Continuation of free kittens in Butler

Honestly Rebecca, flea collars are nowhere near as good as advantage, and of course a vet is going to tell you that, but in your situation i think it would be the way to go, don't worry about them getting hooked up you can buy ones that have a catch release, so if they get caught it will come off, of course then they need replacing, but it is the only thing you can do in your situation, they sell for around 3 to five dollars here in NZ, so i imagine it would be around the same cost over there.

You really do have a difficult situation, I would be especially worried about the infestation in your home,remember fleas can lie dormant for over a year as well,you have tried so hard and done so well with these kitties, i truely admire your strength and desire to help them out as you have.

I wonder if there is a non toxic flea bomb available out there, which is toxic to the fleas but not humans and the pets,maybe worth finding out, there are so many alternative products out there these days, i wish you all the best.

Thank you so much for your inspiration and advice. It makes me feel so better. I know that I will conquer this problem in time. I never imagined that my cats would be spayed. We will some how conquer the flea problem before it conquers us. I don't know how, but I believe an answer will come. Love Rebecca :)

I have 2 tubes of advantage and 2 tubes of Hartz Advanced Care Flea and Tick. Rebecca, if you send me your address I will throw these in the mail asap!

OK I've just gotta say.... bless you for all of your hard work and dedication toward these animals. You ARE making a difference!

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Originally Posted by cristy

I have 2 tubes of advantage and 2 tubes of Hartz Advanced Care Flea and Tick. Rebecca, if you send me your address I will throw these in the mail asap!

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I wouldn't use the Hartz flea and tick because it's caused many deaths in cats.:( I still don't understand why they continue to sell this brand. Here's more information about it:http://tippedearclan.wordpress.com/2...trol-products/.

Here are some natural ways to get rid of fleas:
Natural Flea Control

Many people don't want to risk endangering the environment (or themselves) by using chemical means for flea control. Some people have sensitivities to certain chemicals, others just don't want to do it. Ideally, you should compare flea control products to natural methods - sometimes the health risks to pets from having fleas are worth using a flea collar, powder bath, or other chemical methods. This page will give you some useful tips for getting rid of fleas holistically.




Natural Flea Control

First, it's important to note that fleas will survive the winter. You can't rely on the weather as a natural flea control method - fleas don't die off even in deep freezes. They won't bug you for a few months, but they'll be back to bite you again in the spring. You'll have to take more active measures to deal with them. There are a number that have been suggested.

Garlic - Many people swear by introducing garlic into their pet's food as a means of getting rid of fleas. It is known to strengthen the immune system in humans, so many advocates of natural flea control have suggested using it in pets as well. I do NOT recommend doing this - there is substantial research suggesting that garlic, in dogs and cats, can cause serious problems, even death in some animals. First, garlic has been demonstrated to cause anemia in some dogs and cats. This is a serious blood illness, and it's just not worth the risk to get rid of fleas. Second, garlic is extremely bad for your pet if it happens to be diabetic. Yes, many pets are diabetic - just like with humans, only their diet often keeps it from being a problem. Garlic, however, will aggravate insulin problems and may well kill your dog or cat if it happens to be one with a hidden diabetes problem. This is just too dangerous to do as a remedy without consulting your vet. At any rate, the risk from chemicals in a flea powder is far lower than that of garlic.

Environmental Control - One natural method of flea control that doesn't rely on doing anything to your pet is to control the environment. There are a lot of ways to do this - first and foremost, don't let your cat or dog outside. Cat fleas and dog fleas can only come from other animals - if your pet is an indoor animal, it likely won't have a flea problem. Prevention is the best method, and for cats at least, you shouldn't be letting them outdoors anyway. For large dogs, this won't be an option - you need to walk them, and they need to get out into the yard to play. But you don't have to let other dogs into your yard - that alone will go a long way towards getting rid of fleas.

You can also use natural flea control by trying various products that are designed to get rid of fleas without chemicals. For instance, one new product is a freeze-dried worm or nematode that eats flea eggs. Some people may be uncomfortable with modifying the environment in this way, but chemicals may be even worse. Talk to your veterinarian about this (as with all methods), there are several brands such as Intervention that can help you out without you really having to do anything actively.

