What Flea Med Do You Use That Works?

[leo12]

We got my mother in laws cat last April, and she brought in fleas with her. We treated the five cats we had with Advantage, and it worked great. We stopped in January or February because there was no signs of fleas. When May came, we noticed fleas on the cats again, and started the Advantage again, this time on the three cats we had left. It did absolutely no good, I was using a flea comb and getting upwards of 50 fleas daily. Now we are down to 2 cats, and still no luck. I called Bayer, they said to use flea meds more often, every three weeks. I applied some 9 days ago, and yesterday used a flea comb and got 80 off of only two cats. Is it possible the cats have built up an immunity to the Advantage and it will no longer work? Is there a certain med that has great results? I hate chemicals and really hate to flea bomb my house if there's another way to eliminate them.

 

[MeganLLB]

Does Advantage kill the whole flea cycle? Eggs, larva, flea? I would first give them a flea bath and get everything off of them. Then use a medicine that kills the whole life cycle. And then make sure you are really cleaning your house. Eggs could be anywhere in your house by now.

 

[Willowy]

Ask your vet. Fleas do become immune to pesticides and the vet may know which ones are still effective in your specific area.

 

[Megsnan]

I use Revolution. IMO it works better than advantage.

 

[leo12]

MeganLLB, according to the directions it kills fleas, larvae and eggs. I don't think I could give them a bath, one won't let me even pick him up for more that a minute.

Willowy, I think I will call vet, it seems to me the Advantage isn't working even a little, and I can't figure it out.

Revolution will be worth a try, it can't be any worse.

 

[basscat]

Advantage (Revolution, Frontline, etc). This turns a cat into a little flea trap. The cat runs around, gets fleas on it, and the treatment kills them.
The problem is, for every one that dies, two more are jumping on.
In theory, this would eventually get rid of all the fleas. But, it would take FOR-EVER because fleas NOT on the cat are reproducing faster than fleas are jumping on the cat and getting killed.
So, you really need to treat the environment as well.
And even then, there's nothing quick about getting "flea free"

 

[leo12]

I was afraid of that. I hate using chemicals indoors, but I think it might get to that. I'm going to shampoo rugs and furniture first, see if theres any improvement.

 

[basscat]

L leo12 , If you got 80 fleas off of one cat with a comb, I would say you have your work cut out for you.
About any "flea spray" you can get your hands on will work. Some better than others, but, right now's not the time to be picky. They will start working immediately, but, it'll be a few weeks before you "notice" it.
Get the cats away from the sprayed area and spray everything, under everything, inside of everything, up, down, sideways, under cushions. Everything.
And get a few white colored shallow dishes or plates or pie pans. Put a little warm water in them, and a couple drops of dish soap.
Place these in corners around rooms. The next morning, these will show you where the problem areas are. If no fleas, move them to another corner, or under a couch or table.

I've seen a room with no fleas on one wall, and dishes filled with fleas on the opposite wall.
It lets you know where to spray, and where to drench.

 

[1 bruce 1]

I was afraid of that. I hate using chemicals indoors, but I think it might get to that. I'm going to shampoo rugs and furniture first, see if theres any improvement.

We hate using them as well, outdoors, but STRONGLY resist using them inside but if the flea problem is out of control, sometimes there's little choice.
The tricky part is getting the cats out of the house long enough to thoroughly flea-bomb, air out, etc.
We flea bombed once and left the dogs in outdoor kennels and drove around for an hour or two while the bomb was going off with crated cats. I kept frantically head-counting, obsessively, because I was so paranoid we would accidentally leave someone behind, ugh.

 

[leo12]

The dishes are a very good idea, I have never heard of that before. Do you have any suggestions of what to spray/bomb with? I would like to keep my cats in one of two rooms during the spraying that they have never gone in before, assuming those rooms don't need spraying. The trouble with that is then those rooms will probably get fleas jumping off the cats into them

 

[Megsnan]

There’s a chemical called Sterifab, it can only be purchased online and it’s very effective. Also there’s diatameous earth which is a more organic approach but use chemicals if dealing with even just a mild infestation. I used capstar and revolution together when my cat got fleas and that worked but only after the home was treated as well.

