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Today at 4:15 p.m. with a new vet they have at the place closer to where I live. I assume they'll need to biopsy whatever it is.

I'll let you know what the situation is when I find out.

Thank you for the good thoughts friends --

CAV

I am hoping that it is no big deal. Poor baby! Hugs to you.

... don't know yet and am waiting for a call from her. She seems very good and I'm glad I took Jules there.

She put her on Comfortis which is something I was not thrilled about but the fleas around where I live are not being killed by Advantage nor Frontline PLUS and I've been flea combing all of them several times a day (seems like a rather futile effort but I continue) and vacuuming constantly it seems.

She suspects that the tumor may be from an old shot given to her at some point. She is a strictly indoor cat at this point in her life now and I have not vaccinated her in a long time.

As for Jules, she slept well last night right next to ye ol' flea bomb boy Mr. Fleabag I call him these days. Can't win w/this situation.

Will post again when I get the results of the biopsy (she said she'd call me today).

Thanks for asking Curmudgeoness.

Finding a vet you can trust is half the battle.

She has the same problem I do with the fleas and made me not feel so bad about it. She said it is everywhere in the county and that she herself has the same problem. So, I'm not alone.

Have had the carpets steam cleaned, washing everything, etc.

I have a last ditch plan in hand -- a product "Ultracide" which is supposed to get rid of them for 7 months.

Lets hope it works!

And yes, you are right. This vet yesterday did a lot more for Jules and the bill was only about $20.00 more than the other place charged me for a bum's rush treatment and a rather fat bill for a single shot and zero treatment for the allergic dermatitis.

Well the vet called. Seems the tumor seems to be a fatty tumor. She told me to keep a close on on it and if it gets any bigger, it should be removed as it could be cancerous.

So, I'll do just that and hope for the best.

Cancer in pets is no fun as I've been there.

Thanks for the positive thoughts and if anything changes at all, I'll take Jules back right away!

I hope you can get her more comfortable and beat the flea problem.

Last edited Wed Oct 29, 2014, 11:43 AM - Edit history (2)

We put the Ultracide down day before yesterday. I saw ONE semi-dead flea yesterday and as for the combings yesterday = NO FLEAS!

I hope they are gone gone gone.

Here is the info. re: ULTRACIDE (in case others are in this same horrid boat)

http://www.epestsupply.com/product/WHITULTRA/Whitmire-Ultracide-Pressurized-Flea-IGR--Adulticide-Carpet-Spray/#.VFEJ7slW9LN

I may opt to do it again in a week or so just to be sure that they are indeed gone as I still have about 1/2-2/3 of a can left (my house is very small -- about 500 sq. feet were treated).

As for Jules, she is a lot more comfortable to say the least. She was rolling around when I combed her and she even wanted me to comb under her legs and around her belly. She feels a lot better now and the allergic dermatitis seems to be under control for the time being. That said, I do not care to treat Jules with Comfortis for any great length of time as I do not believe it is particularly safe (*eek*).

As for the tumor, no change and I hope it never changes!

I wonder how many people in other states (I'm in rural northern Calif.) are having this same problem? The flea treatments (Advantage and Frontline PLUS) are not working much longer than a few days at best ... ???

Is this the result of the drought? I had a bad moth infestation very recently that I am just getting over. I lost a lot of my belongings in this disaster (like about 1/2 of the contents of my house!). Right now I have no coat to wear outside in the cold and I'm rather flat broke at the moment.

Thanks for the good vibes! We need them badly around here, believe me!

I bought mine on Amazon primarily to get rid of ants. However many pet owners use it for fleas. Be careful to buy only food grade. Some folks even use it for intestinal parasites in humans and pets! I haven't tried that.

I have sprinkled it along my baseboards and inside my kitchen cabinets. It will last forever-as long as it doesn't get wet. It has worked like a charm for us.

You have to be careful not to breathe it in when applying as breathing in a lot can cause lung irritation. Otherwise it is completely safe.

We will never be without it again!

It is called "Safer". It has lesser amounts of the stuff in it.

I used it in the garage when fighting a recent moth infestation (haven't I been having some great fun lately? Lost about 1/2 of my belongings in this nightmare!). I then had the rugs steam cleaned and this is what activated the flea problem it seems.

I've been advised to have all carpeting removed and replaced with some sort of flooring, an idea I am not hot on doing because I live in a very small house and gee, no rugs = cold cold cold and plan ugly.

I bought a flea trap that you plug-in to get an idea as to how bad this problem really is. So far it has caught nothing. Not surprising to me really being I've been vacuuming every day and doing massive amounts of cleaning, including the garage.

I went so far as to use boric acid indoors in a closet where the moths were found fairly heavy. That was a night from hell I must admit -- all sort of creatures emerged that night and frankly, it scared me do death.

I kept the cats away from all of these situations and had the door taped shut to said closet.

This has been a true hell for me.

However, the GOOD news is that Jules is not scratching much any more and the fleas are down to a few found mostly on Mr. S., the 18 lb. tomcat I have. Jules' sores have all healed up 100% luckily (with the help of a few dabs of Neosporin on one big sore she had under her neck). I comb them all twice a day and they actually line up and wait for a combing and this seems to be the best way to control them.

The products FRONTLINE PLUS and ADVANTAGE for Large Cats work for about one week if lucky and I'm back to square one again.

It seems we have developed a mutated form of fleas up north here and none of the topical products work for much longer than just a few days.

I'm at my wits end I must admit but ... at least Jules is better and I *think* that that tumor is getting smaller it seems. I hope it disappears!

Thanks for your note in any event.