double dose of flea control?

ok I have been eaten up by fleas coming from my 2 cats. The 2 year old Tiki is long hair and 17 lb and she uses Frontline. And the 10 week old Tigger is medium hair and less than 2 lb and he is on Advantage. Neithere cats seem to be suffering that much from bites, but they do scratch sometimes. I have a hard time figuring out which one is the flea bag since they are both on good flea control. Vet has given me some flea mist to spray the cats and the furniture.

Today I parted open the long hair on my 17 lb cat a few places and noticed a lot of I presume is flea dirt near her hind legs. I am wondering if I should give her a double dose of frontline? If so, where should I apply it? The instruction calls for behind the neck, but since she seems to have more of an issue near the hind legs, maybe I should apply the 2nd dose on her lower back? She is too fat to lick there anyway.

Any thougths?

No please do not double dose your cat. Not a good idea. Instead, get a baby comb and comb her out to catch the fleas and next month switch to another spot on flea repellent that you get from your vet's office. Some of even the brand names in the store etc.. The strength has been tampered with. Your vet has the purest of the product available.

Frontline is an excellent flea control. Doubling the dose, though according to clinical trials is not harmful, will not increase the flea killing capacity of the treatment and so is not helpful and a waste of money.

First, talk to your vet. He/She will know the issues with the flea population in your area. Next, you will also need to treat the environment in which your cat lives. Fleas go down into carpet, not sideways into walls (like roaches.) Flea bombs and other environmental treatments can be very effective, but follow the directions - in particular get yourself and the cats out of there during treatment. (If you have fish tanks the fish are VERY sensitive to insecticides, so be absolutely sure to shut down pumps and cover the tank(s) during treatment, and air out the area very well afterward and add new activated carbon before turning on any pumps.)

Finally, get you cats checked for tapeworms, fleas are the carrier.

George

How big is a flea and what does it look like? I really haven't been able to see a signle one on my cats. But the bites on me certainly is telling me that we got lots of fleas around. How about flea eggs - what do they look like?

Both cats had a fecal test lately as part of annual exam. No indication of worms - does that mean they are tapeworm free, or do I need to request a specific check on tapeworm.

You can see adult fleas, they are the size of a pinhead usually. Flea eggs are dark brown or red tiny specks of dirt. The best way to see the eggs, is to take a piece of plain white paper and put it under your cat, comb out your cat and the specks that fall on the paper are the flea eggs.

Again, I would not double the dose of flea treatment without first calling you vet. Not knowing the age and size of your cat, he does and he can advise you about this. I have heard to many horror stories through email of people who double dose their cats and pay later for it.