On Monday, I gave the cats and dogs their flea treatments. The dogs seem fine, but the cats are scratching like crazy and I’ve found several fleas in the house. Cats are on Frontline, Dogs are on Advantix II. What can I do to get these fleas under control before they become a major problem? Since I just treated the cats, do I have to wait till their Frontline expires before trying something different?
You can give them more in 3 weeks but I wouldn’t do it sooner than that. You can wash them to try and get more out or if you pick up some diatomaceous earth you can rub that into their fur and it will help kill off the fleas faster too. I usually put the treatment on them, run through with a flea comb if they are willing to hold still, give them a dawn dish soap bath and diatomaceous earth if we’re having major issues. Just be careful because it’s a very fine powder and you don’t want to get it in their eyes or breathe it in because it can be irritating. I usually cover their heads with a towel while I’m rubbing it in. Vacuum and treat your furniture every 2 weeks too or sooner if it’s really bad in the house.
Advantage is more efficacious against fleas than Frontline, and be careful with Advantix on the dogs -it’s deadly to cats so make sure they don’t get accidentally exposed. I had a serious flea problem this summer after I brought home a new cat and had to treat my animals and my house. Find a good premise treatment that has Methoprene. Methoprene only works on juveniles -stops them from maturing, so you’ll have to treat in about 30 days again, but it is a mild (for a pesticide) chemical that isn’t going to harm anyone.
Last, but certainly not least, a flea comb! They’re amazing. I used to spray mine with clove and peppermint oil (one of those “natural” flea sprays for your animal) and comb the cats. It is an indispensable tool in the battle against fleas!
Paula
If you can pill your cats, Comfortis is now approved for both dogs and cats. You may have to break the pill into smaller pieces to give it, but might be worth it.
Frontline hasn’t been effective the last couple years. I’m not sure if they changed the formula when the patent ran out and it went OTC, but all of my grooming clients with fleas who say they use something it’s been Frontline.
I believe Advantix is not recommended to be used on dogs who live with cats.
I use Revolution on my dogs. If I had house cats I’d use it for them too. It actually gets into the hairs and the shed hairs provide some measure of flea repellant in your carpet and yard.
I stopped using Frontline and Advantix several years ago on my shelties. Just didnt work. I tried Comfortis, and its amazing stuff. I only used it twice in 2011, and havent seen a flea since, so I havent had to use any flea treatment since 2011. And Im in Florida. I can’t believe it, actually.
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I stopped using Frontline and Advantix several years ago on my shelties. Just didnt work. I tried Comfortis, and its amazing stuff. I only used it twice in 2011, and havent seen a flea since, so I havent had to use any flea treatment since 2011. And Im in Florida. I can’t believe it, actually.[/QUOTE]
I live in SC. I generally put something on my dogs on a semi-regular basis… probably more like every 6 weeks thatn every 4 though. Our yard gets done regulary as well. I’m a Vet tech so I use whatever I get for free or deicde to buy that month lol (used frontline plus, advantix, advantage, advantage-multi, comfortis, vectra, trifexis). On this basis they generally get something different almost every time… and sometimes the corgi will get something totally different than the lab. Needless to say I’ve never had any flea issues with my dogs. Environmental control, if at all possible, is just as important as anything else. Once in the environment (or your house), it can take up to 3 months of diligent staying on top of to truely get rid of them.
I saw Capstar at the feed store recently too. You may be able to try that and treat your house.
Frontline has stopped working. Period. I wasn’t a believer (What?! My precious Frontline?No way!) until recently.
Capstar is only effective for 24 hours. It will kill everything on the cat/dog in those first twenty-four hours but after that - they are fair game again. Comfortis works for a month. Both are oral.
Advantix is dangerous with cats around - especially if the cats and dogs are “friends.” Advantage II is safe for cats/dogs but does not controll ticks. I haven’t had any positive results with Vectra. I ended up with a flea problem a few weeks ago - the vet came up with the following Plan of Attack:
-Cats: 1 capstar each followed the next day with Revolution
-Dog: 1 capstar followed by 1 Advantage II followed by Comforitis a few days later.
It seemed to work. However, as Carolina Girl said - it is really a 3 month plan of action rather than just one, due to the flea-life stage.
Thanks! I checked online at my local pet store and they have capstar and diatomaceous earth, so I think I’ll be paying them a visit, tomorrow!
Never had a problem using Frontline until this year. This is the first year I’ve ever had fleas in this house, and I’ve lived here a dozen years. DE helps - I sprinkle it on the cat’s bedding.
Frontline has a new formula coming out right about now…called TriTack. It adds an ingredient for fastest kill. Rep said they did it because the formula hadn’t changed in 10 years and they weren’t as effective as Comfortis (however, Comfortis doesn’t do ticks, so if you have ticks as well, it may not be for you.)
FWIW, in my 15 years of practice this is the worst flea season I have ever seen. If you have seen any fleas, you should be treating the pets, the yard (Bayer Advanced) and the house (I like Knock Out spray because it gets adults and has an insect growth regulator and 1 can treats 2100 sq. ft.).
Best mode of attack is all out, and then repeat every 3-4 weeks for 3-4 months.
