Using dog frontline flea medication for my cat?

Jeremy the 4th said:

Please be careful doing this. Seen somewhere using flea control for dogs can kill your cats. Not sure about which product. Been using revolution because my young cat always lick it off somehow, if she doesnt reach it, she uses her paw. And revolution is safe orally and still works. Revolution for cats btw.

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It depends on which topical it is.  Frontline is interchangeable.  It's actually the same ingredients just different dosages based on the size of the pet.  I have heard that fleas in many areas have built up a resistance to Frontline and it doesn't work well.  We used to have a chart somewhere here that shows how much to use on a cat.  Some people with rescues or several outdoor cats would get the Frontline for large dogs and measure it out for their kitties because it was much cheaper that way.

When in doubt, read the INGREDIENTS.  Original Advantage, Advantage II, Frontline and Frontline Plus each use exactly the same product for cats and dogs, and dose is determined by weight.   AdvanTIX is for dogs ONLY, because its second ingredient, permethrin, kills ticks and can also kill cats.  Bayer Advantage Multi has same two medications for dogs and cats BUT the proportion of the second ingredient is different for dogs and cats so you can't just use dog medication for cats.  Also, some cats are sensitive to the second product (moxidectin), rare but it happens.  In the U.S., Advantage Multi still requires a prescription from a vet, but Advantage and Advantage II do not.  It is definitely a fair warning that if you do not know what you are doing, you should never use a dog product on a cat.  If you can hold the dog product and the cat product side by side, read the labels and see the ingredients are exactly the same and in the same proportions, you should be fine.  Lately there are more and more copies out, i.e. SENTRY has its own brand of Frontline called Fiproguard, and Kroger also has its own version with another name. 

It is wise for everyone to know the ingredients in any medication they use for their cats or dogs as well as the possible side effects just in case a problem should arise.  There are still products on the market that make animals sick and even kill them (i.e. Hartz Flea & Tick Drops) but because the number of animals killed or sickened by these products is below a certain percentage, the company can still sell them. 

When using Advantage or Frontline for cats, the dose is the same as is given on the CAT product of each.  You will need a small syringe to measure the amount, and with Frontline, you will also need a vial to put the remaining medicine in to store it.  Advantage comes in tubes with caps to reseal them.

Here is a thread from an earlier year, and doses are included.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/236284/using-dog-frontline-flea-medication-for-my-cat

You're not providing MEDICAL info, just cost info. People are asking for MEDICAL stats. My (former) vet was more concerned with PROFITS and patients. I now have a new vet who is VERY open to "unconventional" ideas, and she says using FL Plus "dog" size on cats is OK. Doseage is key, but then...I have NEVER used the entire tube (cat version) on any cat. (I would split the one tube between three cats and still get great results--and I live in FARM COUNTRY!) I find that "two drops" per cat gives the same great results. Also, I don't dose them every month (like the manuf would like you to do). In the worst part of summer I can go every two months without problems.

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Donny Post said:

 
You're not providing MEDICAL info, just cost info. People are asking for MEDICAL stats. My (former) vet was more concerned with PROFITS and patients. I now have a new vet who is VERY open to "unconventional" ideas, and she says using FL Plus "dog" size on cats is OK. Doseage is key, but then...I have NEVER used the entire tube (cat version) on any cat. (I would split the one tube between three cats and still get great results--and I live in FARM COUNTRY!) I find that "two drops" per cat gives the same great results. Also, I don't dose them every month (like the manuf would like you to do). In the worst part of summer I can go every two months without problems.

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If you can go every two months without problems in the worst part of summer, you probably don't live in the deep south!  I was not trying to provide MEDICAL information.   Frontline is Frontline, it is the exact same product whether packaged and marketed for DOGS or packaged and marketed for CATS. The active ingredient in Frontline is Fipronil, which kills adult fleas. If you are using Frontline Plus, it has Fipronil AND (s)-methoprene, which is an insect growth regulator and prevents the eggs and larvae from developing into adult fleas.  Google them to see more medical information about how they work.   It kills adult fleas in some places, but not so well in other places.  Evidently where Frontline has been used a lot, the fleas have developed an immunity, as they do to most everything sooner or later.  Yes, if it works for you in small infrequent doses, that's just wonderful. 

