Christine,
I don't advocate the use of flea collars by any means,
whether on the neck of a cat or in the vacuum cleaner bag,
though the former is vastly preferable to the latter.
I've recommended in my posts here that a vet be consulted
and one of the new products utilized.
Since my cat developed severe flea allergy dermatitis,
and the fleas (and flea bites) continued even after
administering the prescription insecticide Advantage,
I chose to leave the flea collar on the cat until
the fleas and dermatitis subsided. The cat has shown
no sensitivity reactions to the flea collar.
The fleas in my back yard are very numerous, far
outnumbering what is in the house. And the cat
likes to go outside. And I am unable to refuse him
this pleasure.
You are right in saying that fleas tend to favor the
rear of the cat, while the flea collar fits on the front,
introducing some amount of inefficiency into the procedure.
If you have any citations or URLs showing that flea
collars are a major hazard, or any statistical polls
of vet opinions on the subject, please let me know.
You are right that if a companion animal is host to fleas
that the vast majority of the fleas will be in the house
(and mostly in the carpets or rugs if the house has such).
Every situation is different. But I think that most every
vet would agree with me that if a cat has chronic allergies,
it is a good idea to keep the cat's exposure to the allergens
to a practical minimum, because sensitization CAN occur,
with the allergies becoming more severe over time.
The best solution is to find and remove the cause, rather
than just treat the symptoms with cortisone or OTC
sntihistamines, which, by the way, can also be used in cats.
Since I don't want to have anyone doing THAT w/o
a vet's advice, all i can say further is that there
are articles in veterinary journals about treating
cat allergies, and leave it to any who are interested
to do their own research.
I'm sorry if i sound annoyed, but putting flea collars
in the vacuum cleaner bag and then using the vacuum cleaner
to clean a house is just plain stupid.
David |
