Revolution Flaws?

My 5 month old kitten has been on Revolution for as long as we have had her, we gave her one dose just 10 days ago after only 3 weeks since her last dose (good for a month, supposedly). We have been finding fleas on her one at a time for a couple of days now. And her ear mites were back after the 3 weeks. No flea dust in her fur and usually on her head. She hasn't been in contact with any other animal since we adopted her. Has anyone else had this issue with "the Cadillac" of parasite medication? Revolution supposedly kills fleas in all life stages, ticks, heart/round/hook worms and ear mites. Help!

All the products that have been around for awhile seem to require more frequent dosing now.  The fleas are developing immunities, as they always do. I use Advantage, and fortunately that can be dosed as often as once a week if need be according to the literature.  If your kitten is in the house only, then you need to treat the house and that will solve the problem.  If she goes out in areas where other animals have been, then you may have to treat her with a natural repellant.  I'm not sure how often you can use the Revolution safely.

The package doesn't say anything about applying it earlier than a month, but my vet said after 3 weeks she should be fine. How would I go about treating my apartment?

Since you are in an apartment, I guess you can't set off a flea bomb (fogger) that includes the chemical that prevents larvae growth because it would go through air vents to other apartments.  That leaves using either a spray or diotomaceous earth in the carpet, if you have carpet, which most apartments do, and also in your couch cushions etc.  Diotomaceous earth is actually made of finely ground seashells, I believe, and looks like brown dust.  Yu can get it at most feed stores, google it to find out where in your area.  You just sprinkle it all over your carpet, work it in with a broom and let it sit overnight, then vacuum it up.  It is not poisonous, it dries up the flea larvae and actually kills fleas (and cockroaches too) by penetrating their shells in the little cracks in their armor and they basically dehydrate and die.  Since you are treating your kitten, they can't survive on her, and if you treat the carpet, they can't survive there either.  You can use one of the non-toxic sprays for kitchen and bathroom but take your cat outside until they dry.  Use the search bar above, right under the brown bar at the top, to find more discussions on how people dealt with their flea problem.

Hi,

You would have to check with your vet but my cat's dermatology vet said the Revolution needed to be used every two weeks to get rid of the ear mites. That is what I was told but like I said you need to check with your vet first or call the manufacturer.

I really worry about toxicity when it comes to treating the house. One of the best things you can do is to vacuum if you have carpeting. I mean vacuum every day very thorough, and empty the vacuum afterwards disposing of the contents outside.

I apply the revolution to the base of the skull. Part the hair and apply slowly.

mengleha said:

My 5 month old kitten has been on Revolution for as long as we have had her, we gave her one dose just 10 days ago after only 3 weeks since her last dose (good for a month, supposedly). We have been finding fleas on her one at a time for a couple of days now. And her ear mites were back after the 3 weeks. No flea dust in her fur and usually on her head. She hasn't been in contact with any other animal since we adopted her. Has anyone else had this issue with "the Cadillac" of parasite medication? Revolution supposedly kills fleas in all life stages, ticks, heart/round/hook worms and ear mites. Help!

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Hi there. I am sorry you are dealing with this.

I personally do not use Revolution as it is the most toxic of all the chemical treatments. For this reason, and for the reason that it enters and stays in the blood stream (whereas Advantage does not), I would not recommend using this product as frequently as every three weeks, let alone every month. Advantage goes on the same way but works from the skin.

When dealing with fleas, you must also treat the environment, as has been mentioned. Vacuuming all areas where your cat frequents is important, this includes bedding, pillows, your bed sheets, blankets, etc., as fleas will lay hundreds of eggs that will hatch and start the flea cycle again.

You can get aerosol sprays for spraying in each room of your home. Fleas can lay eggs in cracks in the floor or woodwork, so the aerosol spray is effective in dealing with these areas. When you use these sprays, you must keep the cats out of the room for at least two hours. Do one room at a time for this reason. Ask your veterinarian about this as they may have something that they use in the clinic.

Best of luck! ...

Here's a fact sheet on diotomaceous earth (actually it's not "seashells" it's plankton that's ground up.

http://lifehacker.com/5835163/kill-bugs-with-diatomaceous-earth

If you can get your apartment flea free and don't have any animals come in from the outside (i.e. friends' dogs etc.), you will not have to use ANY flea preventative on your kitten!

Thank you all so much! When we first had the flea problem about 2 months ago we did vacuum and launder everything really well and threw away the vacuum bag afterwards. I think maybe a neighboring apartment may have an animal with fleas/mites because we didn't see the problem for weeks and now it's back. Does anyone know how long the dirt treatment would last or is it just a one time kill thing? I think that will be what we try next, I'd rather not resort to fogging due to neighbors and the toxicity. The revolution package doesn't say anything about applying it more often than once a month and since she's so young that would worry me. I am confused as to how she would get ear mites again since they were completely gone and her ears were spotless for almost 3 weeks. For. The research I've done I don't believe they can live on other surfaces like fleas can so the neighbor answer make sense to me but I'm not sure how I can fix that one. I am moving in about a month so hopefull the fresh start will help. Also, I'm on the 1st floor of my complex and I heard that fleas/mites could possibly be coming from underneath the apartment or maybe from the feral cat that wanders around the complex?

The diotomaceous earth is longlasting because you don't vacuum up ALL of it, some of it stays trapped in the carpet and eliminates future larvae.  You will be doing the next resident of your apartment a real favor as well, since you will not be leaving active flea infestion behind.  They probably pray with something that kills bugs anyhow between tenants, but it won't affect the DE at all.  In fact, if you are moving to another place with carpet, you might start by treating the carpet and get a jump on any fleas left behind OR brought in when others were maybe looking at the apartment.