into the skin of the animal. They tend to only work in the vicinity of the neck.

Flea Medications: These are a pill that keeps eggs from hatching and reproducing on the cat. These do not kill adult fleas, but stop the reproduction process.

Absorbable Medications: This is a spot medication that is applied between the shoulder blades of the cat. They spread across their skin and kills fleas for about a month. They also halt the reproduction process.

Flea Combs: This is a good method to use on kittens and you don’t want to give her any unnecessary treatments. This is a fine comb that you use to pull the fleas off of the hair and then you have to kill the fleas by dousing them in soapy water.

Deworming Your Cat

Deworming Your Cat

Just about all kittens are born with some type of worm infection. These worms are often transmitted through the mother’s milk while the kittens are still in the womb. It takes a lot to keep all cats worm free, so you will definitely need to work with your cat to keep worms down.


There are several clues that your cat might have worms:

If you find a stray cat, don’t assume that the cat is healthy. Automatically take it to the vet to be dewormed as well as have its health checked overall. Also, if your cat prowls outside and is prone to hunting, they are more susceptible to worms.

Even if your cat is predominantly an indoor cat, they will still be able to develop worms. If your cat has a heaving or retching problem that does not end in a hairball, there is a good chance that the cat has worms.

They may also vomit up worms or they may also be present in feces.
Not all veterinarian tests will show that cats have worms. Even feces tests do not always indicate worms as they worms can lie dormant in the system.

If your cats appetite changes, or if the cat develops diarrhea, you should have the cat dewormed. Some cats will also have dull fur or a potbelly. These are typically signs of worms.

There are a variety of different worms and they affect the body in different way. There are several over the counter worm medications that you can give to your cat in its food or as a pill.

Worm your cat on an "as needed" basis or whenever you see your cat getting in a wormy situation.

30 Tips To Keep Cats Out Of Your Garden

Cats coming to the garden to do their business can be a Nasty and Smelly problem to have to deal with. Here are 30 tips you might find of some use, and not just for keeping the cats out of the garden. I'm sure you can think of some more, but as a slave to two cats we wanted to keep them Humane.

30 Tips To Keep Cats Out Of Your Garden

Are you bothered by cats coming into your garden and doing their business, scaring your birds away, or getting up to other mischief?

Here is a list of 30 deterrents you could try:

1. If a Tom starts to mark his new territory you could mark over it yourself although it may surprise the neighbours!

2. You can buy repellent pellets from garden centers that smell like citrus fruits, which apparently cats don't like.

3. Or you could use the real thing lemon or citrus peels work for a bit but you have to keep replacing them every three or four days. Not good for a big space unless you really really like lemonade.

4. You could try planting Coleus Canina which emits a foul odour when a cat rubs itself against it, but I'd imagine you'd have to cover quite a large area (depending on the size of your garden) for it to be effective.

5. Lion dung is said to keep them out but it may smell even worse than cats poo, but it's good for the roses. (And just where do you pick up a LOAD of Lion Dung?)

6. Small sticks pushed into the ground so that approximately six to 12 inches are sticking out of the ground like spikes. They must be close enough together to prevent cats snuggling their bottoms down between them to poo.

7. Get a dog. (It would be best if it wasn't to cat crazy for the best effect)

8. Some say Jeyes disinfectant fluid around the edges of the garden works but the fluid is actually quite poisonous to cats and will kill them in fairly small amounts. (OK, not very Humane)

9. Spray water at them, not from a hose, from one of those spray bottles from a garden center or use or a super-soaking water gun for cats further away.

10. I have heard that they don't like garlic.

11. A friend suggested moth balls worked for her.

12. Sprinkle black pepper & chilli around the garden, harmless to animals but an effective deterrent apparently.

13. Getting a cat yourself often works. Its very unusual for a cat to poop in its own garden, and other cats won't really come near another cats area, unless it likes them, and then it wont poop 'cos it respects the area! (I'm not so sure about the respect thing)

14. Catch the cat and rub its nose in it (not so it smudges all over the cat, just near it) then put the cat in next doors garden, or wherever you wish it to poop from now on.

