Surprising comment from vet about fleas

[Julianne65]

I just took our cat in for a check up on her wound (healing nicely). And the vet talked to me about the flea treatment we are using for preventative reasons. Apparently "they" (forgot to ask who, I assume the big vet people) want us to stop using flea treatment in winter as fleas are becoming resistant to almost all treatments. She said if Stronghold plus stops working then "we are buggered". Is anyone else doing this? I am very reluctant to stop treatment as our cat goes outside a lot.

Our vets haven’t mentioned this. I’d be reluctant as if we are even one day late with DCat’s treatment I start getting bites on my legs. But I really do get the reasoning. Argh.

Well yes, I can well believe there is developing resistance. Giving preventative antibiotics isn't good for the same reason. I treat if there is a flea appear.

If a vet is trying to make less money out of you I would believe them! There is an issue with flea treatments polluting waterways as well. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/01/vets-pesticide-flea-treatments-river-pollution-pet-owners-toxic-insecticides-hands?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Dcat is allergic to both fleas and flea treatment (and a load of other things,) so I do lots of combing with a nit comb but I wouldn't want to be doing it if she was long haired.

I only treat actual fleas, which we have had once in the last two years. In my old house we never had them in 20 years, yet vets tried to sell me monthly treatments. I know some places have more fleas, when I lived in Cheshire they were a constant issue.

I don’t give preventative flea treatment, two outside cats and it’s been a couple of years since we’ve had fleas. I just keep an eye on it. I’ve also found giving the carpets a dose of indorex in spring is effective.

We've had no fleas at all since just before Covid. Like others above we only treat as a cure rather than a preventative. 4 cats with outside access.
My brother's outdoor untreated cats haven't had fleas for three years either.
Never had an extended period without fleas like this before - saved a load of money as a result.

This thread is an interesting read. My DH is hugely paranoid about fleas ( family didn’t manage them well with their pets when he was young and he got bitten lots ) so we treat preventively. However this week at the vets for a separate issue the vet suggested we swap our usual treatment for one 3 times the price on the basis “ lots of cats don’t get along with the one you use and your cats scratching a fair bit” - she did check for fleas and saw no signs.

wondering if we should start easing up on the treatments esp as they only spend short intermittent times outside as they were previously indoor cats

We only treat if we see fleas, it's been at least 5 years since the cats had them and before that probably about 7 years.

Wow! This is interesting. I would be inclined to stop treatment but during the summer she came in with an almost dead flea on her (managed to catch it very easily and it looked pretty dead) so I am concerned that she is a flea magnet. We have a lot of cats and foxes around here. But I would also prefer NOT to treat her as she hates it and I hate the idea of putting chemicals onto her skin. I've read that article in The Guardian before too and found it interesting. Another reason to stop.

Interesting - I have the monthly treatments for mine but rarely manage to actually do them monthly - I reckon they get maybe 4 or 5 a year at 6-10 week gaps. They're 11, both outdoor cats in the day, and touch wood never had a flea episode.

Good friend of mine had cats for 25 years and only treated when there were actual fleas, which was not often - she thought I was mad for starting the monthly stuff with mine.

Might have a chat with my vet when they go for jabs in January!

My cat is 7 and has never had fleas. I’ve treated her sporadically from time to time but have stopped. Previous cat didn’t have fleas either until he was about 10.

I have a dog but same thing, the fleas are resistant to a lot of the treatments.

I don't treat my cats all year round, or very often in fact. Mainly because I'm dubious about the chemicals. I do comb frequently and find this is good as a preventative treatment as long as you do it often. I used to use the spot ons and found that they weren't any better really, plus I do believe fleas are becoming resistant. My cats love being combed, they purr throughout!
Edited to add - with a flea comb, naturally.

I've lived with cats for 30 years, don't give preventative treatments and have only had them bring home fleas once. They were easily dealt with that time.

I’m delighted to hear of a vet not advising to shovel chemicals into
your pet for no reason. Most just sign you up for the money making schemes where jabs, worming and flea treatments are included - for the benefit of the big corporations that own the vets.

In the equine world over worming and resistance to products had been a concern for a while.

I only worn/flea my dogs and cats when I see evidence, and then continue for a few months to make sure I get the eggs hatching. This summer was the first time we’ve had fleas on the dogs for over five years.

Interestingly this is why I've always regarded 'pet plan' offerings by vets as a bit of a scam. They cut the prices on stuff I don't need - monthly flea treatments, regular worming tablets, 6 month checkups etc.

We never treat for fleas. Had dogs and cats for a decade and have never once seen one on any of the animals.