Why Does Frontline and Advantage Not Work For Fleas Now?

[momof3furbabies]

Advantage wasn't working for the flea problem I had so I switched to Frontline. Cats are still itching at times. I just applied it last weekend. WHY are the fleas still not completely 100% dead? I don't have a huge problem here? We aren't being bitten. Not seeing them jumping and I vacuum often and have sprayed the carpeting. Vet said 3 months of treatment should solve the problem. This is month 2 and I'm still seeing no improvement I don't have money to switch to another brand until feb 28.

 

[whaler]

there have been some reports that certain fleas have become resistant to fipronil, the active ingredient in frontline. some of the evidence is anecdotal but there seems to be a significant amount of it.

due to this fact my vet stopped recommending/carrying frontline a couple of years ago and switched to revolution. i can say that revolution seems to work very, very well. i use it on some of my feral cats - the ones that i can apply it to - and we have no fleas at all.

 

[runekeeper]

Could it be that there are fleas in the bedding and carpeting that are hopping back on your kitties? All the pets in my house (5 at the time) got fleas last year and despite three treatments with Advantage, they were all still scratching. I think the cause was one of two possibilities: Fleas living in the carpets that found their way onto the nice clean animals, or I brought them home from my boyfriend's house (his cat has fleas just about all year round and since he's an indoor-outdoor cat, it's not financially sound to treat him for fleas). But I suppose it's kind of like antibiotics - when people use a certain one too much, the things they treat can become resistant. I wouldn't be surprised if some fleas are becoming resistant to flea treatments.

 

[momof3furbabies]

hmmm those are both good suggestions. I will have to try revolution. Thank you. Do you think one dose for each cat should work? My vet says the bombs don't really work as effectively and neither do the sprays. She says washing the bedding and vacuuming frequently do.

 

[orientalslave]

What spray did you use?  Not all sprays are equal.  The bedding needs washing hot - 60C - or discarding. 

 

[momof3furbabies]

I used adams flea and tick spray. 

 

[orientalslave]

I see Adams are rather shy on their website about the active ingredients in most of their products and suspect they are not of the best.  The link below has a lot of good including the active ingredients in the worthwhile sprays.  Brand names may vary, but use the details in it to choose one.

http://www.fabcats.org/owners/fleas/info.html

 

[harleydiva]

We were having a problem last year with fleas infestation in the house.  I don't like to use foggers and spray poison all over the walls and furniture, and I also have a parrot.  After doing some research, I went to the feed store and bought a bag of food grade diatomaceous earth.  You sprinkle it on the carpets, leave for a few hours, and then vacuum it up.  You can also put it around baseboards, on bedding, etc.  Worked like a charm....better than anything else I have tried.  You might have to do it a few times just to defeat the fleas hatch cycle.  You can also put it directly on the animals, and it works for ear mites too.!!!  It has to be FOOD GRADE (not the stuff in the garden or pool section, which contains toxic stuff).  Many feed stores carry it because farmers feed it to their livestock as a natural dewormer. (50# bag $24.00)  People also take it for a variety of benefits.  It also works in the yard.  It can also be fed to cats and dogs for skin and coat, and a natural wormer.....although I haven't done that.

Here is one of several websites I found that has information:  http://www.earthworkshealth.com/pets-animals.php

 

[feralvr]

If you are seeing many fleas on the cats, then there are lots more in the environment. I would treat your home. Frontline does work, quite well. It is not a repellent and will only kill the fleas when they bite as far as I know. Do the cats go outside? If so, they (the fleas) might be hitching a ride inside the house as well. You could go with the Revolution but that is also a dewormer. Good luck!!

 

[rjaffeux]

We've always used Frontline our vet refused to sell Advantage because it didn't last as long. About 5yrs ago we starting having trouble with frontline because we would put it on and it wouldn't get rid of them all. So we were told to switch between frontline and advantage. So we used Advantage the next month and it worked. We used the Advantage for a year and than switched back to frontline. It seemed to work. So we went a year with it. Than went back to Advantage again and it worked fine. This year we were supposed to go back to Frontline, we did and it didn't help. So two weeks in we also put Advantage on. So 1 mo. ago front line was put on, 2 weeks later Advantage was put on. We still have fleas. Not infested but we each see at least a flea every few hours. Our cats won't touch the ground. What should we try next? (the last time we had and infestation we put frontline on and it cleared it right up. I'm not sure what to do because if we get infested my daycare kids won't be able to come. I HAVE to Clear it up. any suggestions.