      @Red Top Rescue    What you said!!  Frontline quit working for us.  My vet told me the same thing you just posted above, how it has quit working because the fleas have become immune to it.  We had to swap to Advantage, and I've had great results so far.  About $60 for 6 tubes, and I'm only treating 2 cats, so not too bad....considering the alternative of getting rid of an infestation!  Been there, done that....horrible!

My vet gave me a large bottle with Revolution in it and a syringe and the directions for drawing the correct amount because I have 8 cats and one BIG dog. It was supposed to have killed ear mites and certain internal worms also, but I quit using it after the first time because it never did stop 2 cats from constantly scratching their ears and shaking their heads, so I figured that they must still have the ear mites. I haven't seen any roundworms in any of their feces, so maybe that part of it worked... who knows. I just wish that there was something relatively inexpensive to fix these problems because I am living on a pension and quite frankly, I just cannot afford to take them all to the vet, except for emergencies. It nearly broke me to have them all spayed and neutered, and we all know how expensive cat food and litter is. I'm beginning to think that people from town dump their unwanted cats out here knowing that I will take them in! A lot of the farmers out this way just shoot the cats when their numbers get out of hand, and a few of them run for their lives and come here to me!! And I plan on doing it until I'm either dead or broke!! There are so many predators out here that I bring them in every night. Foxes, Coyotes, badgers, raccoons and even stray dogs roam the fields looking for food.

Bach to my reason for replying... has ANY ONE found a "working" flea and tick killer that works and that *I* can afford?????

Red Top Rescue said:

 
I don't treat as many cats as @Wendy Erskine, but I have been treating anywhere from 10 to 30 cats monthly with Advantage, and now Advantage II (because the old plain Advantage isn't always available anymore).  The formula for the Advantage for Cats and the Advantage for Dogs is identical, the only thing that changes is the amount, which is on a by-weight basis.  The way Bayer dispenses the Cat Advantage is in 0.23 vials (for kittens), 0.4 vials (for cats 5 to 10 lbs.) and 0.8 ml. for cats over 10 lbs.  You would be fine to use their dosing.  I actually throw in an intermediate size of 0.6 ml. for my 7-8 lb. cats.  I put the medicine into little glass vials (the kind some vaccines come in) so that the 1 ml. syringe will fit in he neck of the vial to draw it out.  In winter I treat about every 4 weeks, and in summer I treat about every 3 weeks, because this is Georgia and fleas are active most of the year, but more so in the summer, and the flea life cycle is 3 weeks, so I am just staying on top of it.  I also use diatomaceous earth inside my house in summer.

For worming I use pyrantel pamoate in the 4.54 concentration (i.e. small animals, not livestock) usually in the form of Nemex-2.  It tastes good and even ferals will lick the bowl clean if that is mixed in.  That gets your basic intestinal worms (roundworms, hookworms), but for tapeworms, you need an additional drug, praziquantel. There is an affordable product that is a combination of pyrantel pamoate AND praziquantel and is for both cats and dogs, called BIHELDON.  It is manufactured in Bulgaria, and comes in packages of 30 tablets.   Many U.S. sellers get it and sell it on an individual tablet price.  One tablet treats a 22 lb. animal.  Most cats need only 1/4 to 1/2 tablet, so you can scale down your order.  I just bought a couple of tablets from a seller in Alabama (they are in my P.O. box, I have not picked them up yet.)  They are the equivalent of Drontal here in the U.S., but supposedly these are tasty chewy tablets I might be able to sneak into the ferals' food, so we shall see.  My seller has sold over 300 of them and has no complaints, so I hope they are great.  If so, I will order an entire box of 30 tablets from one of the Bulgarian sellers (less expensive than the U.S. resellers) and that will do my feline population for the entire summer.  I paid $8.95 + free shipping for my two tablets that will do 4 of the larger cats.  (the same seller offers same 2 tablets for $2.95 but charges 5.97 for shipping, so it works out the same -- it's a psychological thing.)  Anyhow, prices vary greatly on eBay, lowest prices are for partial packages obviously, but it's nice to have the choice if you have just a couple of cats or dogs, or if you have both cats and dogs, or if you have a huge rescue.

