Why Does Frontline and Advantage Not Work For Fleas Now?

jmarkitell · Nov 14, 2015

There are many reports of fleas becoming resistant to Frontline. I haven't heard of immunity to Revolution, although Revolution is a systemic flea control that remains in the cat instead of on it's fur or skin. Regarding the use of garlic...cats are very sensitive to onions, and garlic is closely related to them. I don't know if garlic contains the same compounds that make onions dangerous to cats, but from what I have read and learned, garlic doesn't really discourage fleas. I have used Revolution with good success along with Capstar in dealing with fleas on and around my cats and house, although it needs a prescription to order it in the USA...Canada has no restrictions and it can be purchased online.

Good luck in your battle against the fleas!

Jim

segelkatt · Nov 14, 2015

daisycalico said:
it just doesn't work. check internet. lots of complaints. we used it for many years, including this summer, and now have flea eggs in hpouse, larvae, flease on cat. vet keeps telling us we're not putting it on right..........bull.   was good for years but now we don't know how to do it? the stuff is just not working.

check out natural stuff like cedar, citronella, lavender and other essential oils. put a bit of garlic capsule in cats food (makes blood not taste good to fleas). check out a product called Capstar which can be given even if on frontline supposedly.

vet office told me Frontline will refund costs of product IF was purchased at a vet (mine was). pet stores supposedly they won't honor guarantee as those get a lot of counterfeit product.

still, we have spend well over $200 on new pillows, mattress and pillow covers, LAUNDROMAT to wash ALL linnens in HOT H2O, flea spray and bombs, carpet cleaner solution, new pet bed, etc. not to mention 3 days of work.....have to spray, then bombs, then vaccume, then scrub/wash. have to treat mattresses, upholstered furniture, underneath couches and couch bottom, all cracks and crevices. have to seal off kitchen cupboards and anything having to do with foods, etc.   have to leave the house and then open all windows for hours afterwards. then do all the cleaning. bathe the cat but can't use flea shampoo pet store fellow recommended head and shoulders shampoo.......wish Frontline would reimburse for all the stuff I had to buy/replace, and all the WORK.

vet offered another product called Vectra or something like that. also keep in mind that when cat has fleas, usually gets worms as well.

research alternatives. check the internet about it.

that's all I can offer.

on the bright side, house will be clean for the holidays!

I don't know why you use all that stuff and do all that work and spend all that money when all you have to do is dry out the little pests. If you go to any state where the humidity is usually really low (desert states mostly, but my son lives in Reno, Nevada and they have no fleas whatsoever) you won't find fleas on the pets, the grass or anywhere else. So how do you dry out your house? Diatomaceous earth will do the trick every time and it is not poisonous to your cats or anything else. You can put that stuff everywhere: mattresses, upholstered furniture, spread it everywhere, under and in furniture and cabinets etc and you don't have to leave the house. You can just leave that stuff everywhere and it will keep doing its job. Spread it around outside too but you will need to water your plants and grass after a while to keep them from dying.

If you do manage to bring fleas into your house (pants legs are a favorite place for fleas on your lawn to hitch a ride) and you then find them on your cats get a dose of Revolution from your vet and within no more than 2 days those newly brought in fleas should be dead too.

And welcome to the cat site.

amandad · Nov 21, 2015

A lot of people do not realize that the topical treatment doesn't "get rid" of the fleas. It's a preventative. Using shampoos on your animals (I know it's hard with cats) that have ingredients in it to kill fleas works. Dawn (original blue with nothing else added - no bleach, no scents, etc...) also works. You'd have to do this probably once a week until you see the population diminish drastically.

You can also use CapStar (or an equivalent). It's a pill you feed to your animal. In a few hours the fleas will die and fall off your animal. This can be used with topical treatments.

If you use a shampoo with ingredients to kill fleas, be sure to wait about 4-7 days before putting a preventative (Frontline, Advantage, Sentry, etc...) on your animal. Make sure not to use the flea shampoo with the preventative - you don't want to overdose your animals.

Also, the Seresto collar seems to work better than other flea collars.

Brands that I've found do not work as good as the more expensive stuff (topical treatment and collar wise):

BioSpot

Adams

Zodiac

For sprays, I recommend Sentry (there are a few Sentry sprays, all of which seem to work well), Advantage. Make sure you get the spray specifically for upholstery and carpeting.

catspaw66 · Nov 22, 2015

Actually, the topical treatment DOES kill fleas. The adults, at least.

The Sentry sprays, in my experience, make my ladies sick. It is on the surface of all the fur, instead of at the base of the fur in one spot. They are more likely to ingest the spray.

shanx8 · Nov 22, 2015

Advantage worked ok for us

amandad · Nov 22, 2015

catspaw66 said:
Actually, the topical treatment DOES kill fleas. The adults, at least.

