Use of dog Revolution on cats - Page 2  

Not all the dog and cat formulas are the same and interchangeable. There are dog formulas that are not safe for cats.

And human error is great. How many people are going to mess up the measurements? More than won't.

In addition, often the companies will change the formulas without any warning. So what was "safe" in a dog product for the cats in one package may not be safe the next time one buys it.

(Examples: merial/frontline is about to introduce a new frontline product with a stronger tick protection for dogs only, it will not be safe for cats. Another example is the product Vectra, the dog formula is not at all safe for cats, and the packaging for each is very like the other. Advantix, by Bayer is death to cats, and yet is is now available OTC, sitting on a shelf right next to the advantage )

So, my stand remains that I think it is a terribly dangerous idea to buy flea pesticides made for dogs and put them on cats. Regardless of brand, or whether someone calls them pesticides or (incorrectly as I did) medicine, people should not be putting dog flea prevention products on cats.

And if they do, they should at least be responsible and NOT tell other people to do it.

I listed the formulas that do, you quoted my listing of them. They are the only formulas that are, not some new one, not another brand entirely, and not anything that has other added pesticides toxic to cats. Everyone has been very clear about this in the entire thread, too.

Shelters, rescues, and some cat owners with double to triple digit number of cats do this safely. You don't have that many cats and have no need to worry how you'd come up with a few hundred dollars worth of flea topicals. If you ever find yourself in that situation (needing a topical for 20+ cats) then come back and share your opinion on that matter rather than condeming those that have to make do with what they can. Those that do usually do this with their vet's assistance, which I recommend and many others in here have to.

I have mentioned before about having to splint cat doses of Advantage because they put too much in a tube and I have small female cats. My vet suggested it.

Of course my take on these products entirely is probably different than what most people have. Use them the least amount of time as possible and do everything you can to keep fleas out of your yard. There hasn't been 15-20 year studies of what their use in cats does. How do we know they aren't contributing to the rise in senior cat health problems? They are poisons after all.

ETA: Because I bet many on here are guilty of this. Don't use a topical (no matter where you purchase it) if your cat isn't getting veterinary care. Especially senior cats not getting annual check ups. This is the sort of thing that raises the risk of complications.

IMO I would NEVER use any kind of dog product on a cat - even if you think and read its the same ingredients. I would not want to risk the health/death of a cat using dog products.

Too late when the cat is very sick or dead to say "oh I guess I should not have used it". Thank God none of our pets have/had a flea problem!

I'm just glad I live where there is no such thing as fleas and mosquitos are very rare, fly strike and heat stroke are the major outdoor hazards here.

Would you like to see the results of what using a flea product over the counter on a cat does? Here are two cats who were dosed with Top Spot and Flea and Tick Powder. Thankfully, now after months of vet visits and flushing out their systems they are healthy weight and doing so much better. The owner just said when I lambasted her for using these products that she was sorry- she was just trying to save money.





And now the same cats after months of meds, daily baths and TLC

Oh those poor kitties!

Oh yes, I think all of us participating in this discussion would agree that those OTC products including Hartz, Zodiac, Sergeants, Top Spot and Bio Spot are horrible and should never ever be used. I never stop spouting that!

And of course Bayer ( Advantix-dogs ONLY and Advantage) going OTC has confused that issue quite a bit.

But the issue here is if it is safe to purchase DOG flea products and cut the doses and use them on cats.

I know many who do, and if one is highly experienced and methodical and knows to read every single package carefully every single time, and knows how to figure the dosages, knows the accurate weight of the cats being treated, and knows the ingredients to check for that are often added to dog formulas that are toxic or fatal to cats, I understand why people with many cats to treat might do it.

But in general it is not a safe practice, the general public is not that careful and so I try to discourage people from doing it.

<edit>One thing especially important. Many people are not very good at guessing the weight of their cats. Since weight is an important factor in flea pesticide dosages, this could have serious consequences.

I think bottom line is people need to stop and think.

It would take me 6 6-packs to treat my cats a month. You can argue ok I should have less and treat them with the "right" stuff. Its 60.99 at petsmart(according to website and pulled just cause petsmarts a well known place) You are talking 365 a MONTH!

I always think back to being in high school and they decided NO medicine is allowed except an emergency inhaler. Kids were driving/could smoke/work ft but no could not have 1 tylenol on them...Everything can be dangerous-a cat could be allergic to anything.

In the end don't take one persons opinion, research it all you can. If a vet told you the cat will be fine but had no idea whats wrong and it kept getting sicker you would be an idiot to keep torturing the cat and force feeding/giving meds to it without at least seeking another opinion. No one knows everything-kinda like online you got such a great world of info that you need to weed out.

In the end I hope anyone ever facing this will end up with healthy flea free cats in the end and not resort to something sold like hartz and those types of products(recently saw it happen-such a common thought-but its sold at my grocery store how bad could it be? hers were ok except some hair loss and when I told her how bad those are she dumped them on the spot)

I treated her cats for a fraction of the product she was using(and had failed to do much for the fleas!)

Yes, those products are horrible. . .so wouldn't it be better if the owners could learn how to safely split a larger dose of something safer like Advantage so they wouldn't "have to" use the cheap but dangerous stuff like Hartz?

Agreed 100% Willowy!!!

It would, conceivably, if they would learn how to do it properly. But many don't. So I will continue to be against the practice for the general public average joe for the reasons I've already stated earlier in this thread.

I agree with Otto - the general public is clueless about a lot of things - not just flea meds. Better to err on the safe side and tell them NO to any dog products to be used on cats then to have even more problems.

"People are idiots, so let's keep the truth from them". Not sure how I feel about that. . .

I have seen people mix baby formula wrong maybe we should try to ban powder to(personally I am for breast feeding but things happen/adoptions/health reasons/whatever)

Or perms/dyes. I have known a person who messed up her hair from way to many color changes. Mom has told me a few stories of her friends DIY perms(and professional ones to!!!)

Anything can be messed up if you try(dont try). I had someone ask me about fleas told them to use advantage(2 cats) she did already she told me. She split a tube of large cat bough in petsmart then the next day gave them their own tube of large cat each. so really they both had 1.2 ml when .8 would have done it. no idea the reasoning behind what she did but hey it was the cat dose.

I don't see it that way. This is not about baby formula.

These products are made for the species they are made for, period. I don't see any "truth" in telling people to use a dog product on a cat. I don't see not encouraging someone to use a product made for dogs on their cats as hiding a truth from them. I see it as common sense.

I am against the practice, whether people are idiots or not.

And I didn't say people are idiots . What I said is, most people don't pay attention. Many people cannot accurately judge their cat's weight. Many people don't read the labels. It's their cats I care about, even though I don't know those cats.

My point, exactly. People don't read labels properly. They just don't.

Then everything should be banned. It's dangerous. We might hurt ourselves. We're too dumb to read labels. Maybe if Americans weren't nanny-ed to death and pretty much told that they're too dumb to take care of themselves or their children or pets, they might actually take responsibility for themselves and read the labels.

That's just silly. Meaning no disrespect but you are over dramatizing. There has to be boundaries in everything. It's just the way life is. The dog doses are labeled for use on dogs, and safe if used as directed. The cat doses are labeled for use on cats, and are safe if used as directed. It's done that way for a reason. For the safety of the animals.

I think it's a good system.

This thread is getting way off track and will now be closed.