Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone..I am new here so I hope I am posting this in the right forum I was having trouble finding my way around here at the forums.

Let me explaine my situation so has you can under stand my question.

I have 5 cats..
one male indoor cat named Ollie, he is indoor, in my room all the time.
then there is Cee cee (indoor)who is a kitten who just now is just off mandatory crate rest by the vet because she was hit by a car and had a broken pelivis.

then there is Amos (female) and Andy(male) who are mostly out door cats but come in to eat and nap.
and china who comes in and out.

my question is about fleas. I have frontline on all the cats, but does it defeat the purpose to let the cats to come in and out as they please? I thought frontline would work no matter?

Also besides foggers is there a way to rid the home of fleas and to keep the house from smelling like cats?
I love my cats dearly, but I also don't want to have a home that no one wants to visit..help?
also for Ollie who has always been an indoor cat, he wants outside, would it be ok for him to just come in at night and be outside through the day?

I know I have put a lot into my first post, I am sorry for the overwhelming why I have done so, but I am overwhelmed with wanting to do the best for my cats and still have a healthy home.

Hi There,

Welcome to the board!

First, I'd like to say that I believe all cats should be indoors only. There are many, many dangers outside, some of which can kill. You already have one cat that has been hit by a car. She is lucky that her injuries were survivable.

Today's flea products are excellent, but fleas can still jump on a cat anytime. They won't stay long with a recent application of Advantage or Frontline, but they can easily bring fleas into the home. They can thrive and be very hard to deal with in a house. Please ask your vet what he or she has available for home treatment and do not use anything that is OTC. Over-the-counter products can be deadly to cats.

About the "cat smell" in your house, I assume it is from the litterboxes. You should have a box for each cat, plus one extra, and they should all be kept very clean. I have 11 cats here and as many litterboxes. I'll be adding another box very shortly. I use scooping litter and scoop the boxes at least 3 times daily, plus weekly I empty all of the boxes and scrub them clean. This is very important to avoid odors and the cats really appreciate it also. It's a lot of work, but my cats always use their boxes and there is no smell unless one of the cats doesn't cover up or has diarrhea.

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Regards,
PHKitkat

I think if you were to make them all indoors only, you would cut the exposure to fleas quite a bit once you had them all in and medicated and get the fleas under control. The outdoor cats are probably bringing them in to the indoor ones...

I agree with KitKat -- Have plenty of litter boxes. Everyone has a number they work with. I found one worked will with two, but if I had any more cats, I would have gotten another box. I also scoop in the morning and in the evening. If you don't use the scoopable litter, I highly recommend it. It traps waste much more easier and is easier to clean.

Welcome!
-----
Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)

I think what you guys said are great ideas here are some more for smell issues and fleas yes bug bombs and flea spray for animals is about the only way to fight fleas in the home or bug spray but dont spray it around the animals. the other thing you can use for smells is fubrez and foam carpet spray I think there is a brand called pet maid that works well you can buy that at your local dollar store besides that keep the litter clean you would be suprised how stinky a litter box really is