My cat keeps getting ticks and it is driving me mad. I put some frontline on her and it didn't do anything, so about 3 days later I put some more on her, so she had two doses, we got the five ticks out of her head and neck... three weeks later she has got another one!!

Obviously frontline does nothing, so has anyone got any other ideas?

Thanks.

My cat keeps getting ticks and it is driving me mad. I put some frontline on her and it didn't do anything, so about 3 days later I put some more on her, so she had two doses, we got the five ticks out of her head and neck... three weeks later she has got another one!!

Obviously frontline does nothing, so has anyone got any other ideas?

Thanks.

i use frontline to combat ticks and it works a treat, are you sure you are putting it on correct?? is it the actual frontline from the vets or the similar stuff that you can get from pet shops?

i would be wary of using it frequently too as you could do your kitty some damage

i use frontline to combat ticks and it works a treat, are you sure you are putting it on correct?? is it the actual frontline from the vets or the similar stuff that you can get from pet shops?

i would be wary of using it frequently too as you could do your kitty some damage


Its the proper stuff from the vet. I put it on right, but then when it didn't kill the ticks like it said it did, my dad came round and did it again, at the same time as getting them out, the stuff should still be working now though.

Maybe she is just immune or something - little scruff.

DONT overuse the real frontline as savbaby says, it's nasty stuff. If it's the real stuff the vet should be asking why you are using so much before giving you any more.
If it's the stuff they sell in Tesco and pet shops then it's crap. It's just some herbal nonsense that does sod all. As much use as the herbal flea collars.

Its the proper stuff from the vet. I put it on right, but then when it didn't kill the ticks like it said it did, my dad came round and did it again, at the same time as getting them out, the stuff should still be working now though.

Maybe she is just immune or something - little scruff.

its the ticks who may be immune!! or maybe there are so many that its not having the same effect? they are nasty little bugs and make my skin crawl when my cat has one:gag: i would discuss it with the vet and see what they say the best plan of action is:thumbsup:

Have you thought of changing to one of the other spot on products that's a bit heftier? Something like Advantage (which is specific to the weight of cat and has the added advantage that it treats ear mites and one of the types of worms too).

One of the issues that I've always had with Frontline is that it uses the same dosage for little weeny cats as it does for my huge hulking tomcat who is 8.5kg of muscle- either it overdoses one, or it underdoses the other.

The answer for me was to buy the 'Jack Russel' weight Advantage for him and my other large cat.

The other possibility would be to buy the Frontline spray which allows you to alter the dosage your cat gets- soak the coat and you're sure they've had the full dosage.

This may not mean that ticks stop biting, but it should mean that they die soon after and are easily removed. I have to say that none of my cats have ever bought a tick home so it's hard for me to give practical advice for them.

Do you live somewhere near lots of natural long grass or livestock?

Just cover the tick in vaseline, it will be starved of oxygen and drop off.

My cat is quite big and very furry so half the frontline must get wasted but it still keeps fleas away. He has never had ticks so I don't know if it would kill them or not.

BTW- I'm moving this to the Pets group. It will feel more at home amongst its peers over there.

Do you live somewhere near lots of natural long grass or livestock?

We live next to a park, but I think she sleeps in the hedge around our house and that might be where she is getting them from, but don't know how to stop her.

I might see if the vet has any other treatment like you said, I have only used two lots of frontline once, but her head was literally covered in them and it wasn't making any difference so didn't think it would hurt, she was fine after though so it can't have done that much damage!!

My cat is quite big and very furry so half the frontline must get wasted but it still keeps fleas away. He has never had ticks so I don't know if it would kill them or not.

i thought my cat has a tumour when i found his first tick, i took him to the vets who gave me frontline and told me it would drop off, i had just moved into my new home and was sleeping on the settee as had no bed and the cat was beside me. I woke up that night dreaming i was crawling in ticks and was screaming trying to get them off me! was not nice i can tell you:sad:

I just spoke to the vet who told me that Frontline was the only thing I could use to stop her getting them, and either to use the spray or keep her inside.

My cat keeps getting ticks and it is driving me mad. I put some frontline on her and it didn't do anything, so about 3 days later I put some more on her, so she had two doses, we got the five ticks out of her head and neck... three weeks later she has got another one!!

Obviously frontline does nothing, so has anyone got any other ideas?

Thanks.

I didn't even know you could get ticks in this country! When I lived abroad though, our dog always had them. We found the best way to get rid of them was by attacking them in a few ways - flea and tick collar (replaced fairly regularly), some advantage equivalant from the vets and making sure that places where she hung out had the stuff you put in the bed for them - the spray stuff or powder stuff. Seemed to work fine...well, she still got them (theyre a complete menace over there), but not as many and they didn't hang around for so long. the other thing that works if your cat transfers them (i'm assuming that the ticks work the same) to you or someone else is to light a match and stick it on the end of the tick so it drops off. if you pull them off you can get some very nasty infections from the tick's head still being inside the skin.

Hope this helps, although using my knowledge of abroad and not UK.

Ellie xx

We live next to a park, but I think she sleeps in the hedge around our house and that might be where she is getting them from, but don't know how to stop her.

I might see if the vet has any other treatment like you said, I have only used two lots of frontline once, but her head was literally covered in them and it wasn't making any difference so didn't think it would hurt, she was fine after though so it can't have done that much damage!!
It's a long lasting parasite poison! And cats lick themselves! If it's going to damage her it'll be over a period of time!

Please don't apply any more of the stuff - unless you want to make the last trip to the vets sooner than nature intended :suspect:

If you were to get some Frontline spray, you could, if you were a sneaky sort of cat owner :suspect:, work out where your little one sleeps outside, and spray the sleeping spots out there with it too. It will kill all of the ticks hanging about waiting for a cat to lunch on.

If you were to do it every couple of months I'm sure it would cut down on the numbers, and if you coordinated it with when you treat her then you should buy yourself some tick-free weeks.

This is easier to do if there are only a couple of spots where she sleeps, and if the spots are under cover and not affected by rain, even better.

If you lived in the middle of farm land with lots of long grass you'd have to treat the whole neighbourhood so that would be a non-starter.