Grooming - Regular grooming can also eliminate fleas without chemicals. Use a fine comb and go through your pet's hair - you can easily get rid of fleas this way naturally, and while it won't get them all, you'll spend quality time with your pet. With some pets, it may actually be a good idea to trim their fur. You can get a grooming kit that comes with clippers designed to cut fur to various lengths. Why do this? Because if you're only going to rely on natural ways to control fleas, then if you have a long-haired pet, it is harder to get the fleas out when bathing them or grooming them. Keep in mind though that it's only helpful to trim their fur if you're going to have the discipline to personally bathe and comb them. Trimming the fur only makes it easier for you to find and kill the fleas yourself - it doesn't do anything to get rid of them other than that. One of the weirder inventions I've seen recently is the flea zapper comb. This is a comb with a mild electrical charge that is supposed to kill off fleas as you comb your pet, but will be too mild to affect you or the animal. I haven't tried it and can't find any discussion of whether it works or not online, but it's pretty cheap so if you're going natural for environmental reasons or if you're a gadget junky you might check it out.

Herbal flea collars - There are many herbal flea collars designed to use various scents to drive away fleas. I am a little ambivalent about these, but they could be worth a try. Just check out the specific brand with a vet and make sure there is nothing to worry about with anything in it. The only one I've found easily available online is Petguard, which is designed to be environmentally friendly.

Diatomaceous earth - This is basically a non-chemical kind of soil designed to kill insects. It doesn't have any chemicals - it relies on tiny, sharp edges on the dirt that do damage to the exoskeleton of a flea or other pests. The fleas will then die of dehydration - they essentially leak water, and they can't replace it fast enough. It's a non-chemical means of natural flea control, but it can be rather messy to use. It's made mainly of fossils from water plants, so there isn't much risk in using it. It might not mesh well with your current soil though, and you should be careful if you have plants or gardens that it might affect negatively. If you're using it in the yard, get one of the larger bags so you can repeat the dusting if it rains, etc. However, one of the good things about it is that it's safe to use around your pet's bedding or other areas - you'll have to clean it up later, but it can be much better than setting off a flea bomb or a flea bath. Unfortunately, there's not much this will do about flea eggs, which could remain dormant for awhile. You can go with smaller bags of the earth if you're just using it indoors.

Vacuuming - One safe, natural method to get rid of fleas is to vacuum frequently. Unfortunately it's usually not 100% effective, which means while it will reduce the flea population it will rarely eliminate it. You can read up more here on getting rid of fleas with a vacuum cleaner.

Flea Traps - Basically these are more advanced versions of the little pads of glue you'd use for roaches. Because they have to be left out in the open, they have a grid over the glue that the fleas fall through. You can read more about flea traps here.

I hope that something will work. Good luck.:)

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Originally Posted by MoonandBean

I received this response from Advantage. I will certainly call! If anyone else wants to call; it might be the more the better...




Thank you for your recent email regarding the Advantage.

In order to best address your concerns, please contact Bayer Product Information at 800/255-6826 and ask for Jill or Annette. We will be happy to answer all your questions at that time.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kind regards,

Bayer HealthCare

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Hi everyone,

As Rebecca knows through our PM's, I will take care of the cost for the 7th cat to get spayed. Regarding the fleas, if anyone has time to call Advantage at the number above...I think the more people that call, the better. I personally haven't called yet but will today. I asked Rebecca to call too. Maybe they will be able to help her with this situation. If anyone calls, post the responses...so we can all see how it's going.

Thanks to everyone who has been helping with this...I see the pot at the end of the rainbow :)

I received this response from Advantage. I will certainly call! If anyone else wants to call; it might be the more the better...




Thank you for your recent email regarding the Advantage.

In order to best address your concerns, please contact Bayer Product Information at 800/255-6826 and ask for Jill or Annette. We will be happy to answer all your questions at that time.