15. You can buy some pet repellent spray from the DIY stores. It is harmless to animals and children.

16. Solid toilet blocks (used in public loos usually) crumbled around.

17. Scatter citrus peel (oranges & lemons) around the garden.

18. Place pine cones around near garden borders.

19. Plant geraniums, marigolds and petunias, cats apparently dislike those plants.

20. Grow spiky plants near areas you want to keep cats away from.

21. Ask local cat owners to provide an inside litter tray for their cats to discourage outside toileting.

22. Or if the cat owner doesn't want/can't have inside trays...Ask them to dig a pit in their garden, several feet deep and 2 foot square and fill with peat. Then all that is needed is for this outside toilet to be dug over frequently.

23. If you have bare soil cover it with gravel or slate chippings etc, it will discourage digging.

24. Keep your lawn short. If you let your lawn get to 3" ish high, they will poo in it and not bury it.

25. Place a small length of hosepipe in amongst your plants, cats and birds don't like snakes!

26. Invest in a bag of coffee (grounds), and spread around the garden.

27. Plant some lavender. It works for some and smells divine and for some reason the cats hate it.

28. Olbas oil (the one you put on pillows for blocked noses) works pretty well.

29. Water 'Scarecrow' that squirts water at things it detects moving, including you!

30. If all the foregoing makes you despair then go the high-tech route and buy yourself an ultrasonic cat repeller.

They have a motion detector built-in, can be mains powered and emit a high decibel tone that only cats can here. Problem solved.I use one at my house and found it excellent. Didn't hear any noises from it and it didn't bother the dogs next door either. I'd recommend the mains powered one rather than using batteries, they never seem to last for very long, but battery power does give more flexibility.

It has a PIR which means that it is only emitting 'noise' while the cat is in range so the cat cannot 'learn' to tolerate it. This also saves batteries (if you use them). There is an alternative of purchasing a mains connector if the battery option doesn't work out well.

They only activate when a large enough object passes by, humans included , and only go for a short time so small mammals are OK. There has been no reduction in bat activity where we live and no signs of them being mis-directed either.

The cat repeller is fantastic. Not a single cat in the garden at the moment, and when they appear they skulk along the wall and don't stay. I really recommend this investment.


About the Author:

Are you bothered by cats coming into your garden and doing their business, or scaring your birds away? First read these 30 tips, the last one really works - go to http://petthings.googlepages.com/cats

Your Cat and Moving

Your Cat and Moving

Moving can be a difficult situation with which to deal for all member of your family, including your cats. If you will be moving in the near future there are a number of things that you should consider in order to make sure that your cat’s health is not compromised. Don’t forget to think about your furry friends when moving!

First, when you are packing for the move, it might be a good idea to confine your cat to a single room or to have a friend of family member watch your cat for the day. Movers are often caring very heavy items, like sofas and refrigerators, so they shouldn’t have to watch where they step.

Your curious kitty could also climb into the moving van or boxes and get packed away! If your cat is fully an indoor cat, the open doors while you are loading your belongings are also a worry, since it is easy for a pet to bolt out the door.

About a month before you move, have your cat wear his or her collar full-time, even if you do not normally put the collar on your cat. All of his or her information should be updated and the tags should reflect your new address.

When cats are confused, they often run, and a lost cat in a new neighborhood may not be able to find his or her way home very easily. If your cat needs certain medication, this can be very dangerous. By having his or her wear a collar at all times, at least until he or she gets used to the new location, you can make sure that your cat is returned home if lost.

During the move itself, don’t forget to make special accommodations for your cat. A cat carrier that is well ventilated is a necessity, and if the trip will be more than a few hours long, you’ll also need to carry food, water, and litter box supplied for your cat.

Cats that are not used to riding in cars may get sick, so talk to your vet about ways to prevent this. You can also cover the carrier with blankets to provide a bit of extra security for a stressed-out kitty when you’re in heavy, loud traffic or construction areas.

Remember, that you’ll need to find a new vet in your new neighborhood. This should be a top priority for you if you’re moving, and you should talk to your current vet about having your cat’s medical records transferred to a new location.

If your cat is acting strangely at all, do not hesitate to call your vet to more tips about moving with your cat.