bath after flea treatment

Hi! I'm a newby here and have a few questions.

I just adopted my third kitty yesterday. (He is the sweetest 2 month old kitten in the world and I love him already.) He came with ear mites, so I bought some advantage multi for him and applied it last night. Well, come to find out, he also has alot of fleas and he doesn't smell very good. How long does it take for the advantage to kick in and kill all the fleas? When do y'all think I can give him a bath? (I don't want to wash all of the advantage off if it takes awhile to kick in.)

Thanks!

Well I would have flea combed him and washed him FIRST before putting on the medicine.

I still would give him a good clean bath and reapply the flea medication on clean fur

Thanks goldenkitty! I didn't think to give him a bath first. duh! I was just so excited about him coming home. I am going to buy a flea comb today.

Don't reapply the Advantage — two doses in one month is too much. Once you've put it on once, you must wait a whole month before re-applying.

I wouldn't wash him for at least 24 hours after application, or two days for maximum effectiveness. After that the treatment has usually gotten all the way into the skin and you're good to wash.

Fleas will start dying within a couple of hours, and I'd think all would be dead within a day or so.

Well if he just put it on yesterday, I would think most would wash off today and it would be ok to re-apply. Maybe he could contact the vet to be sure.

If the cat cannot be washed for awhile, then I'd confine him to one room till he can.

Yes, please contact the vet before reapplying. I think it would be too soon to reapply.

It starts absorbing into the skin right away, and in 24 hours it's almost all absorbed. You absolutely can't re-apply -- it's a warning on the box. The cat could be overdosed.

Plus you'd interfere with the stuff working.

The vet here warns strongly against re-applying. If you do not wash the flea meds off within an hour of application, it is already absorbed.

If you want to bathe him, I'd wait 3 days. Generally, the packages say to wait 3 days before applying flea meds & 3 days after for baths.

However, if you have questions, it's never a bad idea to consult your vet.

emmylou is correct- advantage absorbs under the skin and cannot just be washed off. To bathe and reapply, could put the kitten in serious health issues. The fleas will start to die off soon. Just be sure that next time you apply flea treatment, use another brand of topical flea treatment from your vet. The fleas can easily build up resistance if you stick to one product.

Thanks for all your help!

I called the vet and they said not to wash him for a whole month.

So I think I will just comb him really good with the flea comb and wait a few days and wipe him with a damp cloth really good. He doesn't smell too bad. I definitely won't give him another dose for another month.

Here is a pic of my new baby! His name is Duncan.

Thanks guys - I learned something new. Thank God I've not had to deal with fleas, so I honestly didn't know for sure. I'm glad you all clarified it

And Duncan is soooo adorable

What an adorable kitten. I have a weakness for black kitties. And white kitties and any color kitties.

I'm glad you asked before re-applying the flea treatment.

Thank-you for some CONSTRUCTIVE advice.  Our first OS trip is coming up.  Friends are cat/house sitting for 1 month and I want everyone to be problem-free.  If I didn't have 1000 things in mind I would've remembered to wash our puss first.  He is older and doesn't groom as well he used to.  I try to avoid bathing him most of the time lest it dry his skin.  

I know I'm a little late, but please don't ever apply two doses of any topical flea treatment in the same month as it can cause problems to your animals central nervous system resulting in seizures or even death! PLEASE, NEVER apply TWO DOSES in ONE MONTH!! As far as bathing, wait 48 hours. You cannot wash off topical flea treatments as they absorb immediately after application.

Not to wash him for a month?
The BIGGEST mistake I made with a kitten was NOT bathing him the day I got him.
Actually, not bathing him ranks right up there in the top five biggest mistakes I have EVER made. Quite possibly top two.
You'll be out a $15 dose of Advantage that might wash off if you give him a bath.
By not bathing my boy the day I got him, the cost was in the thousands.

Bathe that kitty now!