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Thank you so so much for this.  I just did my cats again.  I was told for my 2 10 pound cats and my 12 pound cat to put .8 on them though as they are ragdolls with very long hair and .4 might not be enough to get all over them.  I wondered if the 6 n 7 pound girls should but I only gave them .4.  I am going to buy DE when I get a vehicle to get to the store to buy it.  I have only seen tapeworms so this Biheldon you speak of is something I will research.  I am in Vancouver BC Canada.  The fleas are bad here cause our winters aren't like they used to be.  I have now ripped up the last bit of carpet in my house as my kids said they got bit when sitting on it no matter how much I vacuumed or prayed.  I will be spraying the house again soon as I have seen 3 fleas on 2 of the cats still.  The 2 that got the .4.  It seems like no vet around here wants to really help as they sell the dewormer for $15 a pill and I need 8 to do all cats and they say to deworm them again in 2 weeks after the first dose to make sure.

Well, @omahamike, if you are indeed in Omaha, there are TWO Tractor Supply Company stores there and there are all manner of things you can get there to help your cats.  For fleas, you can get the food grain Diotomacious Earth (DE for short).  It looks like dirt (the garden kind is white but the feed variety isn't) and it makes a perfect flea powder AND it can kill those ear mites too.  It isn't expensive, especially if you buy the big bag instead of the small plastic container.  Check out some of the previous threads we have had on here:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/254624/why-does-frontline-and-advantage-not-work-for-fleas-now

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/317137/question-about-diatomaceous-earth

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/307874/natural-flea-treatment

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/306238/ear-mites-and-diatomaceous-earth-de

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/305009/ear-mites-and-black-gunk-advice-appreciated

I think I will go buy some food grade DE Saturday.  I saw a video on youtube 


Anyone use it in their cats crumbles?

Not sure why she has crap crumbles though. 

I am just so sick of tapeworms and fleas.  Between flea stuff, tapeworm meds and 4 different vets visits for other things I am up to $1000.  I am off work due to a car accident so anyways I can save it a huge help.  I don't want to keep giving my cats drontal at $15 a pill as it's $125 to treat them once then the 2 weeks after.  *sigh*.

I am going to put DE all around my house.  I wish hubby didn't put on the new baseboards before I could stick some behind them.  lol

The problem with that solution is that I have no carpeting anywhere in the house, so I'd just be tracking it everywhere, and it'd look like I'd had a dust storm INSIDE the house! Since I lived in Omaha for 40+ years and moved to a small farmhouse in rural Iowa about 70 miles from Omaha I  took and use the online name of Omahamike because I have no imagination when it comes to making up phony names! A friend of mine used omahabill or something so I stole his idea!

Out here, I have absolutely no trouble with fleas...none whatsoever. Even my Vet doesn't believe me! But it's true. I have 8 cats now, and they come in and out of the house through a kitty door whenever they feel like it. I just acquired one more female a week ago, so there goes another $100 dollar bill at the vet to spay her!.Don't ask me why I have no fleas, but perhaps it has something to do with the spraying of the fields all around me... they use helicopters and small planes to spray for insects and also weeds, and I'd imagine that I get more than my share of it on my yard as overspray and wind carrying it everywhere. All I know is that I thank God that I don't have them, because 8 cats on my bed and laying on every flat surface in the whole house and their HUGE cat tree in my frontroom would definitely cause a problem for me. I had fleas every year when I was in Omaha.... I'd find out by being eaten alive sitting on the sofa watching TV. I have never been bitten once since I moved here!! HONEST!!! My vet doesn't believe me at all!! I had to 'bomb' the house several different times to get rid of them. That always worked, but it has gotten expensive, and you must vacate the house for quite awhile because it's poisonous!

