Cat flea treatment

When I first adopted the kittens, I've never thought (in a million years) of flea epidemic. The problem started after I adopted Captain when my vet first discovered flea eggs on Captain and Chewie. They were then sprayed with Frontline and adviced to be treated once in two weeks. At first, I dismissed the advice thinking that the fleas couldn't get any worse and the spray could harm my kittens. Then, I adopted Cassie and that was when the problem started to get worse.

After two weeks of adoption, Cassie started to show signs of diarrhea and everyone in the house started to wake up in the morning with red itchy bites. Since I spent most of the time with the kittens, I got the most bites and redness was all over my skin, from head to toe. At first I didn't suspect anything until one night (really late -- around 3 - 4 am) I discovered extremely heavy infestation on Caleb's face. I also noticed a lot of flea dirts. I even saw the fleas moving but as Caleb is long-haired, it was so difficult to catch them.

I couldn't sleep that night thinking how terrible it must have been for my kittens to suffer. When the night was over, the first thing that I did was to go to a pet store and bought a flea comb.

  Image: Courtesy of the find.com

Then, I contacted my vet and she adviced me to spray the kittens with Frontline. I followed her advice but nothing happened. I could still see a lot of fleas in hiding. My family was also continuously bitten. So, my next strategy was putting the Frontline Spot On. 

  Image: Courtesy of flea-free.co.uk

This was when things started to improve. The itchy bites began to reduce. But the danger was not over yet. The flea population was reduced but they did not vanish completely. So, my next strategy was to wash their cages (under the vet's advice, they were kept in cages at that time) with hot, boiling water. Then, I cleaned the floor with lemon floor cleaner in which I used Daia.

 Image: Courtesy of e-marketkhas.com

The flea attack stopped completely. This time I knew that my battle against the fleas was finally over as I've stopped seeing fleas jumping on my floor as they used to. As for the bites, to reduce the swelling and itchiness, I applied Calamine lotion. 

Image: Courtesy of daganghalal.com

Since that moment, the fleas have never come and visited us again. My kittens have become happier and healthier each day. One useful lesson that I've learned from my experience with cat fleas is that although they are the best jumper in the world, a drop of alcohol-based water can definitely paralyse them!

Long-haired vs short-haired

In this post, I'd like to share my opinion about whether to adopt long-haired or short-haired cats. This is solely based on my experiences.

I started having a pet cat when I was four years old. Named Habuk, a DSH and a family pet. I suppose my fascination with cats is very much influenced by my parents, my mother in particular although she's not into petting the cat as she is so fussy about 'cleanliness'.

As I grow up, many cats come and go. All are DSH. I didn't actually care about the breeds as I just feel the need to feed them as they were mostly dumped by their (supposedly) previous owner.

In recent years, with only Choreng (and I guess she felt lonely), I decided to welcome new cats into the family. As Choreng is medium-haired, I thought that it'd be great to adopt long-haireds: Caleb, Cinna, Chewie and Cassie. I've always admired their looks BUT the truth is they are definitely not for those who have crazy deadlines to meet. They require a lot of attention and grooming. For instance, if not groomed for just a few days (or max a week), the hair will be seriously matted and very tough to take care of. Plus, with the cats refuse to settle down, it'd need a lot of patience to complete the grooming process. Second, there are also times when the poop got stuck in the butt and the only solution is to wash it and they really hate it! Third, as the hair is long and they hate water, washing requires not only patience but also a lot of energy. While washing, the shampoo needs to reach the skin. Plus, it takes quite some time to dry too as they hate hairdryers.

Unlike the long-haireds, my short-haired cats (Captain, Chesh, Cind and Cleo) are very much easier to live with. No matted hair, lesser need for grooming, dry fast and hyperactive. They also have strong determination at catching anything that moves which is a very good quality for those who'd like to keep their house lizard- or mouse-free.

So, for me, if I could turn back the time, I'd adopt just one long-haired (for Choreng) and keep all the short-haired cats. But now, regardless of their fur length, I love all of them unconditionally.

A visit to the clinic (16 Apr 2013)

Yesterday, Chesh, Cind, Cassie and Cleo were brought to the clinic for vaccination. However, only Cind and Cleo were vaccinated as Chesh and Cassie got minor eye infection. Nothing to worry as they are better now.

An update on the weights of these kids:

Chesh: 2.8 kg
Cind: 2.7 kg
Cassie: 2.2 kg
Cleo: 1.4 kg

Here are their latest photos:

Cind 

Chesh 

Cassie

Cleo

My furkids as of April 7, 2013

These are the latest photos of the furkids as they played around. Forgive the mess. For some unknown reasons, they really loved the storage section of the house. 

Cleo 

Playing means the world to her

Caleb

with Cind

with Cind again 

Cassie

Cinna

with Caleb 

Chewie

with Cleo 

Captain

Chesh

Cind - camera shy

 with Cleo