Bonjour, Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties!

Je m’appelle Zoya and I’m 8 weeks old. This is somewhat of an urgent question because I’m so bored! You might remember my mom from her earlier message to you regarding her first cat, Figo.

Well, I was living in a shelter, and even though mom wasn’t thinking about bringing another cat into her home, I had other plans! I mewed at her and stretched out my paws and blinked my eyes until she couldn’t sleep all that night for thinking of me and had to come back the next day to sort out my adoption papers.

Unfortunately, the shelter was not a good place to be. Mom took me right to the vet the same day for my check-up and first vaccines and de-worming, and I have all sorts of unhappy issues like fleas and ear mites and even an umbilical hernia! (The vet’s nice but what’s with the thermometer up my butt?)

Mom’s taking care of all these problems, and for now I have my very own room in the apartment with everything I could possibly need so I can get used to my new home a bit before meeting my new brother Figo — and so I don’t give him (and the rest of the apartment) fleas!

But I’m bored! Mom has me in her lap now so I’m purring like crazy, but when she puts me back in my room, I cry and cry! Mom dampened my fur earlier and went over it with a flea comb and all she found were just a few black specks. It’s been two days after the stinky Frontline spray treatment that the vet recommended, so come on! Does that mean I can come out and explore the rest of my new home yet? I think my mom is overly paranoid! Help!

~Zoya

Siouxsie: Welcome to your new home, Zoya! You’re lucky to have found yourself a very well-trained human who has a soft spot in her heart for cats. Good job convincing her to adopt you!

Thomas: ….

Dahlia: Thomas, get out of the window and stop staring at the neighbor cat! We’ve got a column to write!

Thomas: GrrrrrrRROOOOOOOOoouuuuwww!

Dahlia: Cut it out! Mama’s going to come over there and close the window if you don’t stop growling.

Thomas: I guess you’re right. Anyway, he’s gone now. My mighty growl scared him away.

Siouxsie: Yeah, right. Anyway, Zoya, although it’s really frustrating, your Mom is doing the right thing by keeping you and Figo separated for a little while. It’ll help both of you get used to each other, and it’ll give you time to get rid of your fleas and ear mites.

Thomas: We don’t know if they sell Frontline Plus — it comes in packages of three or six monthly doses, and your mom applies it on the skin between your shoulder blades — in Europe. But if it is, your Mom could apply a dose to Figo, and then if there are any fleas left on you, he won’t get them.

Dahlia: If the spot-on treatment isn’t available, your mom may be able to spray Figo with the Frontline spray, too. She can ask the vet about the spot-on treatment and how to make sure Figo doesn’t pick up any stray fleas.

Siouxsie: Whatever she does, though, your mom shouldn’t give either of you both the spray and the spot-on treatment because it could make you very sick.

Thomas: The difference between Frontline and Frontline Plus is that Frontline itself kills adult fleas but not eggs or larvae, but Frontline Plus has ingredients that kills eggs and larvae and stops the growth of all stages of flea development. We’re not big on sales pitches, but Mama’s used Frontline Plus on us and it’s always done a great job.

Dahlia: If your mama can’t get a flea treatment that kills eggs and larvae, she’s going to have to keep on with the flea treatments for as long as directed on the spray. She’ll also have to vacuum a lot. I hope you’ve been spared the agony of encountering the vacuum cleaner; it’s the scariest thing a cat could ever see. It’ll chase you and suck you up by the tail and transport you into a great, dark void with no petties and no catnip and no food!

Siouxsie: Dahlia, you stop that! Don’t scare the poor creature! You know perfectly well that vacuum cleaners don’t suck kittens up by the tail.

Thomas: We’re more concerned about the ear mites, though. Ear mites are very contagious, and if your mom doesn’t do the treatment just right, Figo could get ear mites, too. So it’s very important that your mom follows the directions very carefully and gives you the medicine just when she’s supposed to.

Dahlia: And you need to help by cooperating with her. We know it isn’t any fun to have liquid goop squirted in your ears and rubbed around, especially when your ears are sore and itchy from the mites. But once the mites are dead, you won’t have to hear that horrible skritchy-skratchy noise all the time!

Siouxsie: To sum it all up — we think that as long as your mom treats Figo to keep him from getting fleas and she gives you your ear mite medicine just as she’s supposed to, it’s probably safe to let you and Figo play together. Of course, if the vet said otherwise, we’d go with the vet’s orders rather than our suggestion.