Now, ear mites are another thing. Only two of the cats seem to have them, but I went through this in Omaha with trip after trip to our vet with no results there either. I put over-the-counter drops in their ears (and once in awhile "Sweet Oil" when I see them scratching an awful lot. I have been told that Revolution was supposed to kill damned near everything that cats and dogs get, on them but it sure didn't work on mine!! Could I put the DE into their ears??? I wonder if it would work there? What happens, do the mites eat it and die or does it dehydrate them or what? It kinda sounds like the cure for roaches... sprinkle Boric Acid  all around; they eat it or track it back to their nest, and it softens their shell and they die. At least that's what I've been told...I've never had roaches either!!! I have gotten a few small ticks, but never a flea! Ticks, while bothersome, don't  multiply by the millions on the animal like fleas, and if they finally do start sucking their blood, they get huge, and are very easy to find and remove. Just petting the cat or dog you can feel the obvious bump. I just grab them between two fingers and pull them out. In all the years I have had animals I have always just pulled them out. I've heard that if the head happens to stay in the animal it can cause a problem, and back when I smoked I used to put a lit cigarette on the tick's body and they do back out!! But who smokes any more today??? I then used to crush them with the back of a spoon, then I cut them up with an Xacto knife, but now I just flush them. Apparently they can't swim!! If they can make it through my septic system, I guess they were not supposed to die!!

Anyhow, let me know if I can put a small amount of this DE in the cat's ears to kill the mites... I realize that I can't fill them up, but maybe a sprinkle or a pinch or some small amount... and BTW, thanks for getting back with me so quickly!

Please do not use dog products on cats, in some cases it can kill them

Yes @rose2015, that is true, if a product is really a DOG product, it shouldn't be used on cats.  However, there are a couple of products that are absolutely the same product for cats and for dogs, and dosing is by weight only.  Frontline (and possibly Frontline Plus) and Advantage and Advantage II are two of those products.  If someone does not know the product, they should ask their vet.  It was our vet who told us we could save a lot of money by buying the Extra Large Dog size Advantage and using a syringe to measure the proper amounts for the weight of our animals.

YES, @omahamike, you can use DE to kill ear mites.   Clean the black gunk out of the ear with a damp Q-tip so DE can get in, then put a little on the tip of a small spoon or a measuring spoon like  (I use an ice tea spoon).  Fold back the ear a little, pour the DE into the ear canal, pull the ear tip a little to allow it to fall deeper int the ear canal, then fold the ear down close to the head and massage the base of the ear to work it in.  Then release and allow cat to shake out the extra.  Repeat in 3 days, then repeat in one week, mites should be gone by then but repeat weekly at least one time after there are no signs of any mites.

DE works by getting between the scales/armor of the insect and allowing it to dry out.  No poison is involved.  If you use the FOOD grade DE, it doesn't matter if they get it on their coats an lick it off.

Oil of any sort in the ears, including all the vet prescription ear mite killers, is the worst!  Have you ever had water or oil in your ear?  It makes a terrible rattling sound, and cats' hearing is ever so much more intense than ours. The DE keeps the ear canal dry and makes it inhospitable to mites and fungi.

