To not flea treat my cats every month?

I never flea treat my dogs (unless one of them kills a rabbit & then I might treat them as I assume there's a risk they would get fleas from that - but that's like once a year). Never had fleas in ten years.

We get a three-monthly flea spot-on thing from the vet for our cat. I am not religious about doing it to the calendar day but they text me to come and pick it up and I generally go in at some point that week then do the necessary. I'm of the "better safe than sorry" school!

My dog has a monthly tablet from the vet. I get it in with her healthcare.

Pennyroyal is a flea repellent. When SandyCat was elderly, we took her collar off and, instead, made a pennyroyal tea. We kept it in a spray bottle in the fridge and we sprayed her all over every 2 days. It was a bad year for fleas and it really knocked it in the head.

Pennyroyal is a mint so quite easy to grow. Not good, apparently, if you are pregnant.

I treat my cat monthly using a spot on from the vets, it covers, ticks and mites too. He’s a hunter and is always catching mice etc. He gets wormed every 3 months.

I treat mine every month, when I don’t they get fleas and it’s a pain in the arse to get rid of. The chemicals are then being sprayed in our house and on beds.

I don’t treat my cats or dogs unless they actually get fleas. No need imo to be unnecessarily exposing them or the environment. Anyone who says pets need to be treated monthly have got a vested, ie financial, interest, in my experience.

I do our cat every other month with a prescribed spot on flea treatment that also kills ticks which are very common where we live, even in our garden.

It's supposed to be every month, but the vet told me in her opinion it lasts much longer and she does hers every other month.

Please use sparingly and when needed, not as a monthly routine.....

www.wtwales.org/flea-treatments-and-wildlife

We have labradors. I give them a quarterly tablet to eat which repels fleas and ticks. It's expensive but I'd be horrified to get fleas in the house.

We use a spot on from the vet that does fleas, ticks and worms all in one. It's only every 3 months.

I used to be more laid back about using it but then we got fleas in the house. Managed to clear them without getting the professionals in but it was a lot of relentless hovering and hot washing bedding. I was mortified at sending DC into school with flea bites as well (thankfully they only got one or two, I got the most).

I have a prescribed one which is three monthly,

when they got fleas it was horrendous and I had to pay to get the carpets done and wash bloody everything, not risking that again

I heard a programme on radio 4 about this recently. They said that the issue with everyone treating their cats every month is that the chemicals in the treatment is bad for the environment. For example, if the person doing the treatment gets some on their hands and washes their hands then it gets into the water cycle and is bad for insects and animals. Also that there are times of year when there are more likely to be fleas (I think they said from July for a number of months) and you could only treat then. Sorry, realise I’m being a bit vague as I can’t remember all the details.

Perhaps if your cat has recently had fleas it’s best to be on the safe side for a bit? I’ve started using gloves when I do it so it doesn’t get on hands.

I use a herbal flea and tick treatment. Seems to prevent them!

I only use flea treatment as & when. I think the last time we had fleas is about 4 years ago. My dogs have a long hair and need regular grooming & bathing, I think that helps.

Obviously no experience with cats.

Just remember, flea treatment is an insecticide. It's not healthy for the animals or the environment, especially waterways.

I check my cat every week when grooming and she doesn't go farther than our garden. But if your cats have actually had fleas then yes you need to treat them monthly for at least the next 12 months. Eggs will have been dropped and can hatch months later and the whole nightmare starts again!

I haven’t fleaed or worked much for years, but this year we got a run of fleas that were really hard to get rid of, and we ended up registering with the vets for their monthly treatment package. We’ve been doing this 4 months and everything is clear of fleas. But coming into winter it does get me thinking whether we should just keep treating or not.

I don't treat my dogs at all unless they get fleas. I was also concerned about the use of chemicals on the dogs.
I started using billy no mates which is a herbal treatment which discourages fleas from landing on animals. We've not had fleas for about 3 years now since using it. I'm not sure if it's suitable for cats but might be worth looking into for you

I do mine roughly every 3 months im absolutely not religious with it. He is mostly indoor especially now the weathers changing so I just don’t want to keep putting chemicals on him and he hasn’t got fleas. I do foster cats on occasion so may swap it up if I feel a need when I have them