Question about Advantage Flea Treatment

catwoman707 · Oct 12, 2012

I haven't thoroughly read through all of the replies so this might be something you have been told about already, but your cat is def. flea infested, and when advantage is applied the fleas are no longer still, they start running around and going nuts, which in turn will cause a cat to act bonkers, can't be still, sleep, twitching,. etc. like mad the first day.

An actual reaction from the med occurs within the first hour usually and def. by the 2nd hour. It looks more like vomiting, very lethargic, they act totally and suddenly sick. Which is pretty uncommon by the way, especially for an adult cat.

AbbysMom · Oct 13, 2012

dennissleep said:
I applied advantage to my cat for the first time and he is going crazy. He is shaking and having a bad reaction to the medicine. He can't walk and keeps falling down. I called the VET and he advised me to wash it off and to watch him closely. It has been four hours and no improvement. Before I had used frontline and had no problem. I am going though hell along with the cat.

If you haven't already, you need to get your cat to the vet ASAP. Good luck!

nancy kay stell · Mar 11, 2013

Hello,

I have a Himalayn cat, Taboo. She is 16 years old. She is currently having a bad allergic reaction to Advantage, according to the vet. She has red raised spots all along her ears, inside and out, all around her eyes, nose, neck, and head. She is scratching so hard she has bloodied her ears and rubbed large patches of fur off. All this happened with 1 or 2 week period after her 2nd dose of Advantage. She also ran a fever. At first I thought it was mites or fleas, but the vet checked thourogly and said no mites or fleas on her.

She is a 100 percent indoor cat, but she does get fleas in the summer. Off the dog, I quess. If our suspicions are correct, I will never use Advantage again. I would like ideas about a SAFER product to use for fleas for her

I also would be interested if other peoples kitties had a problem with Advantage.

Nancy Stell

mckenzi · Mar 12, 2013

My cat, Pookie is a maine coon 12 years old and diabetic on insulin and his companion Vegas black shorthair feral both have used Advantage II for over 5 years, This month Pookie had a reaction, I am sure it is the Advantage II because I can't think of anything else he has had. He did not have reaction until 8 days after I dosed him and he has sores in front of both ears and around his neck but not at dosing site??? I have been using Hydrocortisone spray (OTC) so he will not bloody his ear scratching and triple antibiotic cream and these places are healing. I am going to call the vet since reading other comments on site says it gets worse. I also used Dawn dishwashing detergent and water to wash him some where the dose site was, maybe I should try doing his whole body. He does not appear to be sick, no vomiting eating well and breathing okay. He is an indoor cat but he loves to go out walking on the leash or I will tie him out for 1 hour or so and I hate not to let him out because he enjoys it so but I have dealt with fleas before years ago when I took in a feral kitten to care for and it is not fun at all. I don't know what else to use, a flea collar years ago caused Pookie to have his third eye come down I switched to Frontline and after 2-3 does he had reaction to that and then I switched to Advantage II and now there is a problem with that I guess. I have never used Revolution (prescription) I thought if it but I read bad things about it...all of these are pestisides and I actually had a reaciton to Frontline myself, I broke out all over my hands and feet and I wished they had a natural way to combat the ticks and fleas that worked, but so far every natural product I have tried either smells horrible and the cats flip out at the smell or they just don't work.

kirstenclark · Mar 21, 2013

Oh my goodness! I was just looking around online to see if anyone else's cat has had reactions to Advantage -- and it appears so!

I occasionally treat my indoor cat with flea medicine even though he is never outside. I had bought a 6 pack of Advantage II a couple years ago and hadn't used any in awhile.

We just got an indoor outdoor cat and I was starting to suspect that both cats had fleas. So last month I gave Caesar his dose of Advantage II on the back of his neck. The next day his left eye was almost swollen shut. It looked absolutely awful. I worried that some of the medicine got into his eyes when I was applying it but I wasn't sure. I took him to the vet and she gave me some eye ointment to help the inflammation go down.

His eye was back to normal within about a week, but a couple weeks after that he was acting off his game -- getting his claws caught on things a lot, and one day he seemed to be having muscle tremors. Took him back to the vet and she said he seemed to have a respiratory infection -- wheezy lungs and a fever. 10 days of antibiotics later and he was acting as good as new.

So about a week ago I gave him his dose of Advantage II and within a couple of days one of his eyes (the right eye this time) started oozing and swelling. It wasn't as bad as last time, but I took him to the vet and she agreed that it is likely he's had some kind of adverse reaction to the Advantage II and recommended that I try Revolution instead.