I contacted Advantage and they told me to call my vet and have the sales rep make a recommendation for my cats to get donations of advantage. If the sales rep agrees I have a flea problem at my house, donations of Advantage will be sent to the vets and I can pick them up. That is great news!:)

Thanks moonandbean for your last donation to help the final cat in my home. I never expected to ever have all of my cats fixed. I would have been in big trouble since four of my cats were prenant when they got to the vets. That would have been a nightmare. Thanks to everyone who has helped my dream come true. My cats seem happiers and do not want to go outside as much. Alls I have lefts to worry about is taken care of the kittens eyes and getting them good homes. Then I can concentrate on flea control.

Awesome! I hope your vet and the Advantage rep will help you. You're welcome for the help...thanks for all you've done too :)

MoonandBean, that is so awesome that you are helping with the last cat!!! Great news!
Cristy that is also so great that you are sending along 2 tubes of Advantage. I have also mailed 2 tubes of Advantage that should arrive shortly so that will take care of 4 of the 7 cats for one month. However, the Advantage I sent was Advantage Multi so Rebecca, you should ask your vet how long you should wait to apply it because it is also a dewormer and you are/will be deworming your cats. You might just have to wait 3 weeks or so.
I'm hoping you received the Drontal by now? I will PM you the dosages for cats as per their weight. There is enough there for you to dose all 7 cats twice if need be (3 weeks apart).
I'm so happy for you that you have 6 cats fixed and a 7th who will be once her kittens are weaned. It's so wonderful.

p.s. if you decide you do want the Siphotrol flea spray, let me know and I will pop it in the mail. It's safe and sold in vet clinics. I know you said there is an issue with getting everybody outside for a few hours so maybe we can line up some cat carriers for you to borrow on a particular day. That way they'd be safe and sound inside their carriers until it was time to go back in?

Hi everyone. Emerald I did recieve the worm medicine. Thanks! I am not sure how much the cats weigh because the vets only put under 20 pounds as their size. Thanks to everyone who is sending advantage to me. That is great. I can get started on treating a few cats at least. Hopefully, things will work out with the advantage company. Again, thanks everyone.

Thanks for all of the flea advice. I will try some of them. I wanted to let everyone know that I brought home the really wild cat today. As soon as I opened her cage, she dashed up the stairs and I have not seen her since. She was pregnant too, so thank God she is spayed. :cool:

I used to use advantage but switched to Interceptor last year, so I'll clean out my kitchen to see if I have any left that I can send you!

I'm SO happy everything has come together for you, your cats and your family!

So money wise... you could use donation for flea treatments right? Everyone is spayed and neutered and paid for.. correct?

Do you have any idea how much your cat’s weight?
On e-bay are kits that are for sale. You get one large tube and a plastic syringe that has a fill line marked on it so you can easily give the correct dosage to each cat. The kit is for 5 doses for cats over 9 pounds. Price+shipping is $19.89. That ends up being only $3.99 per dose!!!

One cat is left to be spayed and moonandbean is donating for that cat. Fleas seem to be the issue at this point. I know how serious it can be. One year I had a room in my house that if you walked into the room tons of fleas would jump on your legs. I have never had this many cats before so I can only imagine how bad it could be this summer. Thanks for caring and I would appreciate any flea meds you have that you can spare. I am not sure how much my cats weigh. I am sure they are under 10 pounds though. Thanks for everything. Rebecca

Hi Rebecca, I'm glad the drontal arrived. I'll post the dosages below. Maybe you can crush the tablets up with the back of a spoon and mix it with stinky cat tuna or you might be able to sneak half a tablet into the pill pockets I sent. But I would think the tuna would be your best bet. :)
p.s. if most of your cats are 10 pounds or under, it looks like they should each receive one tablet.

Exactly how much Drontal Cat you have to administer depends on the animal's weight. Kittens will receive 1/4 or 1/2 of a tablet while adult cats will get 1, 1 and 1/2, or 2 tablets.
This dewormer should not be used in kittens younger than one month or weighing less than 1.5 pounds.


DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION:

2 - 3 pounds half tablet

4 - 8 pounds 1 tablet

9 - 12 pounds 1 tablet

13 - 16 pounds 2 tablets


Drontal Tablets may be given directly by mouth or offered in a small amount of food. Do not withhold food from the cat prior to or after treatment.
Cats maintained under conditions of constant exposure to parasite infections should have a follow-up fecal exam within 2 to 4 weeks after the first treatment.
If reinfection with tapeworms, hookworms or large roundworms occurs, treatment with Drontal Tablets may be repeated.

WARNING:
KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. Consult your veterinarian before administering to sick or pregnant animals.

Got the address...thanks! I will get the meds shipped out either today or tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for your donations and meds that you are sending. I am going to send some pics of the cats. The three feral cats are taking care of the four kittens. The ferals are all sisters. One feral is very mean and hisses at us. I am scared that the kittens will start behaving like the mean feral and I won't be able to get them homes. We are bringing them downstairs and spending time with them so they get used to people. The mom keeps trying to take them back upstairs. I have some pics for your guys. There is a pic of all three sisters taking care of the four babies. It is so cute. I do not know how to take the pics so that you can enlarge them. If you look at the small pics you will see three big cats in the pic. They are all taking care of the kittens. I guess they sense they will never have babies since I got them spayed. Anyway, I have never seen anything like this in my life. I have three wild ferals and they are living in my home with their babies. They live in my 12 year olds bedroom. It is so sweet.

What a wonderful pile of kitties! There is so much love there, thank you for sharing the pics with us.
Which one of the females is the mother of the kittens? Is it the black and white one with black on the nose? Do the adult female ferals have names yet? They are all so beautiful.
I know it must be hard to have one of the ferals hissing all the time but I'm sure she isn't mean, just scared and protective. Before you came into her life, she probably wasn't treated very well by humans. I hope and pray that in time, she will soften up as she realizes how very kind you are! And hopefully they will stay close to home now that they are spayed and won't be so interested in finding male companionship. They look very happy in those pics and don't look like they're too interested in going anywhere! LOL
If they don't have names, maybe we could help you come up with some!:D

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Originally Posted by Emeraldgreen

What a wonderful pile of kitties! There is so much love there, thank you for sharing the pics with us.
Which one of the females is the mother of the kittens? Is it the black and white one with black on the nose? Do the adult female ferals have names yet? They are all so beautiful.
I know it must be hard to have one of the ferals hissing all the time but I'm sure she isn't mean, just scared and protective. Before you came into her life, she probably wasn't treated very well by humans. I hope and pray that in time, she will soften up as she realizes how very kind you are! And hopefully they will stay close to home now that they are spayed and won't be so interested in finding male companionship. They look very happy in those pics and don't look like they're too interested in going anywhere! LOL
If they don't have names, maybe we could help you come up with some!:D

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You were right on who the mom is. In the way back is another black and white. That is the sister. They both look like cows so we named them moo and moo moo. The calico cat is pandy named after my favorite cat 20 years ago. It is hard to see the kittens, but two are black and white like their mom and there are two tiger striped. One striped cat has no tail. Do you think I will have a problem of getting a home for a kitten without a tail? Glad you enjoyed the pics. It is so funny. Everytime I go to visit the kittens I have to deal with three moms. lol

Moo, Moomoo and Pandy are great names!
I would think the cat with no tail will picked for sure. It certainly wouldn't deter me from choosing it.
I wonder if the mom got pregnant by a manx as well? I'm pretty sure that a cat can have a litter that is fathered by multiple males. Have you seen any manx cats around?

Aww, how cute is THAT??? Mom and Aunties looking out for the kids! :)

I am sure the sisters feel a lot safer being all together. I hope they slowly settle down...they are beautiful girls, for sure! :love:

That was so cute, I had to share those pix with hubby! :)

What WONDERFUL pictures!!!

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing :)

Lara I recieved the advantage for a couple of the cats. Thanks so much!

