Hello
Here is fledi's jim.
In Florida, fleas are a problem all year. With a flea collar, the toxin will out-gas from the collar into the air around the cat. It really only works when the cat is very still, like when they sleep. The rest of the time, the fleas will simply move away from the cat's neck, toward it's tail, and be safe from the flea collar. The Advantage product will work much better than a collar.
(and yes, I agree, a flea collar can be a hazard around a cat's neck)
The important thing is if you have carpet. The flea will lay it's eggs into the carpet.
It's important to kill the fleas in the carpet quickly before you have many fleas in your home!
The flea has four stages of life, each last about one week. The flea starts out as an egg, and then has a larval stage before becoming an immature flea, and then finally, a mature flea. The flea powder you could put on the carpet will kill the immature flea, (which can not yet lay eggs) and it will kill the mature flea (which has probably already laid eggs)
The flea powder will not kill the eggs or the larva. So, the best plan, as I know it, is to put the powder down one time each week for four consecutive weeks, so that you kill each stage of flea as they become immature fleas, before they can lay new eggs. After this, only once a month should be good.
If your cat brings in more fleas from outside, then, of course, you may need to repeat this eventually.
In Germany, I suspect that fleas are only a seasonal problem, and so with Winter, you may be OK for the rest of the year.
Good Luck! It's really not a big problem, if you don't ignore it.
Bearbeitet von fledermaus am 17.10.2006 04:53:44