Welcome to Everyone!

Hello, Hello, Hello!!!

I know this is a little unconventional, but it has to work for now. I welcome all my readers from For-the-Love-of-Cats.com.

I post as much as I can, as often as I can. I'm around the internet as often as I can be right now. I'm also in school, so I have a lot of demands on my time. I'm still available for "cat whispering" if you need it.

Latest topics are FLEAS, FLEAS and more FLEAS! I've been doing everything I can, but even Beasley, with his overfed self is getting sensitive to the chemicals. I'm about ready to start bathing the babies (claws and all!) to deflea them. As soon as they go to their beds or cat tree, they get fleas again. It's so frustrating! I don't know how much more of this we can take.

So, we are moving soon, and I'll bomb the place when I get them in their carriers and into the car.  Yes, I do change the litter box every time I do the flea stuff. Yes, I spray the house down and vacuum all the dead fleas and eggs up. It just doesn't seem to help.

I don't know where they are hiding, and I don't know if the cats can take much more of this. I know that Beasley and Princess, my larger cats, both had reactions this month. Bugs was fine, and Queenie was just a little more of a devil than usual (mostly because Beasley and Princess weren't able to keep her in her place).

Princess still attacks Bugsie in the middle of the night. I don't know what that's about. She just walks up to Bugs wherever she may be sleeping and smacks her about 5-7 times in the head. Bugsie is used to this by now, and I do try to stop it, but I almost wonder if Princess is sleepwalking....  Do cats sleepwalk??? 

Well, that's a quick update from the home front. I'll check in again in a few days. Request the Facebook page and I'll approve as fast as I can. It was supposed to be an open group, but somehow it got set up as a group that you have to be approved to join. I'll get that fixed next week when I have more leisurely internet access.

Love to all!!! 

Fleas, Yowling, Bells, and Giggles....

Last night, Beasley started yowling and wouldn't stop. He finally went and did something else, only to start up again sometime in the middle of the night. I tried to reassure him, but I'm not allowing the cats into my bedroom right now.

When I got up this morning, I noticed one of the fabric mice he is fond of carrying around while he yowls around it. This makes for a particular kind of yowling... I gave him a big hug and he purred. I went into the kitchen to get their breakfast, and Queenie was pushing a ball with a bell around. She even invited Bugsy to play! I giggled, and each time I did, she ran away, only to return a few minutes later.

I guess they aren't used to my giggles!

What this all means, of course, is that they are feeling better. The fleas have stopped tormenting them so much and their health is returning.

I have a little more to do to completely eradicate the fleas, but we are close. We are living on the concrete foundation of the house, but that's OK for now. I plan to put down 24 x 24 cork tiles for flooring, which provides a thermal break from the concrete while maintaining a hard floor, which is not as friendly to fleas as the carpet was.

However, I still have a little carpet to pull up in the bedrooms and linen closet (?), and then to flea-bomb the house twice before I can say we are fully flea-free. I also need to de-flea the property outside - using bombs and sprays. Each visitor who comes to the door potentially carries fleas with them, which is how we got them in the first place.

Meanwhile, it's nice to see the cats behaving more like cats. They are having fun, playing, sleeping soundly, and when they are snuggling, it is not so they can get away from the fleas.

And I love to see this interaction between them. Queenie is such a dominant cat, and she selected Bugsy. Bugsy is our biggest instigator! She seems to purposely get into the other cats' way to get involved with them and their games. This causes her to be cuffed quite a bit, but it's all done with love, and no one gets hurt. She needs a home of her own, where she can be loved and snuggled and held as much as she wants and deserves, but she is with us, with four litter mates.

Bugsy was very ill for a while - I was giving her fluids and hand-feeding her to keep her going. During the deepest part of her illness, she would not move from my chair. I think the others noticed that I would not let her get away with just giving up or feeling sorry for herself. I set her at the food bowls, kept her off my chair, and got her moving as soon as she was able. She can sit on my chair, but only when I'm there, not all the time like she did.

New Flea Collars!

I found these collars a the pet supply store the last time I was in for cat food, and I was really surprised!

The price is really good, and there are NO pyrethrins in the formula! Excellent value! The cats are doing well with them - even Queenie had no trouble getting the collar on. In fact, the only cat who had any trouble wearing a collar was Bugs! Surprise! She really hated the idea, but the others resigned themselves quickly.

Now, to pull the carpet to get rid of all the eggs and fleas living in it. I know it seems extreme, but added to the other problems we are having with carpet in the house, it's best for everyone - cats and people alike. The allergies are horrible!

