Oh… Melbcat is using the ’I need something’ door jump/bang and leading me to the back door. She wants to go outside in the sun but she’s going to get eaten alive by fleas if she does.
I can spray the garden with beneficial nematodes to eat the flea larvae but it’s $40 for an application, sometimes the bugs can just die in transit, and the visiting intruder cat is just going to bring more back in.
And if I set her little pipe frame cage back up I’m afraid he’s just going to approach it and they’ll punch on through the mesh.
I don’t know him and don’t know if it’s safe to approach even for a spot on. (Tablets are right out.) He seems friendly to humans but you can’t know if they
might panic at being touched and latch onto your arm.
I could feed him a flea tablet designed to be tasty but it’s expensive. And dosing would need to reoccur each 1-3 months plus regular yard treatment. Also I’d have to guess at his weight and assume he isn’t getting dosed at home for sure (unlikely but you know - he could be getting treated at home and still getting bitten because they’re in the environment).
It’s just that people around here let their cats roam and don’t properly look after them. Because I care the problem becomes mine.
I have been tempted to care for him, and have done it before for another neglected cat. But I can’t at the moment especially with the stress my own cat feels and the risk they could fight.
I console myself that he looks healthy and solid. I’ll have to work something out for yard time
Oh… Melbcat is using the ’I need something’ door jump/bang and leading me to the back door. She wants to go outside in the sun but she’s going to get eaten alive by fleas if she does.
I can spray the garden with beneficial nematodes to eat the flea larvae but it’s $40 for an application, sometimes the bugs can just die in transit, and the visiting intruder cat is just going to bring more back in.
And if I set her little pipe frame cage back up I’m afraid he’s just going to approach it and they’ll punch on through the mesh.
Can you catch & dose the intruder?
I don’t know him and don’t know if it’s safe to approach even for a spot on. (Tablets are right out.) He seems friendly to humans but you can’t know if they might panic at being touched and latch onto your arm.
I could feed him a flea tablet designed to be tasty but it’s expensive. And dosing would need to reoccur each 1-3 months plus regular yard treatment. Also I’d have to guess at his weight and assume he isn’t getting dosed at home for sure (unlikely but you know - he could be getting treated at home and still getting bitten because they’re in the environment).
It’s just that people around here let their cats roam and don’t properly look after them. Because I care the problem becomes mine.
Fair enough.
I have some adult spot ons to give away if nearby peoples want them.
I have been tempted to care for him, and have done it before for another neglected cat. But I can’t at the moment especially with the stress my own cat feels and the risk they could fight.
I console myself that he looks healthy and solid. I’ll have to work something out for yard time