I'm just so thankful that nothing worse happened to him -- I had no idea that this external flea medicine (which has worked MUCH better than when I used Frontline) could cause such health issues!

mckenzi · Mar 22, 2013

Well when I called my vet about Pookie she said facial abrasions/bumps etc were normally caused by food allergies and not flea treatment and she suggested I try Advantage II one more time; but then I noticed a scab on his neck below his ear and they would not be too far from the application site. I am just afriad that one more time may cause him to have a more severe reaction. I am goin to do some more research on Revolution but my vet said she likes Frontline and Advantage II because it is external only and Revolution actually goes internal....that means the reaction if there is any could be worse and harder to cure.

cora smilkovich · Oct 27, 2013

My friend has several stray cats he adopted over the years. This year was the worst for fleas! He refuses to bath them so I have to assist him in grooming the animals. I take a flea comb and dip in in soapy Dawn soap water before I comb the cats. Feel free to add a tiny drop of tea trea oil to the Dawn soap water..but make sure it is highly diluted because cats cannot handle essential oils like dogs can. The Tea Tree oil is antiparasite, antifungal and it helps healing. I have to dip the flea comb in another container that contains hydrogen peroxide with water then I wipe flea comb with a paper towel and start all over again until the cat is thoroughly combed clean.

When we are finished, we apply Advantage II to the nape of the animal's neck and it seems to work well so far. My pet store said a lot of pet owners were complaining of other topicals not working as effectively this year. Advantage II kills the fleas as well as the eggs and the larvae. Since the fleas feed off blood, I heard Advantage II makes the flea unable to reproduce from feeding off the blood. Advantage II is like a condom for cat fleas!

As an added source of protection, you can give the animals an oral Capstar pill which will kill the living fleas immediately for a 24 hour period. Another option is to take the pets to your vet and get a prescription for Comfortis for cats. Comfortis works like Capstar but it lasts for 30 days and it costs much more but it is worth it. The Capstar and Comfortis pills leave no residue but you have to make sure the cats have no allergic reactions to any of these treatments such as vomiting, lethargy or intense scratching to the point of taking off tufts of fur.

Work with our vet on a preventive program for killing fleas on your pet and in your home.

Vacuum regularly and consider renting or buy a steam vacuum if you want to destroy the fleas, eggs and larvae. Consider adding a touch of tea trea oil and or Dawn soap to your steam vacuum. Wipe down all surfaces with a disinfectant and wash all bedding. Consider keeping that litter box clean by scooping it out more than once a day and add some activated baking soda to the litter to keep it fresh and clean. You can buy anti-flea spray that has insect growth regular (IGR) and spray pet bedding with this and let it dry. Spray down cracks and hard to reach surfaces with a disinfectant spray. Good Luck!

sammy85 · Nov 11, 2013

Iv just used advantage so fingers crossed, but I do use acclaim house spray and it works miracles. U spray everything, leave the room for half hour then return n open the windows. About a tenner a tin but worth it, treats the house for 12 months, kills fleas, eggs, bed bugs, dust mites, spiders, everything.

scallys mum · Jul 19, 2014

catbutler said:
You can get a fine-toothed flea comb and comb through your cat's fur, especially on the back, shoulders and base of the tail. That will catch the nasty little critters and if you are quick you can crush them between the backs of your fingernails. But to get rid of them you need to treat for them.

I have used the original formula Advantage on all my cats without any problems. However, this time I treated my two girl spays with Advantage II, and they both got nerve damage!

Fortunately, I noticed it with Koi, my long-haired calico because she slept with me, and I noticed her head tilt and eye jitter. I called the vet early the next morning, and he had me bathe her in Dawn liquid dishwashing detergent and bring her in to flush her system. That, and a lot of prayer, saved her. She is now back to normal, except now her coat is scruffy, like the horrible experience aged her.

Somemore, my little long-haired Manx, was not so lucky. Unfortunately, in the chaos of a 4 cat household, having to go out of town on business, and being extra busy, I didn't notice her vestibulary symptoms for two weeks, too late to bathe her. She's developed heart problems, she's constipated, her head/neck hurts, she goes around in circles, she won't drink water (I have to hand feed her a mixture of water & canned catfood), she slinks and hides, and she feels miserable! I've spent a small fortune on vets, with more to come, as I have to make an appointment with a vet. neurologist, who is 2 counties away. If her quality of life can't be improved I will have to have her put down! That makes me very sad, because she is a sweet little kitty, very pretty and feminine looking, with the most perfect little ears I've ever soon on a cat.

A vet tech friend told me she's seen a lot of these reactions to Advantage II. Have you, or do you know of anybody else whose cats have had bad reactions to Advantage II?

My too neutered boys go outside, so instead of Advantage II, I used Revolution on them. No problems. On a cat I used to have I used another product, Foremost, and he was allergic to it.

scallys mum · Jul 19, 2014

OMG catbutler, what a scary experience!!! Fingers crossed for your kitty, please keep us updated

catwoman707 · Jul 19, 2014

My two-cents.

In all my years since having a cat rescue group and using advantage then on to advantage 11, I have never seen a reaction, in any aged kitten or cat, not ever. I mean used for literally thousands.......

