Do all cats get fleas at some point?

[mintmacaroon]

How often should I treat my cat and what is the most effective treatment? Is it inevitable that she'll get fleas at some point? Sorry for all the questions!

It's not necessarily inevitable but she'd have to be pretty lucky to avoid them completely over the course of a long life. (And they can sometimes be the very devil to get rid of if they become established - prevention is the better option in my view.)

How old is she and what sort of life does she lead?

PS - Is she to be wormed as well?

She's 5 and I've had her for 5 weeks. She goes outside but never really wanders further than the garden at the moment. She was wormed and treated for fleas the week I adopted her so she's due for flea treatment soon?

Ideally you should treat her monthly with something like Advocate. We get this from our vet and it protects against fleas, worms and ear mites.

I think some locations are much more prone to fleas than others. When I lived in the NW of England I was waging a constant battle against them and had several major infestations. Back in Scotland I've never seen a flea and I don't treat for them any more. Maybe because we live semi-rurally and the cat concentration is very low and it's a bit colder, on average, than the terraced street I lived in in England. We have harvest mites instead and they are, if anything, worse, and harder to treat.

Twig

I don't think Advocate kills tapeworms. You might want to check up on that one.

Hmmm, box says broad spectrum combination treatment, effective against fleas, flea larvae, roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, heartworms and Sarcoptic mange, ear and Demodex mites. The vet administers a different dewormer with annual vaccination boosters, would that be it?

I'm guessing that Yes - that would be it. (Do you remember its name?)

Notice the one that's missing from that list you quoted?

This might be a daft question but her last treatment for fleas was on the 13th Feb. Does it matter that I'm a few days late as I won't be able to get to the vets until Friday to buy some?

I wouldn't worry about it, mint. A few days here or there aren't going to make too much difference in my view - in that issue, anyway. (People debate the optimum frequency of worm and flea treatment on much greater margins than that.)

We use Advocate on our two and the kitten has become very itchy. She scratches frantically and shivers her skin. She has been treated so what the heck is causing it??? Any ideas? She's not fun to catch so I'm hoping we don't have to make another trip to the vet's...

No cozie, tell me.

Harry has Advocate monthly and Profender every three months. We're often late but he has never had fleas and worms thankfully. My previous vet actually told me it would be fine to use the Advocate every six weeks.

The tapeworms we were discussing, Twig.

I just remember this horrible thread that Lone posted (Sorry - but it really was) about having to remove a 10 inch tapeworm surgically to free an obstructed gut in a cat. 10 inches really grossed me out.

Sorry, it's been a loooong day. Will ask vet re tapeworm

We've had dear cat many months and she is treated every month! !

We advocate once a month and worm three monthly.

Same

Outdoor cat. Was told indoors need less

I think with worms, it can depend on the risk factors involved. Seniorboy is not only an indoor cat but he stopped hunting many years ago - I think that these days, he might stretch out a languid paw if a mouse actually came and prostrated itself in front of him but that's only a 'might'. He's not dosed nearly as often as The Lodger who while immensely sociable to other cats, seems to regard small mammals as a personal challenge. (Not birds, interestingly - he could care less about them.)