The Sentry sprays, in my experience, make my ladies sick. It is on the surface of all the fur, instead of at the base of the fur in one spot. They are more likely to ingest the spray.

I'm sorry. My post does seem to suggest that I meant the topical doesn't kill fleas. My point was meant to help anyone who may not be aware that it's not designed to get rid of the fleas immediately.

Also, I wasn't recommending a spray for the animals. I was recommending a spray for furniture and carpeting, hence why I stated make sure the spray states it's for upholstery and carpeting (which I was also vague on the subject initially).

dellawoods007 · Nov 23, 2015

I'm having the same problem with revolution...IMHO I think the cats are becoming allergic to the chemicals...I comb them with a flea comb and find no flea fecas.

dellawoods007 · Nov 23, 2015

Not true...you should treat the indoor/outdoor cat...I streat a couple strays twice during the summer with ervolution and they don't have fleas.

catspaw66 · Nov 23, 2015

amandad said:
I'm sorry. My post does seem to suggest that I meant the topical doesn't kill fleas. My point was meant to help anyone who may not be aware that it's not designed to get rid of the fleas immediately.

Also, I wasn't recommending a spray for the animals. I was recommending a spray for furniture and carpeting, hence why I stated make sure the spray states it's for upholstery and carpeting (which I was also vague on the subject initially).

Thank you for clearing that up. I see I didn't read it carefully enough about the spray. For carpet, I used Enforcer. But I haven't had to use it in years.

acwolff · Nov 26, 2015

drat, i knew it the fleas have evolved... gotta find a natural solution? try garlic(works from the inside, but check 1st to be sure it will be ok for your

cat.) might be that nature provides a safe, and long lasting solution. better than synthectic chemicals.

segelkatt · Nov 26, 2015

acwolff said:
drat, i knew it the fleas have evolved... gotta find a natural solution? try garlic(works from the inside, but check 1st to be sure it will be ok for your

cat.) might be that nature provides a safe, and long lasting solution. better than synthectic chemicals.

No, no no, absolutely no garlic for a cat alongside all the other onion-related herbs as they are causing gastric upsets and can be poisonous if given in large amounts. One dose of Revolution twice a year unless you are in an area that is absolutely covered with fleas (and who would want to live there?) should be enough if your cat lives indoors where it should be for safety's sake. Fleas have NOT evolved enough to beat Revolution as it not only kills the fleas but also the larvae and the eggs thus keeping a new generation from even being born.

Diatomaceous earth and borax will dry them out and having the same effect but with both you need to make sure that your cats don't eat the stuff.

GoldyCat · Nov 28, 2015

segelkatt said:
acwolff said:

drat, i knew it the fleas have evolved... gotta find a natural solution? try garlic(works from the inside, but check 1st to be sure it will be ok for your
cat.) might be that nature provides a safe, and long lasting solution. better than synthectic chemicals.

Click to expand...

No, no no, absolutely no garlic for a cat alongside all the other onion-related herbs as they are causing gastric upsets and can be poisonous if given in large amounts. One dose of Revolution twice a year unless you are in an area that is absolutely covered with fleas (and who would want to live there?) should be enough if your cat lives indoors where it should be for safety's sake. Fleas have NOT evolved enough to beat Revolution as it not only kills the fleas but also the larvae and the eggs thus keeping a new generation from even being born.
Diatomaceous earth and borax will dry them out and having the same effect but with both you need to make sure that your cats don't eat the stuff.

Garlic in large amounts or in small amounts over time has the same effect. It can cause a type of anemia in cats that can't be fixed, which means it is nearly always fatal in the long run.

amandad · Nov 28, 2015

I've heard that people can try putting a small amount of distilled white vinegar in a cats water to help keep the fleas away. I'm not sure how true this is or if it has any delayed or lasting effects on your animal, though, so I would do more research on the subject before trying it.

catkisses4 · Nov 30, 2015

Will try diatomaceous from feed store. I can't put frontline on them.(TOO SOON). I feel so bad

for my elderly cat. Can you order comfortis on-line? I know it kills life fleas on cats only. So far

I have not received a bite, my family has. Hope this works.

segelkatt · Nov 30, 2015

amandad said:
I've heard that people can try putting a small amount of distilled white vinegar in a cats water to help keep the fleas away. I'm not sure how true this is or if it has any delayed or lasting effects on your animal, though, so I would do more research on the subject before trying it.

