Flea Treatment Questions

We have several cats that are having a problem with fleas right now.  In the past I have used Frontline Plus for Cats and it does work well.  However, I have been looking online and have noticed that some sites say you can use the Frontline Plus for Large Dogs and reduce the dosage to .5 ml.  As far as cost goes, this would be a more economical way.  However, I have heard conflicting opinions on using the dog formula on cats.  Has anyone done this or have an opinion?  We have so many cats to treat so I am looking for some alternatives.  Also, has anyone used the Frontline Flea Spray?  Does it work well?  What can be used on kittens? 

Thank you for your time.

Cook

I am always leery of using the dog vials on cats.  I would recommend you either discuss it with your vet or use the cat vials.  In addition to treating your cats, though, you also need to treat your house and your yard.  For the kittens, you can use Dawn water and a flea comb if they are very young.  Just put a few drops of blue Dawn in a glass full of water.  Dip the comb in and then comb it through the kittens' fur.

Thank you for the information.  I will try the Dawn on the kittens tonight.  Have you used the Frontline spray before?

I use the dog vials of ADVANTAGE(advantix is deadly), I sort of have to as I treat 3 dozen cats including my moms and Aunts cats.

Most vets I have gone to will not even give you the dose.  I currently have an open minded vet who understands what I am doing. 

what age kittens?
 

For 10 years now I have used Advantage, and my vet told me the dog and cat versions are indentical, I use it in my cat rescue group as well.

I buy the extra large dog Advantage 11, and give the correct dosage for cats/kittens, 0.4ml for up to 8 lbs, and 0.8ml for over.

We even will put a drop on a very young kitten, 2 drops on a 4 wk old, and 0.2 on 5-6 week old kittens.

As for adult cats in the home and home has fleas as well, here's my recent story.

I got married last August, my husband, 2 teenagers and their 3 male cats moved in, adding to my 2 females.

So all got treated at move in time.

A couple months later I noticed my cats scratching, I have never had fleas on them, their entire lives they've been given advantage monthly and have never dealt with fleas on them or my home.

WELL...unsuspecting since they get advantage, I ran a flea comb half way down one of my girls backs and holy crap, fleas and eggs galore!!

Yuck!

So I started digging, how they can have fleas with treatment?? Spoke with the makers of advantage, and was told it was safe to treat them every 2 weeks until infestation was under control.

I bought foggers but couldn't seem to manage clearing out the house, etc. so I dragged on this.

I treated every 2 weeks for 3 1/2 months. Then worked it into every 3 weeks, and finally there are none! Nada, house, cats, nowhere.

I run that darn comb through them regularly now as it helps with the shedding, and not one flea. They are done here.

You can buy advantage 11 online for a 4 pack is $40.00, use a 1.0ml syringe and give the correct dosage. If I can clear up my problem, oh I was frantic about it, then anyone can.

Advantage really is best.

BTW, I understand that Frontline was found to have fleas becoming resistent to it.

Thank you also, Catwoman707.  I am kind of in the same situation because I need to treat many cats.  We have caught, spayed/neutered the feral cats in our neighbor and have been taking care of the sick kittens.  Now I need to treat all of them for fleas and am looking for the most inexpensive way of doing so without hurting the cats.  I will look into the Advantage 11. 

Cook

Catsallaround & Catwoman 707 - You say the Advantage 11.  Do you use the one for 20 lb. dogs or 55 lb. dogs?  How many cats do you think can be done on a 4 pack or 6 pack of Advantage 11? 

Please, please do not use dog topicals on your cat.  You could kill them.  It's like playing rush and roulette with them.  One of these times, your luck could run out.  Please just get the cat formulas.  It's safer that way.  BTW, Advantage II is the cat formula the dog formula is Advantix.  Please don't do this.... I know lots of people sell this on Ebay as cheaper and a better way to go but these people don't know what they're doing and they are not professionals. 

P3, thank you for your input. 

The advantage is really the SAME thing.  The idea is the owner of the dog and the owner of a cat pay the same amount.  DO NOT TRY TO USE ANYTHING BUT ADVANTAGE OR ADVANTAGE 2 with the break down.

the advantage 55 and over is 4.0  so at .8(little less then 1 ml you are talking 5 cats per tube)  The dogs are all the same (ADVANTAGE!!!)  just different amounts.  Unless you get a great sale the 55 and over is best deal

DO NOT BUY ON EBAY there is no guarantee its advantage...could be water or a cheap alternative.

