I used flea medication on my tick-ridden cat. Now what?
April 10, 2019 5:52 AM   Subscribe

Late last night on my strictly-indoor cat's face I found a small flat tick, embedded in his skin but not yet engorged with blood. I immediately freaked out and doused him with his monthly topical dose of Cheristin. In the light of morning I've remembered that Cheristin is for killing fleas, not ticks. I don't want to wait until next month to treat potential additional ticks, so are there any cat-safe tick-killing treatments that are safe to use on top of Cheristin (spinetoram)? And what flea/tick preventative(s) should I use on my other mostly-outdoor, indoor-visiting cat, who is likely the source of the tick and who is also due for her monthly Cheristin dose? Apparently the vet-prescribed monthly Cheristin for both cats is not enough.

While I know that keeping the outdoor cat indoors full-time would drastically reduce future parasite load, this is not currently possible, as indoor cat #1 presently lives indoors on generous sufferance of an allergic family member; doubling the indoor cats would be pushing it.

BONUS QUESTION: how do best prevent the future transmission of parasites to me from indoor cat, who loves to sleep sprawled on my chest and had his kitty feelings deeply hurt last night when I shoved him off because he smelled of Cheristin?
posted by nicebookrack to Pets & Animals (6 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
thank you for paying the cat tax.

honestly, i would call your vet to ask. it should be a quick call and they would know for sure. doubling up on treatments could be dangerous to kitty, so you want to be sure you have 100% good info!
posted by misanthropicsarah at 7:27 AM on April 10, 2019 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: One quick call to my vet later: The staff response was that while Cheristin is not labeled for ticks, it should take care of them this time anyway, and because ticks on cats are rare, Cheristin should be fine for both cats unless I find more ticks on either one. Which doesn't make me feel particularly less hypervigilantly anxious about potential ticks crawling on my cat crawling on me.
posted by nicebookrack at 9:03 AM on April 10, 2019 [2 favorites]


Cool. If this becomes more of a thing, you might go looking for a prescription for Revolution.
posted by wotsac at 9:25 AM on April 10, 2019


hooray! perhaps you could grab outdoor cat every time she comes in and give a quick look over for ticks? that's probably what i would do to calm my fears.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 12:03 PM on April 10, 2019


I bought the Hartz $6.95 flea collars for my cats, the whole thing fleas, ticks, was over in a few days. My next door neighbors got them too, one of their cats was loosing all his hair from the drops. They sell these with reflecting collars, and a one dollar more, slightly bigger collar that fits the neck of my fat cat. My cats were indoor cats and there was a sudden infestation. The cats seem absolutely normal, and they have been wearing them for 8 months, they last six months and they are on their second round. I have allergies and the collars don't bother me. For $15 per year per cat we are all covered.
posted by Oyéah at 12:46 PM on April 10, 2019


Well you could try the old fashioned way of eliminating fleas. Get a fine toothed flea comb for cats, put some water in a small bowl with a drop of dish washing detergent to break the surface tension and comb away. When you encounter a flea though, you have to act fast - keep the bowl positioned nearby the end of the combing stroke so you can easily drop or have the flea leap in the water... Kitties seem to like the combing. Every time I get the comb out and tap it on the table, etc., she comes running. Now, on the other hand, ticks? Apparently works for ticks too.
posted by WinstonJulia at 12:32 AM on April 17, 2019


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