Using more than one topical flea treatment in a single month, ongoingly?

[FeebysOwner]

Advantage only does one thing to fleas. It kills them. It does not prevent the cat from getting more fleas. Hopefully, your cat goes outside and gets fleas from outside. If not, it's getting fleas from somewhere inside the house. And that's a nightmare.

Since you edited your last post after I had already responded, I will add to my response i/c/w your additions. If you have read through the entire post, then you know I am not just using Adv on my cat (and, btw, it is Adv II, which contains IGR - look it up if you don't know what that means), the house has been treated multiple times, as well as cleaned weekly. My cat is NOT an outdoor cat, but she does go out on a screened in patio. The patio has also been treated with an IGR, as well as the entire yard. The flea treatment works fairly efficiently for about 3 weeks of the intended 4 week duration. If it were as simple as you suggest, I wouldn't be searching for constructive suggestions.

 

[FeebysOwner]

This may not be any help but just to share what we've been doing keeping fleas off our 2 cats. Our first kitty adopted as a stray had fleas and the vet gave us Revolution. It worked like a charm and there were no fleas to be found on the cat or in the house from then on, and the medication didn't bother her. We adopted our second and his foster mom said give him Revolution too. So far, no fleas at all in the house or on the cats and they don't seem to mind Revolution. This may not work for everyone but it has worked for us.

Thanks! Revolution, much to my surprise, does not contain any active ingredient to sterilize the adult fleas and prevent development of flea eggs/larvae (IGR), which I was hoping would help with the situation of not having eggs reproducing as they fall off the cat (which is what they do). But, I will have to convince my vet to give me a prescription for it, if I do choose to try it out. I won't even contemplate the use the Revolution Plus, as it contains the isoxazoline class of parasitics, which have been tied to seizures/neurological issues in cats. Feeby has a mild neurological issue and is 15+ yo, so I am being very cautious!!

 

[basscat]

Since you edited your last post after I had already responded, I will add to my response i/c/w your additions. If you have read through the entire post, then you know I am not just using Adv on my cat (and, btw, it is Adv II, which contains IGR - look it up if you don't know what that means), the house has been treated multiple times, as well as cleaned weekly. My cat is NOT an outdoor cat, but she does go out on a screened in patio. The patio has also been treated with an IGR, as well as the entire yard. The flea treatment works fairly efficiently for about 3 weeks of the intended 4 week duration. If it were as simple as you suggest, I wouldn't be searching for constructive suggestions.

Simple? Quite the opposite. You seem to be wanting to take the simple route and dose the cat twice a month. Once with Adv "II" and two weeks later with something else.
Everything I read is advising you NOT to do that.
There is nothing simple about ridding your house or patio of fleas. There is no simple approach that's going to effective. If your cat continues to have fleas....you "simply" have not done enough to the environment.
Sorry, when I typed Advantage, thought it was understood. I'll type Adv II in the future although, I saw nothing about Advecta II

Precor is an IGR and a case of it may not be enough

 

[FeebysOwner]

Simple? Quite the opposite. You seem to be wanting to take the simple route and dose the cat twice a month. Once with Adv "II" and two weeks later with something else. Everything I read is advising you NOT to do that. There is nothing simple about ridding your house or patio of fleas. There is no simple approach that's going to effective. If your cat continues to have fleas....you "simply" have not done enough to the environment. Sorry, when I typed Advantage, thought it was understood. I'll type Adv II in the future although, I saw nothing about Advecta II Precor is an IGR and a case of it may not be enough.

Thanks, so the bottom line of your 'help' to me is I simply have not done enough to the environment. Fair enough, I'll keep that in mind while I continue to search for more detailed/productive suggestions/solutions.
Btw, I never mentioned Advecta II - it is merely a generic version of Advantage II. And, Precor is just another version of one of many brands of IGRs I have already used to treat the house. But - apparently - I need to do more.

 

[basscat]

This may not be any help but just to share what we've been doing keeping fleas off our 2 cats. Our first kitty adopted as a stray had fleas and the vet gave us Revolution. It worked like a charm and there were no fleas to be found on the cat or in the house from then on, and the medication didn't bother her. We adopted our second and his foster mom said give him Revolution too. So far, no fleas at all in the house or on the cats and they don't seem to mind Revolution. This may not work for everyone but it has worked for us.

