Topical parasite preventers

All I ever read about and see ads for is Frontline. The shelter I used to volunteer at uses Revolution. I know similar products are out there. Do you have a preference? What do you use and why?

I already ruled out Program because it is not topical, but am open to any other suggestions.

Revolution and Advantage Multi cover fleas, ear mites, and roundworms & hookworms 

Frontline Plus handles all flea stages plus ticks while Advantage 2 handles all flea stages

I use Advantage 2 currently but plan on switching to Revolution in the future since it's been out longer than Advantage Multi

Anyone know of a flea treatment that you can put in FOOD?  Most are too feral for me to touch, a few I can pet.

I feed a feral/stray/dumped cat colony, and I believe at least one cat (feral) has an allergy to fleas.

Ritz said:

Anyone know of a flea treatment that you can put in FOOD?  Most are too feral for me to touch, a few I can pet.
I feed a feral/stray/dumped cat colony, and I believe at least one cat (feral) has an allergy to fleas.

Click to expand...

I put crushed Capstar in the ferals' canned food. One crushed dog-sized pill treats 8 cats (make sure you put it into the amount of food 8 cats will eat), and if one eats too much it's still safe. It only lasts 24 hours but I figure it gives them a bit of relief.

If the cats are semi-tame, you can try to drip some spot-on liquid onto the back of their heads while they're eating.


To answer the original question, I find that Advantage and Revolution work best against just fleas. Frontline kills ticks, too, but that isn't a concern for indoor cats.

Ritz said:

Anyone know of a flea treatment that you can put in FOOD?  Most are too feral for me to touch, a few I can pet.

I feed a feral/stray/dumped cat colony, and I believe at least one cat (feral) has an allergy to fleas.

Click to expand...

I think Program has a product specifically for putting in food because they advertised it years ago.

Thanks I'll look into these products.

advantage as it is simple effective and cheap.

program i have seen in tabs available but the liquid has a call for availability/call to order often so not sure.

Our kitten had terrible fleas when we first found her. I bought Advantage 2 because that's what was at the pet store and it said it killed all flea life stages. I only did enough research to find out I needed something to kill all life stages, but I didn't read anything about the Hartz or other cheap products being dangerous to use, so I'm really lucky I didn't pick up something like that at wal-mart. But anyhow, her fleas were terrible when we gave her the Advantage 2 and laid her on a white towel in our bathroom. You could literally SEE the fleas either falling off her, and some jumping off for their lives within an hour of us applying the Advantage. At that time she liked to sleep on my pillow and I was finding dead and half alive fleas there for several days. It was really disgusting. Anyhow, it worked great for us and gave her immediate relief.

EmilyMayWilcha said:

I think Program has a product specifically for putting in food because they advertised it years ago.

Click to expand...

Ritz said:

Thanks I'll look into these products.

Click to expand...

the liquid suspension of Program is unavailable until 1/2013. the flavor tabs of Program for cats are still available, and they can be broken and mixed into wet food

detmut said:

The liquid suspension of Program is unavailable until 1/2013. The flavor tabs of Program for cats are still available, and they can be broken and mixed into wet food

Click to expand...

Why did they stop temporarily producing it?

EmilyMayWilcha said:

Why did they stop temporarily producing it?

Click to expand...

Novartis Animal Health has ceased production of Interceptor, Sentinel and several other drugs manufactured in its plant in Lincoln, Neb., while the facility undergoes "process and compliance improvement activities," a spokesman for the company confirmed today.  

http://news.vin.com/vinnews.aspx?articleId=20998

found the link on Drs Foster and Smith which said:

Novartis Animal Health has voluntarily suspended manufacture of the pet health product you're looking for  while their facility undergoes "process and compliance improvement activities." Availability is expected to resume sometime in January 2013, according to an article  in Veterinary Information Network news.

Cindy, 2nd the "vote" for Capstar in feral food. :nod:

For the ferals we can get topicals on, we use Revolution monthly AND Frontline monthly, spaced two weeks apart. This is because Revolution by itself does a terrible job of killing ticks, and Frontline doesn't treat the internal parasites.

I don't really think Program would do any good for ferals. It doesn't kill fleas; just sterilizes them. Like TNR for fleas :lol3:. Indoors, that can help break the infestation cycle, but outdoors, well, there are just too many fleas for that to be of much help.

LDG said:

Cindy, 2nd the "vote" for Capstar in feral food.

For the ferals we can get topicals on, we use Revolution monthly AND Frontline monthly, spaced two weeks apart. This is because Revolution by itself does a terrible job of killing ticks, and Frontline doesn't treat the internal parasites.

Click to expand...

that's because Revolution is not indicated for ticks

from the Revolution website:

Revolution is the first-ever FDA-approved, topically applied medication for cats that:

• Kills adult fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) and prevents flea eggs from hatching.
• Prevents heartworm disease caused by Dirofilaria immitis.
• Treats and controls ear mites (Otodectes cynotis).
• Treats and controls roundworms (Toxocara cati) and hookworms (Ancylostoma tubaeforme).

detmut, I was actually wondering about that. My vet put Revolution on an outside cat we just brought in and she said it kills ticks, but when I was reading up on it on the Revolution website, I noticed it says no such thing. If I remember correctly, the dog version *does* kill ticks though.

Well, then, that would be why it doesn't work on ticks. :lol3:

Revolution is listed as a drug, not a pesticide. So the rules are different, and for them to say that it kills ticks would take a whole different process. It was approved to claim to kill brown ticks on dogs (and it's the same stuff as for cats!), and there's no reason it wouldn't kill other ticks as well. They just can't say so :tongue2:. But apparently it's not very good at killing ticks.

RIccaDawn said:

detmut, I was actually wondering about that. My vet put Revolution on an outside cat we just brought in and she said it kills ticks, but when I was reading up on it on the Revolution website, I noticed it says no such thing. If I remember correctly, the dog version *does* kill ticks though.

Click to expand...

yes, Revolution for dogs does kill ticks which must be where the confusion comes in. also, works against sarcoptic mange in dogs.

Why have one product for dogs and one for cats if they kill the same parasites?

EmilyMayWilcha said:

Why have one product for dogs and one for cats if they kill the same parasites?

Click to expand...

Mostly because of dose size. At least one of the brands shows a cat and a small dog on the small dose package. Revolution, Advantage, and Frontline "dog" and "cat" formulas are exactly the same. Someone who is good at math and careful about dosing can buy the large dog size and split it among several cats safely. However. . .you have to be very careful doing this because proper dosing is crucial and because not all brands are the same. And some of the brands' dog formulas ARE different from the cat formulas, and the dog formula can be DEADLY to cats. K9 Advantix is especially toxic, as are any store-type flea meds.