That's an old wives' tale, don't waste your time. A dose of Revolution prescribed by the vet will do it every time and your cat will not have fleas at least for a month. I don't understand why people would rather try all kinds of unproven things, spending all kinds of money on stuff that does not work instead of spending more money initially on things that work and in the end are less expensive.

nansiludie · Dec 6, 2015

segelkatt said:
That's an old wives' tale, don't waste your time. A dose of Revolution prescribed by the vet will do it every time and your cat will not have fleas at least for a month. I don't understand why people would rather try all kinds of unproven things, spending all kinds of money on stuff that does not work instead of spending more money initially on things that work and in the end are less expensive.

The reasons I don't use revolution is because my cats are sensitive to flea chemicals, one in particular who cannot even have Advantage, has horrible itching and fur loss. I also will not use it is because it is absorbed into the bloodstream, not only the skin, so if there were to be any issues, or side effects I doubt it can be reversed and it may very well kill him.

shanx8 · Dec 6, 2015

well said both of you, and you both have very valid points...

segelkatt · Dec 7, 2015

nansiludie said:
The reasons I don't use revolution is because my cats are sensitive to flea chemicals, one in particular who cannot even have Advantage, has horrible itching and fur loss. I also will not use it is because it is absorbed into the bloodstream, not only the skin, so if there were to be any issues, or side effects I doubt it can be reversed and it may very well kill him.

In an earlier post in May 2015 you mentioned that you used Advantage II and washed all cats' beds every two weeks until all fleas were gone. Now you say one of your cats is sensitive to it which is no wonder as it was designed to be used every 4 weeks or so. You have over-medicated your cat. I would talk to the vet regarding Revolution and mention how you had applied Advantage II so that he/she is aware of the problem. The vet may have a solution to the problem.

amandad · Dec 7, 2015

segelkatt said:
That's an old wives' tale, don't waste your time. A dose of Revolution prescribed by the vet will do it every time and your cat will not have fleas at least for a month. I don't understand why people would rather try all kinds of unproven things, spending all kinds of money on stuff that does not work instead of spending more money initially on things that work and in the end are less expensive.

Well, it's just what I've heard. I've never tried and didn't actually suggest for anyone to try it, I only threw it out there so others could do some research on it. My animals don't have fleas and I do not use Revolution (I don't even think my vet offers Revolution) and I've only heard of it in this thread. During the warmer months, I use Frontline on my 14 year old (it's worked this summer for her) and Advantage II on my 8 month old kitten, though they will both be on Advantage II when it comes time to treat them again.

As for nansiludie saying she use Advantage II every two weeks instead of the recommended 28 to 30 days, maybe it was something told to her by her vet. My 14 year old cat has some fur loss and her vet is convinced it's because of fleas (I'm convinced it's because of a food allergy), well my vet old me to treat her every 3 weeks with Frontline instead of the recommended every 4 weeks. I've also has customers (where I work) tell me their vets have told them similar things with the medications/topicals they use.

nansiludie · Dec 10, 2015

amandad said:
Well, it's just what I've heard. I've never tried and didn't actually suggest for anyone to try it, I only threw it out there so others could do some research on it. My animals don't have fleas and I do not use Revolution (I don't even think my vet offers Revolution) and I've only heard of it in this thread. During the warmer months, I use Frontline on my 14 year old (it's worked this summer for her) and Advantage II on my 8 month old kitten, though they will both be on Advantage II when it comes time to treat them again.

As for nansiludie saying she use Advantage II every two weeks instead of the recommended 28 to 30 days, maybe it was something told to her by her vet. My 14 year old cat has some fur loss and her vet is convinced it's because of fleas (I'm convinced it's because of a food allergy), well my vet old me to treat her every 3 weeks with Frontline instead of the recommended every 4 weeks. I've also has customers (where I work) tell me their vets have told them similar things with the medications/topicals they use.

I just saw your post. Also Amandad is right, yrs ago I was advised by my Vet doing so this way. Also if you have a box of Advantage where it says on the back during severe infestations, it can be used more often than once a month but not more than once a week. I only do that if they are fully infested, as these are barn/semi feral cats. And then I do so monthly as usual. Secondly, the cat I refer to is an outdoor barn cat, he is friendly and kind but he won't allow me to bring him indoors, when I tried to and I've tried for a long time, he acts entirely feral. He had that reaction the first time I had treated him so he surely wasn't over-medicated. I take it you are a very caring kitty person, at least I hope that it why you have such a strong and negative view on this. I realize Advantage is supposed to be one of the most gentle flea topicals for animals, hence why its used on rabbits. Which is why I am very hesitant to use much if any chemicals on him. Anyway, thank you for your adding to the discussion.

Why Does Frontline and Advantage Not Work For Fleas Now?

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