Revolution seems to work good, but it's prescription and pricey. We use Advecta II which we think is the same as Advantage II (and both of those seem to work).
Seems to work: I'm not sure how you would ever know for sure. Probably more of preemptive strike.
We spend a small fortune on Precor, PT Ultracide. Which we drown the inside of the house in twice a year. And even more outside with granules and some stuff we mix up in a 100 gallon tow behind sprayer...twice a year also.
Call it preventative maintenance.
It's cheaper and easier than getting rid of fleas and ticks once they get established.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Revolution seems to work good, but it's prescription and pricey. We use Advecta II which we think is the same as Advantage II (and both of those seem to work).

Revolution requires a prescription (hence part of the more pricey-ness) because it enters the bloodstream, as Advecta II and Advantage II do not. The former contains Selamectin (and Sarolaner, for Revolution Plus); the latter two contain Imidacloprid and Pyriproxyfen (IGR), which are processed through the sebaceous glands.

 

[basscat]

Just in regards to the initial question, with some time to hopefully derive some clarification to my lack of being able to explain this in an understandable manner.
It just seems to me there's a lot of confusion on what topical flea treatments do....specifically.

I know of no flea treatments for cats that "repel". Such as what the product "OFF" does.
If OFF isn't keeping mosquito's off of a person, maybe another brand will be more effective. And that is easy to tell...immediately.
Flea topicals don't keep fleas off of a cat. They just kill what gets on the cat. And even that is not immediate. It takes some time. So, it's very difficult to tell the effectiveness without placing the cat in a controlled environment.
But, since topicals don't repel, doubling treatments won't keep a cat from getting fleas.
If fleas were rain, topical treatments would be the towel, not the umbrella.

An exception to this MIGHT be Seresto. And it's probably not exactly an exception. It won't keep fleas from getting on your cat, BUT, from what I understand, no "bite" is needed. Fleas just can't stand it and supposedly jump off the cat really quickly trying to escape.

 

[FeebysOwner]

It just seems to me there's a lot of confusion on what topical flea treatments do....specifically. Flea topicals don't keep fleas off of a cat. They just kill what gets on the cat...
An exception to this MIGHT be Seresto. And it's probably not exactly an exception. It won't keep fleas from getting on your cat, BUT, from what I understand, no "bite" is needed. Fleas just can't stand it and supposedly jump off the cat really quickly trying to escape.

I think I am being misunderstood with regard to what I am trying to explain. Let me try again: With Advantage II there are no fleas on Feeby for the first 2 1/2 - 3 weeks of a monthly treatment. During that time it is working efficiently, the fleas die and generally fall off of her (as intended) and are vacuumed up during standard house cleaning. If I do find one on her, it is dead or very close to it - so, still the treatment appears to have 'done its job'. It is in the latter week or so of the application's supposed month-long efficacy that I find semi-active fleas on her.

What this means, to me, is that the fleas are being killed by Advantage II - initially. But, at some point, the efficacy of the treatment wanes, and she is no longer fully protected by it - and then I will find fleas on her. To state the obvious, in my case, Advantage II is NOT fully effective for the intended month-long period.

New fleas can be brought into a home at any time, regardless of how efficiently the house/yard are treated. I am sure they will/do get in my house, and there are/will be some that will 'find' Feeby. This is when a fully effective flea treatment application to the cat should come into play. As I said, it appears that it 'does its job' for some portion of each month, but wanes thereafter.

I hope that helps to make it clearer for you.

(Btw, I am aware that Advantage II is not 'repelling' anything - that is not its purpose. And, also, just so you know, fleas don't have to bite a cat that has Advantage II applied - the contact with the cat's skin/sebaceous glands supposedly accomplishes the task.)

 

[basscat]

Yep

 

[FeebysOwner]

I hope that helps to make it clearer for you.

Yep

Good, I am glad I was finally able to make it clearer to you!!!

 

[BlackCatOp]

Sorry to hear you are fighting a flea problem! Being Florida born and raised, I understand how unrelenting and constant the flea pressure can be! I have several thoughts on the matter that I hope may be helpful.