You're welcome :)

I applied the two flea meds to the two worse cats in the house and I called the advantage people. My vet is going to call the sales rep and see if they can get donations of advantage. Thanks Emerald for the two you gave me.

You guys would not believe the great news I have to share. I am not supposed to tell who the doner is because they don't want everyone calling and asking for donations and I totally understand. Someone has donated to my seven cats 16 doses of Advantage. That is more then enough for all of my cats for two months. That is almost 140 dollars of advantage. I am in awe! When I started this journey, I had six kittens that needed good homes, seven adult cats that needed spay and neurted, flea control, and deworming. That seemed like a tall order and seemed unreachable. I was desparate and felt that I would be the next Tiger Ranch. This goal was very reachable because I found out that all of my five females were pregnant at the same time. I prayed and I prayed and I prayed for help. I was led to this website. Since then, I have had all of the money donated to me to spay and neurter all seven of my adult cats, enough flea meds for two months, and all cats dewormed. I need to say thanks to everyone who has supported me in my journey. It has been very special. To the special people that donated money, kind words, and meds, thank you with all of my heart. My cats have a great life now. They seem so happy and content. I can now turn my worries to things like bills and children without worrying every minuete about my beautiful cats. I have an update on the kittens that were born to the feral cat. They are about four weeks old now. They have three moms. They have their feral mom, and their two feral aunts. It has been quite amazing to watch. All three cats have been feeding and taking care of the kittens. I have been quite concerned that the kittens will turn out feral because one aunt hisses everytime we go near the kittens. The feral mom actually lets me pet her when she is with the kittens. The other aunt has turned out to be the most friendliest cat in the house. There is hope that ferals can turn out to be loving house cats and very devoted. I bring the kittens out to our family everyday and teach them not to be feral. Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone, I want to give hope to everyone. Love Rebecca

Thank you for the update. That's great news about the Advantage also.

Wow. Rebecca - how wonderful and amazing! :D

wonderful news rebecca,there are truly some remarkable kind hearted people out there, and you know pat yourself on the back too , because my dear YOU are one of them. HUGS and so happy for you,really I am.:love::love::love::love::love::love:

It is amazing the way this all fell together! Congratulations and THANKS for all of your hard work with this. You really did make a huge difference in the cat overpopulation problem there in Butler :)

Awesome news Rebecca!! :) I'm so happy that everything is working out and that so many people have joined together to help you and your cats so that your dream for them could come true. And I agree with Carole, you have worked so hard for these cats by taking them in, loving and feeding them and getting them to the vets and helping them to recuperate after their surgeries. You decided that you needed to do something about it and you stuck with it and you did it. The cats and kittens are very blessed to have you! Thanks for sharing this uplifting update.
The people on PT are truly amazing and have the biggest, kindest hearts and this story sure reflects that! Thank you PT'rs!!

p.s. Thank you 'mystery donor' for helping Rebecca and her cats!!!! :D
I don't know who you are but you are WONDERFUL!!!

I'm so glad to read that everthing is going well.:) Hopefully the fleas and worms will soon be a thing of the past. You've really done a wonderful job with these cats and you should give yourself a great big pat on the back for a job well done.:) Thanks to everyone who donated towards these cats.:)

Rebecca - now that you have flea and worm control going, I thought this pic from ICHC might give you a smile:

http://icanhascheezburger.files.word...-unchecked.jpg

LOL! That's funny! :)

Rebecca...I didn't send the Advantage that I have here because I looked at the expiration date and they are way past. Does anyone know how far past they stay good?? If they are ok, I will still send them, but I didn't want you to give them to the cats and have them not work. The date is 2005.........

From my experience with HUMAN medicine, I would venture to say that at worst, the expired advantage may be a little less effective than it would be otherwise but should be fine to use (no risks) and will probably be just as effective as ever. Companies are required to put expiration dates on "meds" that are way sooner than they actually expire. Most drugs never expire or lose their potency but the FDA requires expiration dates.

I took some pics of the kittens. One kitten was born without a tail. It is the oddest thing. I hope someone will still want to take him. I have two females and two males.

Oh No! Cuteness overload!!