Maybe a handful in total I saw mouth foaming/drooling for a short time afterwards, which iS ONLY CAUSED FROM THE SMELL.

Any twitching seen is from a flea infested cat or kitten, because once applied the fleas go nuts and run around like crazy, causing the cat/kitten to twitch until the fleas fall off drunk and die or they simply die.

smattys · Jun 17, 2015

I applied Advantage on my cat 2 weeks ago and it seemed to have really did the trick. However, my cat seemed to be scratching back and dropping flea eggs wherever he goes in this second week ago. Do you think I should give him another dose of Advantage. Some said they used it every two weeks.

pushylady · Jun 17, 2015

S smattys I personally would not give another dose before the recommended time. It does work in stages, like killing off the adults first I believe, so more doses will be necessary. It's in the company's interest to get you to use more of their product, so you'd think they'd encourage people to use it as often as possible. If they only recommend every 4 weeks or so, then there must be a good reason not to do it more frequently than that. That's my cynical take anyway.

dianajune · Jun 17, 2015

I used Advantage for Cats last year but Pumpkin had a reaction to it. So, I washed it off of him and returned the product to the store. I'm surprised they took it back.

It seems to me that they said give it to him every 4 weeks, but not year-round. Just during the summer months. I would suggest calling your kitty's vet and see what they say.

catwoman707 · Jun 17, 2015

smattys said:
I applied Advantage on my cat 2 weeks ago and it seemed to have really did the trick. However, my cat seemed to be scratching back and dropping flea eggs wherever he goes in this second week ago. Do you think I should give him another dose of Advantage. Some said they used it every two weeks.

Actually it works effectively for UP TO 4 weeks. It can be applied more often, during the summer months I sometimes have to re-treat every 2-3 weeks to keep things under control.

I have spoken with Bayer twice with questions about Advantage, it can actually be applied as often as every 7 days if needed for a heavy infestation or treating lice/mange, but not something to be done longer term either.

Every 2-3 weeks is fine.

nansiludie · Jun 17, 2015

I would like to add in something, I have always used advantage for indoor kitties and outdoor kitties out of tick season and only once have I seen a cat have a nasty reaction to it. I applyed some on my friendly outdoor colony kitty named Flint and he was scratching it but I figured he didn't like the wet spot on his back. Well, that was during breakfast time, I didn't see him until the next morning and what I saw scared me badly, all aross the back of his head going down until his upper shoulder blades was raw, bloody and looked like a bad burn. It was about as big as silver dollar. He also had very bad loose stool. I brought him in right away and washed him with a large amount of water and dawn dish soap. I then called the vet who told me apply hydrocortisone cream and to give an amount of benedryl.They could not see him that day. I was worried for him and felt terrible for what I'd done. He is a a beautiful tabby cat with white feet and chest. He has gotten better, this was sometime in May. His fur has grown back and its healed nicely, there is just a small scar. I will never apply any flea pesticide to him. I will be trying flea repellants.

I'd had used Advantage on rabbits and they'd never had a reaction to it. I was very surprised and I still feel badly about what I'd done. Please use caution for all flea products. And watch the kitties carefully. I was reading this thread and I know that Thor's reaction sounds like an allergic one. Please find another flea topical if any, for him.

catwoman707 · Jun 17, 2015

@nansiludie that sounds awful!

Just know that a reaction like that is very rare, how would you have known right?

But anytime using a new product on an animal it's good to keep an eye out for any possible reaction as that cat had.

One in a million even, but just the same it's a good idea.

It could happen to me too, I have used advantage on thousands of cats and kittens now, and have never seen anything like that, so I don't watch for it, however, it doesn't mean there isn't a cat out there who might have one like that someday either.

Thanks.

maybemavis · Aug 22, 2015

Does anyone have a super thick persian coat, am wondering what I should use for combing out the dirt, or should I attempt a bath with her? I did use Advantage Multi, on the vet recommendation for her, so in couple days should I bathe her or just keep combing it out? Thanks!

franciscan · Aug 23, 2015

I read once that Advantage does not kill fleas, it just sterilizes them. So, how exactly are you suppose to kill fleas?

~donna

furmummy · Aug 23, 2015

From the Humane Society: http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/flea_tick_OTC_pet_products.html

At least 1,600 pet deaths related to spot on treatments with pyrethroids were reported to the EPA over the last five years, according to an analysis of EPA pesticide incident exposure data by the center. The EPA assigns risk levels to all pesticides for their potential dangers to humans and some flea and tick products contain chemicals, specifically permethrins, that are "likely to be carcinogenic to humans."

If 1600 deaths were reported, the number of deaths are likely many times that number.

These are just the deaths. How many dogs and cats will have life long neurological problems?

Here's something different. Homeopathic.

http://scandicat.com/FleaRemedyTrial.html

Question about Advantage Flea Treatment

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