Fleas and Ticks and Worms, Oh My

July 6, 2021 9:22 AM

What should I use for treating my mostly indoor cats?

I've been using Revolution / Stronghold (not Plus) for fleas and heartworm prevention during the 8 months of the year where there might be fleas and mosquitoes and ticks. My mostly indoor cats go into the yard briefly with us and sometimes run out the door and run around the yard a little before we catch them. Last month, one of the cats and I were sitting under a pine and the cat had three live deer ticks on his face the next day including one that was full and detached which is when I realized that Stronghold does not treat for ticks. We have high incidence of Lyme in the area and many ticks in the yard.

I've been trying to decide what to do and putting it off and now haven't given them anything for month. This is the worst time of year for ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes and I'm panicked every time one of them gets out and runs through the yard.

I am 100% not okay with the cats bringing fleas and ticks into the house or having fleas and ticks on themselves. They have a ton of fur. Ticks are carrying Lyme and other diseases in this area. Already one of my family along with countless others we know personally have had Lyme and in one case another tick disease that required hospitalization. We don't want ticks or fleas in the house or on the cats.

Spot-on liquid solutions:

Revolution / Stronghold - selamectin only.

Stronghold Plus - selamectin and sarolaner.

Frontline Plus - Fipronil 50mg (S) and Methoprene 60mg.

I'm tempted to just stay with the Revolution / Stronghold since they had no adverse reactions to it and it was recommended by the breeder but it does not eliminate ticks. We recently treated the yard with a pet-safe tick and mosquito treatment so maybe that will be enough to deal with the ticks. Frontline Plus is the popular choice for vets in this area but is an entirely different set of active ingredients. I do not want them to wear the Seresto collars as they are not outside all the time.

Help me to decide what to do. What works for your cats?

posted by RoadScholar to Pets & Animals (5 answers total)

It's actually a generally good idea to rotate your biocides, because not doing so risks building up a tolerant population of pest species. So if the cats have been relying on an avermectin for some while, switching that up with a phenylpyrazole like fipronil (which has a different mode of action) wouldn't be a bad idea.

That said, some ticks are killed by selamectin and you might be lucky.
posted by flabdablet at 9:38 AM on July 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

In my town the fleas grew tolerant of Revolution & Frontline, so we switched to Cheristin, whose active ingredient is spinetoram. (But that's only fleas, not ticks.)
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:54 AM on July 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

The Seresto collar was a complete game-changer for my cats. Someone’s dog or indoor-outdoor cat kept bringing fleas into the apartment building over and over, and the Seresto was the only thing that completely protected the cats. It’s not cheap, but it lasts eight months.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:04 AM on July 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Another vote for Cheristin! Adding that to the rotation is what finally helped get rid of fleas for our mostly indoor cats. But we do use it as a rotation with Revolution/Frontline, as we also were advised by the vet to occasionally switch it up. Ticks aren't an issue for us though (we just have a balcony).
posted by coffeecat at 10:11 AM on July 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

I haven't used it, but I think there's a cat equivalent of the chewable dog treatment. Everything else was frustrating the daylights out of us in place where the cats were indoor only, and the dog went outside to potty. He'd bring everything in. We treated the dog with the chewable, treated the house yet again, and once it was done, it was done. We've never had a problem since. And that was in a tick-heavy area.

If I needed to again, though, I'd use a chewable for the cats. Mine are pretty much impossible to keep collars on, and if I'm going to fight with them, it might as well be a medicine instead of the drops because of the different in effectiveness.
posted by stormyteal at 12:30 PM on July 6, 2021 [1 favorite]