I recently went out of town and had to leave Princess with a severe upper-respiratory infection. We are lucky that it was actually a virus and passed quickly. Once she got the collar on - only a day ago - she started feeling a lot better and talking to me again. She's been quietly sitting around, shrinking from pets until the 3rd stroke, when she leans into me. She has been so weak and anti-social for so long. All because of the fleas and their biting. I would not be a bit surprised if everyone was a bit anemic!

Anyway, the carpet is a breeding ground for the fleas - diatomaceous earth, salt, and other ideas have not helped in the long run. I was upset that the house came with carpet instead of hard flooring anyway, so I'll spend the extra $$ to have laminate flooring put down. Allergies, asthma, and fleas, all become worse with carpet.

The poisons I've sprayed on the carpet and furniture have become ineffective. The fleas seem to have built up a tolerance to them. I'd never heard of that, but it seems to have happened. I'll have to "bomb" the house after I remove the carpet. And to be sure, I'll have to bomb twice - 10 days apart, so that I get all the hatched eggs.

The worst part of the poisons is that the cats are getting sick from the built-up concentration of sprays. It's bad enough that the fleas aren't dying, but the cats are having reactions. It's time to stop the madness....

The collars are the first step in that. Removing the carpet is the next step, and the last step is a 2-stage flea and insect bombing with foggers.

This all started in late May, right after I'd done my monthly flea-spraying on the furniture and carpet. I got drops and put them on the cats, but at $10/each, it gets expensive with 5 cats, so I couldn't get more right away. And my spray seemed to be less effective... So I replaced it, but that didn't help.... By then, the fleas had taken over - everything!

The saga continues....

Flea Update...

Well, it turned out that Bugsie was telling me all about the fleas. I rubbed her down with NEEM oil, and they quieted for a while.

I ordered some Siphotrol premise spray...
http://www.for-the-love-of-cats.com/Siphotrol-Plus

which took too long to get here by UPS for my comfort (actually only 5 days) and when it arrived, I ordered some Advantage...
http://www.for-the-love-of-cats.com/ss-advantage

which arrived a few days later by mail. I've treated all the cats and the fleas are dying. I need to treat the premises again, since the fleas were so bad that they were hiding in places I didn't think to spray - like the closet, under the bed, the cat beds, and so on. I've changed sheets twice, and I'll have to do it again, and spray each layer as I add the sheets back.

Yep, we were infested alright!

Now, I have to purchase advantage another month-worth, and get the infestation out of the yard, which is where they are coming from. I'll need a yard fogger and more premise spray. The diatomaceous earth is good, but just not good enough.

Part of this is carpet. I haven't had carpet for several years, so they have a place to hide now. I have to keep the carpet treated all the time. I have DE in the carpet now. However, it's sitting on top of the carpet - even after 2 weeks. It needs to get down to the base of the fibers. I'll have to invest in a rake to get it there, and keep the top of the carpet sprayed with the premise spray. Salt works too.

The other part is where they are coming from - the yard and driveway. We humans walk from the cars to the house, and they jump on us for a free ride inside. I need to treat the yard and entire premises.

So, this might be entitled - "How to De-Flea Your Home" instead of Flea Update!

**********

It would be really nice if I could take the cats out for a flea-dip and fog the house, but Queenie won't have it. I can't get her near a carrier. At least not and keep my skin intact....

Cat Meowed All Night

I tossed Bugsie out of the bedroom last night. She likes to cuddle by burrowing into my underarm area. She kept this up last night and kept waking me up, so I tossed her out of the bedroom for a cat-free night. She wouldn't quit complaining about it.

All night, she tried to get back in the bedroom - rubbing on the door, burrowing under it, and meowing. Not until I finally got up 20 minutes early, and talked to her - including a floor cuddle - did she stop. I think she felt really rejected that I turned her out after she tried to cuddle.

The issue is the fleas. I'm working very hard to keep them out of my bed. I clean all the flea-dirt off the sheets in the morning before I make the bed. I use an extra flat sheet to cover my bed during the day, and I change that often. I try to keep the cats away from my pillows and head. Still, I've had to wash sheets twice extra in the past 2 weeks because I'm changing the sheets more often. The fleas are horrible!

I'm exhausted. Another cat-free night tonight, with ear plugs.

I wish the mailman would come and bring my flea stuff. It would make things a lot more pleasant.

Flea Report

I tried the diatomaceous earth, and it seems to be making the fleas jump on the cats and the furniture. I wiped down the cats with NEEM oil, and it made their fur nice and shiny, reduced mat creation and helped the mats come out easier, and seems to keep the fleas away a little bit - but now they are all on the furniture.

I sprayed my furniture with Siphotrol, but I'm almost out, so I ordered more.

