Please Help!! Sick from Advantage Flea treatment!!

[weloveourkitty]

oh dear! our rosie's been acting really strange since we gave her an Advantage Flea Treatment last night....she didn't sleep with us on the bed (which she always does) last night, she is trying to bite a little when i try to pet her (which she never does), she's not really responding to our calls for her (which she often does)....and this morning, she started climbing the screen part of the window i had open for her, and the screen must not have been secure because as she climbed higher and i was trying to get her down, she fell outside, with the screen!!! mind you, she is an indoor cat, and still fairly new to us (3 or 4 mos). she has never been outside. i thought we lost her for good! i grabbed my keys and ran outside (so i wouldn't lock myself out of my apartment like i've done at least twice already!!) and started calling her. i heard her meowing, and i thought maybe she ran up a tree because she was so freaked out, but then i went around back to find her climbing the screen to our sliding glass door!! i finally got her down from there and held her close and securely, and brought her inside. she jumped down and ran to hide. i know she was freaked out, but she's still hiding and she won't come out. i went to try to calm her with one of her toys and at first she started to respond playfully, but then she got scared and ran out from under the bed and away from me. and when i went to walk towards her, she ran right back under the bed to hide. she'd been there ever since.

so then i started looking up info online about reactions to Advantage, and i found a lot of scary stuff out there from cat owners that have had similar experiences with their cat acting strange and withdrawing after a treatment.

does anyone have any info on this? input? is she going to get better? i read that some of these people's cats were sick for days, and i didn't read of any of them getting better without going to the vet? i don't know what to do! is she going to get worse? i know she was trying to clean herself too and may have eaten some of it from cleaning with her paws. i'm not going to use that stuff anymore. i am so upset!!!!

please help!!! any information/input would be helpful.

thanks so much.

 

[hell603]

Once you get her out - wash her !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[solaritybengals]

Wow..I hadn't heard of this. I always thought it was a pretty decent product. Is it the spray or the drops? I think it must be mildly toxic thats why they have you put it in between the shoulder blades so maybe she ingested a little to much at once. I hope she recovers ok

.

 

[weloveourkitty]

have you ever had this happen to you? i read that the chemical they use in Advantage is NOT supposed to enter the skin, but that is exactly what it does!! i am so upset with myself. i always research things to death, but when we got that stuff from the vets i was just to glad to have some help and i trusted their advice. errrrr..... i just wanted those darn fleas to stop bothering her asap! i should have taken the time.

 

[weloveourkitty]

hi solaritybengals....

it was the drops.... she gets everywhere to clean, she LOVES to clean herself! oh dear, i hope she is ok. thanks for your reply.

 

[squirtle]

Did you have any trouble holding her still while you applied the Advantage? With Dori I have to force her to stand in one spot for a minute and she gets mad at me for a day or so.
Once when I gave her Advantage she managed to lick a little bit of it. I freaked out and posted here and also called her vet and the company. I was reassured that even her ingesting it would not cause any harm to her. I really can't imagine this being an unsafe product.

Have you made an appointment for her to see the vet?

 

[weloveourkitty]

Originally Posted by squirtle

Did you have any trouble holding her still while you applied the Advantage? With Dori I have to force her to stand in one spot for a minute and she gets mad at me for a day or so.
Once when I gave her Advantage she managed to lick a little bit of it. I freaked out and posted here and also called her vet and the company. I was reassured that even her ingesting it would not cause any harm to her. I really can't imagine this being an unsafe product.

Have you made an appointment for her to see the vet?

hi squirtle,

yes, we did have to hold her down a bit....she may be upset because of that. i hope that's what it is. you know, i'm kind of pessimistic, so i may be thinking this is all worse than it really is. she's still hiding, and i've just been trying to talk to her every now and then from the other room (i work from home).... just so she knows i'm here and trying to connect with her.
i think i'll wait on the vet a little..... watch how this day goes and if she's not ok in another day or two (back to normal) then i'll call them.

we did use revolution on her the very first time, and she seemed to be fine after that.....the past two times we have used Advantage, and it seems to bother her a little.

thanks for your reply....

 

[solaritybengals]

I bet she was mad at your for putting the stuff on her.... Then she got freaked out when she fell out of the house. Maybe she was acting like a little kid when they want to run away because their mad at mom for something then when they get out they are to scared to go anyhwere! Lets hope it was just a peeved kitty.

Usually with toxic ingestion you see some drooling/salivating in teh most mild cases.

 

[weloveourkitty]

Originally Posted by SolarityBengals

I bet she was mad at your for putting the stuff on her.... Then she got freaked out when she fell out of the house. Maybe she was acting like a little kid when they want to run away because their mad at mom for something then when they get out they are to scared to go anyhwere! Lets hope it was just a peeved kitty.

Usually with toxic ingestion you see some drooling/salivating in teh most mild cases.

oh, maybe you're right....thanks for the insight...i'll look out for saliva/drool.
thanks.

 

[stampit3d]

I suppose that there could be an ingredient that she may have an allergy to. (???)
I think i`d go back to the Revolution if there is a "next time" if it works for her and does`nt make her sick.
We used Frontline just this week on our 2 cats and the very next 2 days they acted "offish" towards us, slinking away when we went to pet them, and they were scratching quite a bit. I think they did`nt like being petted or cuddled because it made the fleas move around and bite them more. Yesterday and today though, they have been exceptionally loving...and not scratching anymore...so i`m assuming that the fleas are all dead. We`re getting ready to bug bomb the house tonight and I hope that is the end of the fleas. I hate using chemicals on my cats.
i hope your baby starts acting more like herself in the next day or so.
Linda

 

[squirtle]

I would always suggest contacting your vet if you are unsure. As long as she isn't vomiting or foaming at the mouth I would probably give her some space. Let her hide and rest a bit. She was probably agitated that she had to be held down (even though it wasn't mean) and then the accident with her getting otuside was probably very stressful for her as well. I bet she is going to feel just fine in the morning. Please keep us updated

 

[ashleynicole]

I think she is probably just a little aggravated at you for doing something she didn't enjoy, then got scared when she fell outside. Like others have said, I think if the Advantage was making her sick, she was be showing problems with eating/drinking/using the bathroom or something along those lines. I've been using Advantage with no problems, next time I would just maybe be careful to put it where its hardest for her to reach, and keep an eye on her afterwards to make sure she doesnt try too hard to lick it. Good luck, and if she doesn't get back to normal then call the vet, better to be safe than sorry!

 

[weloveourkitty]

stampit3d, squirtle, and AshleyNicole,

thank you all for your replies..... you have helped to calm me down at least....i think i will just let her rest and hide until she feels ready to come out. no pressure. i'll be sure to keep a close eye on her. i'll let you know how she does.....


thanks again for your support!!!

 

[dr. doolittle]

What advantage does is cause the fleas to have seizures and die. If your cat had a lot of fleas before the product was applied- the mass seizing and dieing of fleas could have been quite itchy and irritating. The smell and the feel of the product is also bothersome to some animals. She was probably just a little miffed!

 

[hissy]

There is a smell issue as Dr Doolittle says. Cats are so scent-driven and now she smells funny and she can't get away from it, that is probably unsettling to her. Hopefully you bought the product from the vet and not a clearance house? I would call your vet tomorrow, but usually reaction to this product is a little more symptomatic than you are describing.

I use Advantage/Frontline/Revolution on all my cats with never a problem. I just switch the products every month because the fleas build up a resistance to them.