What's cheap flea & tick control for feral cats I can't handle?

I would not recommend it as the doses are specifically formulated for weight and species. There is no way to really know how much medication you are giving. In my experience, cats tend to react much worse when the wrong dosage is given. I would be very leary of an online chart for adjusting dosages, unless it comes directly from the manufacturer, which I highly doubt that it does. You can also try checking with local shelters and veterinary clinics that may be willing to donate some products. It's worth a try to ask. I hope this helps, best of luck!

In my opinion, you aren't going to get anything safer than brands like Advantage, Frontline, or Revolution. Cats are exquisitely sensitive to flea medications, and going with a cheaper brand can and does cause toxic reactions due to the reduced quality of the medication. If Dignan had a toxic reaction to a cheap flea medication, then that would cost you a lot more money than paying a bit extra for the high quality flea treatment. It's best to pay for the better brands of flea medication than risk a reaction in your cat. You can get them at your vet's office, and typically a three month supply of Revolution would cost about $60, so you'd be paying $20 a month. I would go to your vet's office to get the treatment. I hope this helps!

Neither of those would be very effective against fleas. At a home and garden center you may be able to find sevin dust or granules. It's usually very inexpensive and can be sprinkled in areas that the cats frequent. I would concentrate mainly on areas that are cooler and shaded and less on areas that are in full sunlight most of the day; fleas can't tolerate the higher heat and will be attracted to the cooler areas. Sevin dust is a component in topical flea powders, so being around it would not be harmful to the cats. As alternatives, you could sprinkle borax in the areas or diatomaceous earth to help keep the flea population at bay. Thank you for helping stray kitties!

Advantage spot on or frontline spray would be your best option for now, Advantage is sold over the counter and is a very effective anti flea treatment. for the house i would recommend Indoorex spray.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! A very good diet that is also accessible and not expensive is the Purina pro Plan shredded diets. You can get them at your local pet store. While it may not be an emergency, it is still ideal to have him checked for the bites and the itchiness. It is also very important to start a flea and tick preventative like Frontline plus. He may be itching due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

It was probably a flea. Even if he is indoor only fleas can still come into the house. There are only a couple flea collars that actually work. If you want to use a collar I would recommend the Seresto collar - the over the counter ones like the ones from Hartz do not work. You are welcome to take him to one of the VETCO clinics inside of Petco stores. He would see a vet, not a tech. There is no charge for the exam. There are clinics near you zip code this weekend. ( https://www.vetcoclinics.com/services-and-clinics/clinic-locations-and-schedules/?zip=15221 )

If it is available, my best topical flea treatment for cats is Cheristin. It is very effective and kills fleas before they bite, which is helpful for cats with flea allergies since it is the bite they react to. Comfortis is a tablet that is also very effective, but it can cause vomiting.