We are covered up with fleas! Man! So, I'm going for Advantage.

I saw a commercial on TV from 1-800-Pet-Meds, saying how their flea stuff was cheaper, but I compared them to Entirely Pets, where I usually go, and EP is cheaper. And the shipping is free over $85, so you know where I'm getting my flea stuff.

For the record, I'm paying what you pay. See the link here...

Entirely Pets Advantage Purple, 4 months

Diatomaceous Earth

I'm trying a new type of Diatomaceous Earth. The new stuff is food-grade and can be taken internally. Fleas have been very bad this year, and I can't keep up with them. I have the DE around the outside of the house, but the wonderful product I have has some added ingredients that make it not quite food-grade. There are no pesticides in it, but if the cats or myself eat it, we may not like it.

So, I've purchased a food-grade version of DE, and I'm going to put some on the cats in their flea-infested hotspots, and then rake a little into the carpet. That should finish with any fleas we have in the house.

What I've been finding is that the fleas are not getting in, but they are breeding on the cats. Fleas have a lifecycle that is purely based on their feeding cycle...

They feed and lay eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae about 10-20 days. They mature into adult, biting fleas in 20-30 days, and the cycle begins again. If you can stunt their growth in the larval stage (Frontline, Ovitrol) then they never mature to lay more eggs and die off. If you have adult fleas, you need to kill them (Advantage, Siphotrol, pyrethrins) and then treat again in 30 days - but they may already be laying eggs, so I recommend a third treatment to fully rid yourself of fleas.

And all the places where fleas can hide must be treated: rugs, furniture, pets, bedding (including yours), and the landscaping around the entrances to your home. That's what makes DE so convenient! It can be left out year-round, and not hurt the beneficials. It also kills other pests (such as beetles, silverfish and earwigs) and parasites (such as the worms caused by fleas - when ingested).

I'm also curious regarding DE's general health effects for humans. It clears out the parasites and muck in the digestive tract, and can be good for overall health. So, I'll report back after I've received it and tried it for about a week or so.

Tale of Two Tails...

During morning feeding, I noticed these two tails....
Fluffy is on the left, Beasley on the right. Her tail is curled up, and his is straight out away from his body.

I thought it was so cute, I had to take a photo!

Yes, they both have mats - please overlook that. We had a flea infestation, and their biting the fleas caused them. I'm slowly removing them - as the cats allow.

Neem Oil

I'm trying Neem oil in a new capacity - not on the cats but on me.

I've had a recent series of break-outs, and the docs call it "adult acne" but their meds don't seem to help much. So, I figured I'd give the Neem oil a try.

I'll get used to it, I promise!

Oh, and the cats don't care for it, but it does stop the fleas, so they put up with it.

Let's face it - the stuff has a strong odor that takes some getting used to. Very earthy.

Common Cat Illnesses

Recently, a visitor was looking for some information on common cat illness.

The most common cat illness is sands, or crystals in the urine. This is caused by the foods we give our babies. If left untreated, the waste can back up in the system. This is potentially life-threatening. Any cat having trouble urinating should be seen by a vet immediately.

Next are parasitic diseases, such as fleas, worms and other nasty things that come from parasites. Best way to handle that is to control the flea population - meaning eliminate it.

The most usual reason for a cat to die before their time is dehydration. Cats may stop drinking water if they can't smell it. An older cat is particularly prone to this because of confusion and loss of the sense of smell. If you see your cat is not drinking or the skin is losing it's elasticity, get some children's unflavored pedialyte into your cat if you can, and get the baby to the vet to be seen. The vet can hydrate the cat to keep it alive and try to figure out why the dehydration is happening in the first place. Be sure to tell the vet how long ago you noticed it and how much pedialyte you got into your cat.

There is FeLV and FIV, both scary cancer-type disease. FeLV is feline leukemia. Treatment is blood transfusions and medication. The other is FIV, or feline immunodeficiency virus - kitty aids. Both of these are very contagious. You need to keep your cat away from other cats. Wash your hands after handling your cat so that you don't pass these on.

I've had experience with something called rodent ulcer. This is a condition where the skin is raw and fur falls out around the mouth and face. Prednisone helps. I recently had something that looked like rodent ulcer, but was an irritation from a flea collar.

Rabies has a vaccine, and you should get your cat vaccinated. I know that it's something about the brain and water, but other than that, I'm not a doctor. I know that it used to be very bad. Many wild animals carry the disease, and if you allow your cat outside, you must vaccinate your cat.

There is something called feline distemper, but I have never seen it. Maybe all those vaccinations really work!

So, that's what I know about diseases in cats. I hope this helps you with your search.