I kinda thought that it would be alright to put DE in their ears...in moderation, of course! I have used "sweet oil" for years, figuring that the uncomfortable feeling of oil in their ears would be much more favorable than the biting and itching of the mites themselves. It always works for a few days, but right back where it started! Thanks for the info about the DE. I believe I saw it at a WalMart which is only about 20 miles from me rather than all the way into Omaha (65 miles!). Maybe I could enlist 100 or so people to go in with me to split up the huge size bag it comes in rather than buying a five lifetime supply for myself!! Just joking! If it works, it'll be worth whatever it costs. The ear mite meds surely aren't cheap, however the 'sweet oil' IS! I understand that it coats the mites with oil and suffocates them. At least that makes sense to me! I'll try anything, because it bothers me to watch my girls scratching their ears constantly. Thanks again for the info!!! I'll keep everyone on this board informed if it does in fact work! 

you mention that anyone that uses frontline for dogs on cats are just poisoning their cat- then i ask you, what are you putting on your animals? whether you buy frontline for cats to put on a cat or frontline for dogs to put on your cat... how do you account for the same exact ingredients are in both and how do you justify whatever youre using on your cat? its all poison. but that is what kills fleas-poison- certain ingredients arent meant for cats that are made for dogs and vice versus, i get that, i agree with that for sure. but when its the same exact amount of those ingredients for both for dog and cats,.. then what arent you understanding. i certainly wouldnt give an infant the same dose of medication as an adult, regardless of or better yet, because of those ingredients..would you? a baby's system is way more sensitive just like a cats compared to a dogs. the poison is the same medication because the flea is still the same. the poison is what is necessary to kill the flea regardless if its a dog flea or a cat flea, right? this is why and how proper dosing exists. everything in the world is measured in portions. whether its a teaspoon, a cup, a foot or an inch, a mile or an era. its all portions of something and we apply those measurements daily. some are safe at reasonable amounts and that same ingredient can be just as deadly if misused or abused in higher amounts. this is all true for all things. frontline is just one of those things. its label indicates that it is poison in small amounts and its still poison in larger amounts. the difference here is one will kill the flea and the other will kill the animal. have you ever wondered about chemotherapy? its a poison that is used to treat patients with cancer. not to kill the patient but to kill the cancer. frontline is a cats chemo, so to speak. and the flea is the cancer. by giving the right dose of chemo(frontline) to kill the cancer(flea) on the cat(cat) results in the cat being cancer(flea) free and yet the cat is still alive to enjoy being more comfortable without scratching and itching. you mentioned cheaper is better and whats wrong with living with a flea or two...everything is wrong with even 1 flea, much less two. thats like saying-its ok to drink and drive...i only had 1 or 2 drinks .. and it was the cheap stuff. so its ok. no its not ok. cheaper isnt always the best way to go. some things are cheap for a reason..because it was made with and from poor quality parts and materials and not made for extended periods of time.  flea medication thats cheap and doesnt kill fleas isnt a value and your pet being uncomfortable and still being bit by fleas, isnt a value. what is a value is buying frontline in a large amount that is for one time use only, for one price and taking that same amount and dividing it into 5 equal parts to use 5 times for that same price.   one tube =1 use  1 time or one tube =5 uses or 5 times. however i try to explain this analogy or another...if you are unaccepting to reason, then, well, i guess thats just how things are and what you believe  in. i could keep giving you examples but you will never like nor accept any of them so im done trying to convince you to jump the fence and come into a flea free yard but its your life and all i can say now is ....hope your fleas dont bite too bad cause mine are gone

Hello - I'm new here. We have 9 rescued cats who live indoor/outdoor in a fenced backyard. I'm about to buy large dog FrontlinePlus to split into 0.5ml doses (I've done this before). My question is about the shelf life of the properly handled and stored product (minimizing exposure to air etc). During winter months we usually don't have to use flea chemicals so I want to make sure we don't run into spoilage problems. Thanks in advance...Deborah

It is usually stamped (in frustratingly small font) on the box edge somewhere, and some brands have the individual pipettes with an expiration date too.

I would still use it a year or so past any sell by, but that's just me.

