Hi,
What a nice thing you are considering to adopt/rescue this cat!
I have 8 cats myself, and when one of them showed up at my door, before I adopted her, she pretty much had the same problem. She had so many fleas that her back was covered in ''bumps'' and some hair was missing due to her scratching herself so much.
I gave her the ''revolution'' treatment, and with this, there is a HUGE inprovement in her scratching herself within 72 hours. (From what you mentionned, your cat was showing signs of improvement after 3 days... it means the stuff is working! )She also had a very bad case of earmites (which revolution takes care of also, as well as intestinal parasites).
Quote from the website
"FrontlineŽ Plus for Cats:
Frontline Plus for cats is a topical 'spot-on' application for the treatment and prevention of flea infestation and biting lice on cats and kittens. It is also effective against all stages of the brown dog tick, the American dog tick, lone star tick and deer ticks (the major carrier of Lyme disease). Frontline Plus has a rapid onset of action and kills re-infestations with newly acquired adult fleas for at least one month. Frontline Plus also prevents the development of flea eggs, larvae and pupae produced by any adult fleas acquired for up to 6 weeks after treatment. Frontline Plus treats and controls Flea Allergy Dermatitis in cats. It can be used on kittens from 8 weeks of age and is safe to use on breeding, pregnant or lactating animals. Frontline Plus is waterfast from 24 hours after application.""
As you can see from their web site info...Once the treatment is given to the cat, it stops the flea infestation right away; hence, no more fleas will reproduce on your cat. The existing ones will die out very fast also.
It is important to repeat the treatment every 30 days, in cases of severe flea infestation, like in your cat.
Repeating the treatment before 30 days would be pointless, and could be harmfull to your cat, it is important to follow the directives about these medications, as they are very strong!
If you want to help your cat furthermore...you can do so by using a pair of tweezers, like those women use to pluck their eyebrow and manually remove the fleas from your cat! The best place to catch the fleas on your cat is on the belly, you part the hair and you will see the little devils run around. You catch them with the tweezers and then drown them in some rubbing alcohol.
You mentionned that you would be on the circuit for another month before returning home.
The fleas will be dead by then, and the lice/larvae will also be ''out of commission'' .
I would not worry about your cat ''giving fleas'' to your other cats at your house after two treatments. My stray cat came in 2 weeks after her first dose, and there was no problems.
Of course, you will need to reapply the treatment after one month just to make sure.
So as for your cats at home, when you bring the new cat...by then there should be no problem for them in terms of fleas, as they will be gone.
As for the fleas ''living'' in the apartment you will be living in, well, a parasite need a host. If there is no habitat, there is no habitant. As long as you keep your apartment in hygenic conditions, there is no problem there. The fleas will not live if there is not a proper host (your cat) to live on. Since your cat has been treated, this will not be a problem.
I would also look into what vaccinations your new cat needs to enter Canada, if any...
Being in the horse business, you surely know vets who could inform you and give the proper shots and vet/health certificate required to enter Canada. It would be a pity to see your cat refused access at the border after all you did for him/her and see him/her end up in a kill shelter...
It's best to be informed on those kind of things to avoid dissapointment or frustrating situations...
It is, of course, important to wash all the cats bedding on a regular basis if you are dealing with fleas, kind of the same way it is done when children have head lice...
Hope this helps you in making the decision about the new cat that may enter your life...
If you have pictures of your cat, and the horses as well, it would be a pleasure to see them!
And best of luck to you on the circuit with your horses!
Keep us posted please!
sandyrivers