UPDATE 9-9-2012
First I have to admit I haven’t followed up as well as I should, however, I am seeing a big reduction in fleas. It’s time to give the second dose of the generic Program. The bottom line is, these two products do seem to work well – instant relief with the flea killer and behind the scenes, slower results with the Program generic.
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Fleas are a bane for pets and their owners. With a life cycle of around 21 days with variables making it longer in some cases, getting rid of a flea infestation can be a challenge.

I have a multiple cat household and my kitties became covered with fleas. They were miserable. I groomed and picked fleas manually, realizing it was a losing battle. I have used flea and tick dips in the past, one in particular worked well but it’s not that easy to find anymore and was on indefinite backorder from several places, I couldn’t find it anywhere locally and putting something on my pets that has warnings on the label about getting it on your own skin concerns me. Also, dipping a feline without a grooming bag isn’t fun – most cats don’t like water and I swear mine grow at least four extra legs, bones turn to jelly letting them be an angry mass of twisting fur. The shampoo version worked temporarily but didn’t have enough residual effect to make trying to wash them a viable idea. You need to leave it on them for at least five minutes it seems. Just for the record, Dawn dishwashing detergent is a safer product and works almost as well.

I tried the spray on version of the product. It did help a little but not enough to warrant the mess. It left kitty’s fur a greasy, nasty mess. While the mess lasted a week, the flea killing effect didn’t and I had very unhappy kitties.

I tried a name brand, expensive flea collar on one. After a week I saw no improvement at all. Thinking the kitty I tried it on may have been too big for it to work well, I tried it on a smaller cat. Within thirty minute the kitty began staggering around and drooling. The expensive flea collar went into the trash.

I tried flea powder. It didn’t work and made for some very unhappy kitties who left residue everywhere they went. Food grade diatomaceous earth is also messy but does seem to work and is non-toxic to humans and pets (although you need to avoid breathing the dust or getting it into your eyes) and it’s a slow kill process. My kitties needed faster relief.

Some months back I had one of the males neutered. Before the procedure he was given nitenpyram to get the fleas off of him. When I brought him home he had zero fleas and none bothered him for at least 24 hours. This product is sold under the brand name of Capstar and it does work. I reasearched the product and read reviews – it’s safe enough to use everyday if needed.

Capstar is expensive. A package of six pills costs at least around $24 and up depending on where you buy it. It, too, was on indefinite backorder from the store I usually order from. I found it locally – 6 pills/$35. That adds up fast, especially when you are trying to work through a flea infestation. What to do?

My son jumped into research mode and discovered Little City Dogs, located in New York. They sell their own brand of nitenpyram. ** (www.littlecitydogs.com) ** As of this posting, you get TWELVE (12) capsules – twice as much as the name brand – for $12.50, shipping included. After doing a little research on the company and seeing that people were happy with their experiences buying through them, I placed an order.

I had the product in three days. My cats are hardheaded and wanted to balk at my putting it into their food although it is supposed to be chicken flavored. No problem, I opened the capsule, mixed it into a tiny bit of milk and shot it down their throats with a medicine syringe. They weren’t too happy but it was over before they knew it!

Within 20 to 30 minutes I had a houseful of flea scratching, flea biting kitties as the product started taking effect – when it starts working on those fleas the go nuts and probably start biting a lot more, but it’s a short lived issue. I literally watched the fleas drunkenly come to the surface of the kitties’ fur and start falling off. The evil little critters that didn’t die before they hit the floor would turn around and around in circles, unable to jump. Within a few hours I could not find one live flea on any of them. It’s so nice to see my kitties more comfortable now, able to sleep without waking up every few minutes to bite or scratch at a flea.

Since the product says it is only effective for 24-48 hours, I will be dosing them every few days to try to clear out any new adult fleas. I also dosed them with Little City Dog’s version of Program, don’t know how that will work yet but we’ll see. I’ll be reordering more of their nitenpyram this week as well as their tapeworm medication as fleas carry tapeworms.

I’ve won the first battle with the flea problem and intend to win the war as well. I’ll post an update in a few weeks.

** I am in no way affiliated with Little City Dogs. I don’t know the owners, nor am I an advertiser for them . I am simply a customer who feels this is a good product and value and wanted to share.