What we have found when using Advantage that is very old is not that it spoils but just that it doesn't work well compared to new Advantage.  When a vet retired and closed his office, he donated all his Advantage flea medications to our shelter.  Some of them were so old that they stated "Only sold by licensed veterinarians" (now Advantage is sold over the counter) and they had no production or expiration dates on them.  They smelled the same, no animals were harmed, but they definitely didn't work as well.  Mind you, some of these were VERY old.  I don't think you will have any problem with shelf life over the course of a year or two.

Rose2015 said:

Please do not use dog products on cats, in some cases it can kill them

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Of course you are right that in some cases DOG products can kill cats.  It is important for everyone to know what product they are using (because sometimes even so called CAT products can kill cats!  Some are much safer than others, so be informed and be very careful.  Even some prescribed by vets if the cat is sensitive to it.)  However, many safe flea products such as Advantage, Advantage II (but NOT Advantage Multi, and NOT AdvanTIX) are EXACTLY IDENTICAL, the same amount, the same proportion of each, and the same dosed actually by weight, not species. 

I see you live in Australia, and all the packaging is different there and the places I am looking at all say in red letters "NOT FOR SALE TO THE USA."  (My friends used to buy all their Advantage flea medicines from Australia because they were much less expensive there for the same medicine, but evidently Bayer didn't like that.)

Every year, new flea medicines and wormers are coming out, so if you are not familiar with them and their ingredients, you really should research each one before trying them on your pet even if it is something the vet sells.  We recently had a thread on here where a vet's office got in a new flea product, the vet said to use it on their three office cats, two were fine and the other one died from it almost immediately.  Some other people had the same problem.  Certain animals are sensitive to certain types of products.  Personally, I would not try anything new on my cats.  I will stick with the proven safe ones, Advantage and Frontline, and if they are not effective, I will use food grade DE as flea powder and I will flea comb the cats daily just like I did in the good old days.  Back in the 1970s I lost a cat to a new kind of flea spray (I can't remember the name, it didn't stay on the market long because it killed and sickened a lot of cats.)  Everyone should keep themselves informed and if it's new, wait a few years until the results are all back.  Just like with human medicines, many things hit the market before enough is known, and those who use them pay the price.

Thanks for the responses - as I continue to read I see that many are finding that neither FrontlinePlus or Advantage2 work anymore due to resistance and that many are switching to Revolution. I'm loathe to expose a cat to any of these things since even though fleas may adapt (how do they do that), our cats will certainly suffer whatever bad effects come with using neurotoxins. But we have deer around and several horrible tick diseases like Bobcat Fever. So now I'm trying to evaluate Revolution - can large dog doses be split, what is the likely increased toxicity of a product that is so broad spectrum (fleas/eggs, ticks, worms etc). Very hard to figure it all out. And also a few of my cats are 14 years old - so when do you heed the warnings about not using on older animals?  Mine are pretty darn healthy due to the raw diet we've made for years. How to balance out all these concerns....

Deborah

Please all cat lovers read this reply! I had to reply to this as here is a cautionary tale: I once laid out anti-flea tablets in a row on my kitchen counter, 2 tablets for my 2 dogs & 5 tablets for my 5 cats. Something disturbed my concentration & by mistake I pushed one of the dog tablets down my tabby cat's throat. In seconds I realised what I'd done & rang the vets' surgery. The vet himself took the call & told me to get the cat to him with all speed & he would 'do all he could to save him'. Horror, shock! I sped off in total panic, breaking all speed limits, & got the cat to the vet within 20 minutes. Some hours of horrible waiting later I was told that Bengy had survived but that he was a very lucky cat, because if I hadn't got him to the vet for urgent treatment he would have died - this is because dog flea meds are too powerful for a cat's neurological system to withstand. Bengy lived many more years but I never got over the fact that I could have killed him from a combination of ignorance & lack of concentration. So please, all cat lovers, absorb this info!