 

[leo12]

Thank you, I'm trying to talk my husband into spraying, but getting no where. He thinks if we keep working at it with flea comb and flea med and shampooing we will eliminate them, I told him I think theres too many for us to handle anymore. I put the dishes of water out last night, but got nothing. I will keep trying in different spots.

 

[Megsnan]

My husband is stubborn too. Have an exterminator come out while he’s at work! Good luck!

 

[basscat]

Thank you, I'm trying to talk my husband into spraying, but getting no where. He thinks if we keep working at it with flea comb and flea med and shampooing we will eliminate them, I told him I think theres too many for us to handle anymore. I put the dishes of water out last night, but got nothing. I will keep trying in different spots.

The best way is to put the dish of water/soap in a corner, overnight, with a small desk lamp pointing at it. They actually make a "flea trap" that does the same thing (small light with a sticky pad inside).
But, if you have a flea problem....No light is needed.
Now this won't cure a flea problem, but, it will show you where problem areas are and aren't.
Has to be a plate, or shallow dish, saucer. Low enough so fleas can get in, but, has to hold a bit of soapy water also.
Fleas like corners, edges, darker places, under stuff.
If you move these all over the place for a week or so and don't find any? That's GOOD!!!!

 

[Q2U]

30 years ago Mrs. Q and I used a product such as this indoors with great success...and no indoor chemicals...

 

[mightyboosh]

These environmental flea sprays promise that they will remain effective for up to twelve months on an item sprayed. Do folks think that is really true? It just sounds too optimistic for me.
I'm having a bit of a problem myself at the moment as the recent weather has been perfect for the vile creatures. I'm also not sure the Frontline Plus is working very well although, as said above, it could be that they're jumping on faster than dying off.

 

[mama africa]

Missy is a semi outdoor cat (most of the time indoors).
I use Frontline Combo Line since she was old enough and I never had a flea problem.
I plan to try Bravecto (long lasting treatment) next time, because Missy hates flea treatment day.

 

[sarita]

Fleas- first time in 25 years of fostering cats. Anyway, after discovered, I spent hours reading about collars, treatments, foggers, home remedies, etc. Researching we learned many fleas are immune to Frontline and Advantage. (see near the bottom of this).

This is what we are doing: First the foster cats got Revolution and flea combing.
We laundered everything that was washable.
Vacuumed everything in sight. Then threw away the bag. New bag has a cut up Hartz collar in it.
Dumped a combo of salt and baking soda on the cat furniture and scratchers, and let it sit for 24 hours before shaking off and then vacuuming them.
Set off a flea fogger in the foster cat room along with the cat furniture inside. (cats removed to carriers and placed in a different level of the house).
Washed down all vinyl floors and base molding in the cat room.
Flea comb twice a day.

NEXT: we must have tracked eggs or adults upstairs as our 2 cats have shown a couple fleas after combing them. They have no physical contact with the level of the house with the cat room.
So, after research we settled on Activyl treatment. We are trying it today. (vet visit for 2 cats and Revolution is over $200).
This is the information that prompted us to try Activyl:
Efficacy of indoxacarb applied to cats against the adult cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, flea eggs and adult flea emergence

"This study was conducted using the KS1 flea strain. Several previous studies have demonstrated that this strain has reduced susceptibility or outright resistance to carbaryl, chlorpyriphos, fenthion, fipronil, imidacloprid, permethrin, pyrethrins, and spinosad [3, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24]. This study showed that indoxacarb performed well against this KS-1 flea strain."

Wish us luck. :l

 

[Stacey L Barth]

I use Revolution. IMO it works better than advantage.

We currently have 8 cats indoor only. We have tried Advantage ll, Frontline Plus, and Activyl. So far, only Activyl has worked and no fleas for 8 months
The other two seemed to work for a week, then fleas are back worse than before. I think the Activyl would have worked longer than 8 months but we had moved and in the process, they got fleas, probably from strays outside. Warning, the Activyl had no side effects the first few times we used it. However, this time two of our cats somehow licked some of it off and started foaming, slobbering and flipping around screaming loudly. They both threw up the next day and were sleepy
However, day three they have no visible fleas and are their normal selves. Just some info to help but if it scares you take them to the vet..