# My new family member Kristin. Flea problem.



## NursePlaty (Oct 2, 2010)

Hi everyone, my name's Matt, 24 yrs of age and live am currently living in DFW, Texas. I am a nursing student hence my screen name. I love both cats and dogs and like them equally the same. My girlfriend and I recently purchased a kitten in March and named her Kristin. I now many people flame on black cats and dont think they are pretty but I think otherwise. I have always wanted a black cat and love black cats. I dont have any recent photos of her but she is a lot bigger than she is in the photos. I believe she is 2-3 months old in the pictures, hard to remember. She is 7 months old at this time. She is strictly an indoors cat only.

I AM NEW to cats so dont flame my thread too much . Right now I am feeding her Wellness Core for Kittens and Adult Cats. I hear the food is good for them unlike IAMS where it makes their fur fall off and etc. I KNOW MANY PEOPLE DONT LIKE TO BATHE CATS AND THINK ITS TORTURE. But I believe it is a good preventive measure for flea control because she sometimes darts outside everytime we open the door. When we first got her she was abondoned from a stray cat. So I adopted her and gave her a Dawn orange citrus bathe. I hear Citrus renders fleas immobile. She was flealess for the entire time we had her until now... which caused me to make this account in search of help. She is infested with fleas, at first I thought the bites around my ankles were mosquitoe or ant bites, then I figured out it was from the fleas. 3 of 5 family members are getting bitten. I am about to buy Frontline Plus for cats 3 month package and Adams brand carpet powder for the house treatment. Also going to give her a Dawn Orange citrus bathe before the frontline application, also planning to vaccuum open areas. The powder will go under furniture that the vacuum can not reach. 

Let me know of your opinions.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Welcome, Matt (and Kristin)!

Black cats RULE!!! You'll find we're great fans of them here. 

Your food choice is good. I don't know that Iams makes fur fall out, but it's not the best. Although, I'm not the right person to go to for food advice, my cats are hooked on Fancy Feast. 

I have 100% *inside* cats and am dealing with fleas, too. What you're doing sounds great. Be careful with the powder, though, because cats can get into areas you'd never imagine.


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## Leni (Sep 21, 2010)

Welcome! It's nice to meet another DFW area member. Good luck with nursing school, I graduated 3 years ago  I love your kitty, she's cute. I'm dealing with fleas too, I found a stray kitten not too long ago and she had fleas and now my other 2 cats are dealing with them too. Good luck and we'd love to see more pics!


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## NursePlaty (Oct 2, 2010)

Thanks for the welcome. Frontline Plus was applied 5 mins ago. I was debating whether to bathe her before the frontline application but I wanted to see if the frontline works on her because I hear fleas are growing more resistant to advantage and frontline. 

What are all your thoughts on these 2 medications. Or do you all just use a holistic approach with bathes and vaccuuming?


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## NursePlaty (Oct 2, 2010)

Here is a the most recent picture of her. She been extra sleepy, I think its the adverse reaction of the Frontline. I will continue to monitor her.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

She's so pretty, so sleek and satiny! I love black cats! 

And don't worry about flaming on this forum! We try to keep it a pleasant place to be.


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## CuteNCraze86 (Dec 29, 2007)

I love black cats!! Just adopted a little black boy about a month ago. Bathing is just fine. I used to do it for all of mine but really don't anymore. I am regularly bathing the kitten though because he is battling ringworm (A skin fungus). If they get used to baths as kittens, bathing should never be a bad experience for them.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

I used Advantage. It didn't last four weeks as advertised. My vet's office said it's fine to apply more often than that. That's expensive with four cats. Bathing and vacuuming aren't going to kill the fleas. I'm on my 5th load of laundry today, washing all my bedding and all the items the cats hang out on that can go in the wash. Sprayed the house, once again. I may have to bomb. 

And the flea treatment does seem to make my cats lethargic for a day or so.


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