The complicating factor in respect of a cat flea pill is that there are pills for dogs and cats only and there are pills for cats and dogs. In addition some are animal weight sensitive, meaning they might be toxic to smaller cats or dogs. The complication is that the dog pills must not be used on cats as they are, or can be, poisonous to cats. In this post I am dealing primarily with the North American market, please note. A quick search did not produce any pills for cat fleas on the UK version of Amazon and they are good for this sort of product.
Personally I don’t use cat flea pills – I try and minimise drug use and in any case giving a cat a pill is hard work. My preferred treatment is flea combing regularly (twice per day if needs must) combined with a total environmental treatment and as a last resort, the spot on solution treatment, Merial Frontline Plus Flea and Tick Control for Cats and Kittens, 6 Doses
Novartis Capstar Flea Treatment Blue Tabs for Dogs and Cats – link broken 26th Oct 2012 sorry — is what it says, a combined cat flea pill and a dog flea pill. As with all drugs it is vital that the instructions are read carefully before use. Drugs are essentially poisons and can harm a cat – Flea Treatments Can Kill. Capstar is also made for dogs only please note. A differentiation should be made between the various Novartis drugs as the packaging looks pretty similar. Capstar contains Nitenpyram, which kills adult fleas.
Program Tabs 6pk Yellow Dog 21-45 lbs Cat 7-15 lbs
is another cat flea pill that can also be used on dogs. The pill is designed for cats in a certain weight range. This is important. 7-15 lbs is medium to large cat weight range so clearly small, subadult cats and kittens are excluded. Please don’t break the rules. It could severely impact your cat’s health negatively.
Program Orange for cats up to 10 lbs 6 month supply
is a program type cat flea pill. A “Once a month flavor tablet”.
Flea Killer Capsules for Cats and Small Dogs – 12 Mg Nitenpyram Per Capsule …Same Active Ingredient As Capstar® – 12 Capsules Treats 12 Pets 2 to 25 lbs – this is an alternative to the Novartis drugs. The acceptable weight range seems to be wider – 2 to 25 lbw.
There is a dog flea pill called Sentinel® (Milbemycin Oxime, Lufenuron), which is an oral tablet for the prevention and control of the flea in dogs. It is also designed to prevent heartworm, roundworm, hookworm and whipworms. It cannot be used for cats to the best of my knowledge. This is not immediately or transparently apparent when searching the internet – a disappointment.
I tried a flea spray once, 20 years ago – never again – too toxic. An “all natural flea control…Target Spray for Cat Fleas” is Feline Target Spray for Cat Fleas.
The overriding factor, I think, when giving any drugs to cats without a vet’s supervision, is caution. Drugs for humans are to be avoided nearly always, and human pain killers are always to be avoided or used with great caution. Drugs for other animals should not be used on cats unless the packaging states that it can. Click on the following link to read a post that is an example of a misguided approach: Are my cats suffering? How may I stop it?. It seems (I stress, “seems”) that this lady used Advantix for dogs on her cats and wondered why the cats looked ill.
The above is not necessarily a complete list of cat flea pills in North America.
