What’s The Best Effective Flea Treatment?

[Jasminelopeze]

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to get some opinions on what’s the best over the counter flea treatment you’ve tried on your cats. I can tell that my cats flea treatment is wearing off but the clinic I went to said that he needs to come in and be weighed in order to get another one. It’s completely understandable but it’s about an hour away from me and my schedule is pretty tight since I started school again, so I started looking up over the counter flea treatments. But I also keep seeing these horror stories of bad side effects some over the counter treatments have had. Some even killed cats. So now I’m scared. What’s the best that has worked for your babies? Which ones should I stay away from? Should I just skip class and go to the clinic?

 

[denice]

Sounds like your vet used Revolution which is prescription only. There are two Frontline and Advantage, you want Advantage not Advantix. Advantix is for dogs only and can be fatal for cats. Which one of the two work really depend on where you live, fleas have been developing resistance to one or the other. From what I have seen here people are having better luck with Advantage.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I am using Advantage II, as it kills not only adult fleas, but eggs/larvae. I used it years and years ago (on 2 different cats), and just started having to use it again on my 15+ yo cat. She is on her second month of it, and seems to be just fine. I believe the weight is divided into 3 segments - 2-5 pounds, 5-9, and 9+ pounds. I believe it is supposed to be safe on kittens over 2 months of age and over 2 pounds.

 

[stephanietx]

Most over the counter flea treatments can be deadly. Please talk with your vet on an appropriate treatment plan.

 

[daftcat75]

Most over the counter flea treatments can be deadly. Please talk with your vet on an appropriate treatment plan.

Most flea treatments have a wide safety margin when used as directed. Many or most adverse reactions come from using the wrong dose, applying incorrectly, using a dog product on a cat, and other unintended uses.

Additionally, a lot of flea treatments will cause an adverse reaction that, while perhaps alarming or distressing, is temporary--reactions like vomiting, hair loss, skin irritation. Sometimes it isn't the medicine as much as the carrier that transports the medicine where it needs to go.

 

[daftcat75]

The best flea treatment will be a comprehensive one that considers not just your cat but your premises, your yard, and possibly your car. Many products only target adults. These are called adulticides. These aren't very effective because adults only make up 5% of an infestation. To be truly effective, you need an insect growth regulator (IGR) that can prevent the immature stages of fleas from becoming sexually mature, mating, and laying eggs. You will also need to establish a cleaning routine because eggs and larvae can remain dormant for a very long time. However, heat and vibration can awaken them. Vacuuming can awaken these immature stages. Whatever you don't capture with the vacuum, plan on combing off your cat. I am using a flea comb on my Krista everyday and I vacuum every other day. We only just started with the correct treatments this weekend so ask me in two weeks how we're doing.

Here's an excellent site that will help you understand all the ins and outs of flea infestations and how to execute a comprehensive treatment approach.
Step-by-step: How to get rid of fleas | FleaScience

I'm not a vet and I believe you should research this on the link above as well as reading Amazon reviews. That disclaimer out of the way, I treat Krista with Advantage 2 topical flea drops. It uses imidacloprid as the adulticide and pyriproxyfen as the IGR. I use Siphotrol Plus as the premise spray. That uses methoprene as the IGR and permethrin as the adulticide. There is a toxicity risk with permethrin and cats but that's in concentrations used in topicals for dogs. Permethrin should not be applied topically to cats. But in the concentrations found in premise sprays, it should be fine. Just do one room at a time and keep your cat out of that room until it dries (about 1 to 2 hours.)