First, I am unable to find any evidence of combining products as you want to do. I am not saying that it can’t be done; I just cannot find any reference material on the subject. Your veterinarian should be willing to help you with this matter as parasite control is not a one size fits all solution. Bravecto is a great product but for my indoor only cats that don’t need tick control it is over kill in IMO, so I would want an alternate product too.

Secondly, Adv II is actually labeled for weekly dosing. So since Adv II provides Feeby good flea control for 3ish weeks, you could safely re-apply every 2.5-3 weeks instead of dosing monthly.

Thirdly, I personally would consider trying Revolution. I use Revolution on my three cats and have for many years without issue (ages 5-12) and my mother uses on her elderly cat. I prefer it over Adv II/Multi as it does not leave greasy spots in my cats’ coats and has much less odor. In addition, Revolution also provides heartworm prevention – which can’t hurt given that the mosquito is Florida’s state bird, . While Revolution does not have a separate IGR, it does inhibit flea development by preventing egg hatching so the flea lifecycle is interrupted in much the same way as an IGR. As far as the cost difference, I would think it would be negligible if having to apply multiple other products and if you are currently administrating heartworm preventive there would be savings from there as well.

Good luck on conquering those fleas! And wishing Feeby to be flea free soon!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Your veterinarian should be willing to help you with this matter as parasite control is not a one size fits all solution. Bravecto is a great product but for my indoor only cats that don’t need tick control it is over kill in IMO, so I would want an alternate product too.

I haven't asked the vet for an alternative to Bravecto, since that seems to be what he is now advocating - but, I will.

Secondly, Adv II is actually labeled for weekly dosing. So since Adv II provides Feeby good flea control for 3ish weeks, you could safely re-apply every 2.5-3 weeks instead of dosing monthly.

I have never seen any information about Adv II being for weekly dosing, all articles I have read - and, the product that I have on hand -certainly states once monthly. I have heard/read that with bad flea infestations it can be given 2 weeks apart, but this is considered a temporary situation to help with initial treatment for fleas and would not be recommended long term. Where did you find any labeling with weekly dosing instructions?
EDIT: I did find one web site (Advantage II Large Cat/Rabbit (Canada) for Animal Use - Drugs.com) - for Canada that did make the following statement: If retreatment becomes necessary earlier than 4 weeks, do not retreat more than once weekly. Odd that no USA web sites will state the same thing.

While Revolution does not have a separate IGR, it does inhibit flea development by preventing egg hatching so the flea lifecycle is interrupted in much the same way as an IGR.

Selamectin is the active ingredient in Revolution, and all information I have read about it - with one exception - states it kills adult fleas (no mention of eggs). That one exception is the brand Selarid which states it also prevents eggs from hatching. So, does one believe what is written specifically about Selarid over all the other data I can find on Selamectin? The other issue for me with Revolution/Selamectin is that it enters the cat's blood stream, rather than working through the sebaceous glands/skin coat. This was a bit of a concern for me when considering what to use on Feeby at her age (15+ yo).

I've given up on the idea of using multiple products in tandem, but still haven't decided which direction to head in otherwise. We are now just starting week 3 since the most recent application of Adv II, and we found 15 semi-active fleas on her just yesterday.

 

[BlackCatOp]

Article (Evaluation of the effects of selamectin against adult and immature stages of fleas (Ctenocephalides felis felis) on dogs and cats. - PubMed - NCBI) and Revolution product insert (https://www.zoetisus.com/products/c...ources/revolution-prescribing-information.pdf) Both show selamectin’s ability to prevent egg hatching.

Adv II product insert (https://bayer.cvpservice.com/public/product/pdf?eid=kv9rdn55NAwIISEPUpYS0EXrTw34mt7qTG977XNYkvI=&download=1) Bullet point 7 states,
“Under normal conditions this product is effective for a month. However, in cases of severe flea
infestation, retreatment may be necessary earlier than four (4) weeks. Do not retreat more often than once every fourteen (14) days for kittens or once every seven (7) days for small and large cats. After flea control is attained, return to a monthly retreatment schedule.”

I totally understand being hesitant about using a new product on a senior cat. However, I would also be concerned about potential diseases that are being spread by the fleas to my senior kitty (feline infectious anemia, bartonella)

Hope you can figure something that works for both you and Feeby!

Edited to fix link