 

[geneva]

The ONLY thing that worked for my cat is a pill from the vet called Comfortis. It kills them instantly and wow, I have had problems for years and tried every flea treatment and natural remedy there is. I am so impressed. I don't know anything about it but it works.

 

[mewlittle]

The ONLY thing that worked for my cat is a pill from the vet called Comfortis. It kills them instantly and wow, I have had problems for years and tried every flea treatment and natural remedy there is. I am so impressed. I don't know anything about it but it works.

comfortis didnt help my cats at all and i cleaned like crazy

what about biospot?

 

[catspaw66]

The last time I used a topical flea killer, my vet gave me some Advantage Multi. It is a flea and tick killer and dewormer and ear mite killer all in one.

 

[carmie]

If you would like to try a non-chemical approach, this worked for me two years ago when I had an infestation so bad that I hated going home.  I researched fleas online and found that fleas will die if the humidity is 40% or below.  It took a while to get the infested room to 40%, but once I did, fleas were gone in a day.  To deal with any eggs left unhatched, I kept the humidity at 40% and vacuumed every day for four days.  There was no recurrence.  The only carpeted area I have is the end of the kitchen that is a dining area ( 12X10).  I had no problem in the hardwood areas of the house.  If the problem encompasses the entire house, I can see that this tactic may not be practical, but I can guarantee you that 40% humidity will dry the little devils out and you will neither breath nor ingest harmful chemicals.
 

 

[mewlittle]

If you would like to try a non-chemical approach, this worked for me two years ago when I had an infestation so bad that I hated going home.  I researched fleas online and found that fleas will die if the humidity is 40% or below.  It took a while to get the infested room to 40%, but once I did, fleas were gone in a day.  To deal with any eggs left unhatched, I kept the humidity at 40% and vacuumed every day for four days.  There was no recurrence.  The only carpeted area I have is the end of the kitchen that is a dining area ( 12X10).  I had no problem in the hardwood areas of the house.  If the problem encompasses the entire house, I can see that this tactic may not be practical, but I can guarantee you that 40% humidity will dry the little devils out and you will neither breath nor ingest harmful chemicals.
 

how do you get it that low?

 

[carmie]

You definitely need a dehumidifier.  My dehumidifier defaults to 40% when I first turn it on, although I usually reset it to 55% when I use it in the basement.  40% is a comfortable setting for humans, but deadly to fleas.  It is nice to have a way to kill them without using the toxic chemicals.  If you dont have a dehumidifier, maybe you could borrow one from someone for 4 or 5 days.  Good luck.
 

 

[carmie]

Just an afterthought here - I think air conditioners naturally remove moisture from the air when they are turned on.  If you run an air conditioner you could get one of those little thermometer dials that also shows the humidity.  Then crank the air conditioner to what it takes to get the humidity to the 40%.  That might actually work faster than using just the dehumidifier.  Fleas like warm temperatures.  If you give it a try, I would be interested to know how fast that works.

 

[mewlittle]

carmie air conditioners dont work its like freezing in my moms room and it still has fleas -_- and there isnt cats in her room

and is it okay to us a dehumidafier when you have cats with URI?

 

[carmie]

A 40% humidity level is not a dangerous level for people or animals, but it is for fleas.  I cant see why it would cause any harm to a cat with a urinary problem.
 

 

[tracy826]

I bring in rescue mama cats and kittens for foster so fleas are a recurring problem here. We try not to use to much chemical stuff in general so we use a multi approach to keeping it under control. I keep flea traps in the cat rooms, I vacuum every other day, sprinkling the carpets lightly the night before rotating between baking soda, salt (dries up eggs) and food grade diatomaceous earth / DE (lightly - lightly because it will kill a vacuum motor quickly!), I dust coats lightly with the DE, bathe them with dish soap (some people say Dawn, but I think any kind will work) if they are big enough and healthy enough), change and wash bedding often in hot water with vinegar in the wash and rinse, feed brewers yeast, and flea comb them. On bad years like this one in the midwest a treatment or something for one month is often necessary but otherwise the cheap approach and a some extra effort usually does the trick.