Flea treatment without the vet trip

[ALovelyCupOfNameChange]

I’m sure this has been done to death so apologies!
can anyone recommend a decent flea treatment for cats that I don’t need to stress the cat out with a trip to the vets?
thank you

Not really. Over the counter flea treatments aren't effective.

Advantage is supposed to be ok. Has the same flea ingredient as Advocate (Advocate also treats some worms and is prescription only)

You can just go to the vet and buy some without a consultation.

OTT treatments really don't work. Bite the bullet and take your cat to the vets. Our UK vet won't prescribe flea treatment over the phone, they insist on seeing the animal. I believe the law changed last year.

We always use frontline plus I think it is. It does fleas and ticks. Seems to work as we have loads of ticks where we live and they only bother cat if the drop running out ( I leave 5 weeks between treatments which it says)

It’s the same stuff they stock in local vets (not uk) but I buy from Amazon. Mine hates the car trip to vets so I don’t take more than needed

Ring your vet, they may be OK to prescribe. But basically the non prescription ones aren't reliable anymore.

They can't prescribe for an animal they've never seen. Possible usually if it's been seen within the last year.

My cats are seen annually for their boosters and then the vet will prescribe flea/wormer treatments for the rest of the year.

He is registered with a vet, it’s just been a while since they saw the cantankerous old git.

Not really. Over the counter flea treatments aren't effective.

thats always been my view too I was just hoping something new might have popped up. Although, given the affect they have on our waterways etc its probably best they haven’t.

Oh and thank you. It was wishful thinking but you never know!

@ALovelyCupOfNameChange I'd try Advantage. As I said before it has the same flea killing ingredient as the prescription only advocate.

You need to speak to the vet, fleas are resistant to different treatment in different areas. Fuckers.

I know what you mean as things are changing all the time.

Ask your vets if they have an SQP (usually a nurse but sometimes a receptionist), which is a Suitably Qualified Person. They can prescribe medications in the POM-VPS and NFA-VPS categories and do not need to see the animal. They will ask you questions to ensure you get the right product and then be able to supply it. These categories of medicines cannot be bought over the counter, and most be sold from registered premises. POM-V products can only be prescribed by vets (who need to see the animal), and these are usually the most effective, but the SQP supplied ones are usually medicines that were POM-V but now have sufficient time on the market to know they have miniscule risks even when the animal has not been seen. 'Advantage' is an NFA-VPS category, but there are others available.

Ahhh that’s good to know. Thankyou, I will see if I can get some advantage and if that doesn’t work I will have to get the dreaded box from the shed for him.

I had one fucker strolling across my arm earlier, and as much as I do enjoy popping them they aren’t pleasant to have around for anyone. My old cat was seemingly immune which was brilliant.

Advantage works for my cats & doesn’t need a prescription.

Frontline didn’t work with mine.

I was impressed at how well Advantage worked when I couldn’t get their usual vet meds during the pandemic.

I use Advantage, you can buy online. My vet uses Bravecto and you can also buy this online

I use Advantage, it used to be prescription only, but has now been available without prescription for several years. I have 5 cats and it still works absolutely fine for them. I buy from Vet UK or Viovet.

https://www.vetuk.co.uk/advantage-flea-treatments-advantage-for-cats-c-3_660_873/advantage-80-flea-treatment-for-large-cats-and-rabbits-4-pipettes-p-229

I agree Frontline doesn't work, so avoid that.

Frontline plus does work on mine. I’m not in uk so no idea if fleas get immune to different things?
But at start covid I couldn’t get the frontline plus for about 4 months so used something else from local pet shop that was crap and had ticks every 5 mins . Once frontline plus back he doesn’t. He’s never had fleas on it either

Advantage doesn’t kill ticks, so if you use that you need another tick treatment also

We get Bravecto. You only need to use it once every 3 months. My vet issues the prescription and then I collect it from the vets. I don't need to take my cat.

You can get Advantage online and without a prescription. I've never paid for prescription flea treatment for any of my animals and have never had an issue.

I can't believe a vet would prescribe a treatment for an animal they've never seen.

I think the issue is that in order to issue a prescription the vet would want to have seen the cat in the past year, and the OP said it's been 'a while' since the last vet visit.

Not anymore you can't - the law changed not so long ago.

The vet has to have seen your pet in person at some point in the last 12 months before they can prescribe anything.