Like I said I am hitting 36 cats a MONTH
 

Advantage ll is NOT Advantix.  Advantage ll is the new and improved version of advantage.  K9 Advantix is DOG ONLY and controls more including ticks

ADVANTIX IS FOR DOGS ONLY AND IS DEADLY TO CATS!! I have no idea why this is not posted on the front of the package in large print with a hazardous symbol.

Do NOT use on your dog if you have a cat, any type of contact WILL make your cat very sick. It contains pyrethrins that are poisonous to a cat, they are not capable of breaking it down.

I use the Advantage 11 for extra-large dogs over 55 lbs.

Each vial is 4.0 ml.

Cats under 8lbs, the dose is 0.4ml, over 8lbs is 0.8ml.

Most ferals are 8lbs or less, unless it's an extra big cat. This means you can treat 10 cats per vial, that's $1.00 per cat!

You can trust an ebay seller who has a great feedback score, because these are sealed packages with a thick foil cover over each vial.

You can also order Avantage 11 from 1-800-petmeds for about $45.00.

I use both.

I agree it makes me angry that they even named it so close(( and its the same puppy advertising may confuse people.

I should have clarified do not buy the pre load syringes(waste of money when you can do it yourself.  Mark syringe with tape as advantage eats it away.  tho the clavamox liquid containers come with a great dropper 

There are some cheap out of country websites.
 

They do have warnings on the Advantix boxes. . .don't know if they're big or scary enough, but they're there.

I've been splitting Advantage and Frontline doses for years. Ever since my vet told me that I could split a dog dose of Advantage among my ferrets (because, she said, it's the same as the cat kind but cheaper), I figured, hey, why not cats, too? :lol3: And then I saw my current vet draw a small dose out of a large dog vial of Revolution for some kittens I brought in, and he charged me full price for each. . .:tongue2:.

But, yeah, there are very few brands you can do this with and you need to be VERY careful. Only Frontline, Advantage, and Revolution/Stronghold (and with this one you need to be super careful with the math because it comes in different potencies). And you need to do the right dosage. . .can't dump a whole dog dose on a cat! Takes some math skills and a small syringe.

catwoman707 said:

 
You can trust an ebay seller who has a great feedback score, because these are sealed packages with a thick foil cover over each vial.

You can also order Avantage 11 from 1-800-petmeds for about $45.00.

I use both.

Click to expand...

 I know this is a really, really old thread, but I want to respond to what you said about ebay sellers. I recently bought a box of Advantage for 55+lb dogs so that I could split it amongst several cats. The seller has a 99.8% positive our of nearly 10 thousand transactions in the past 12 months. The box looked completely normal. The package inside with tubes covered in foil looked completely normal. The tubes themselves even looked normal, but I just happened to notice that the tube said "10% imidacloprid". This was my first time doing the divided-dose thing, so I had researched the heck out of it beforehand and remembered that the % on the Advantage label is 9.1%, so seeing 10% made me look twice. A little googling later, and I found this: http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/factsheets/retailerfactsh.pdf

I am EXTREMELY glad my eyes caught the inconsistency before I put it on my cats. Who knows what kind of harm could have come to them! I contacted the ebay seller and opened a 'counterfeit product' case. They gave me a full refund, but they're still selling the product. I will only buy from really reputable sources after this. It was a real eye-opener. I'm still going to divide the dog dose, but you can bet I'll be looking at every tiny detail of all layers of the packaging to make sure I have authentic Advantage product first!

Wow no kidding....I wonder where the heck it came from!

I've been getting mine for my rescue from 1800petmeds this past year or so. Free shipping, so the cost is comparable enough, and I know it's fresh and is what it says it is.

Thanks for the info.

Do you know if it had another ingrediant?  Advocate is 10% but also has Moxidectin in it.

Cat Parents:

Remember, there IS a difference between dogs and cats!~  Cats groom/clean themselves and take in the flea killer internally~!  That's why dog meds are not good for cats, they are POISONOUS!  *doh!*

Thanks for reading.

Yes many ARE different but there ARE some that are the SAME exact thing just marketed in different sizes.  When you have more then a couple of cats you HAVE to look into this as there is no way I could afford to treat 25 cats with "cat advanatage".  Shelters do the same thing all the time.  It is like buying a gallon of whole milk and putting it into quarts. Saves money and SAME thing.

Thank you so much for this information! We moved and my new vet refuses to sell me the dog revolution to use on my 20+ cats. And u cannot afford to use the cat dose. I had no idea about the advantage and am in a constant flea battle.