STILL Have Fleas After Revolution Treatment!

My kitten Luna had a mild case of fleas - after her first flea bath I found roughly less than 20 adult fleas on her, she was 8 weeks old. 

Now 2 weeks later having taken her to the vet to be treated with Revolution, I've still found two or three live fleas on her. How is this possible and how do I get rid of them for good? Please help!

surille said:

 
My kitten Luna had a mild case of fleas - after her first flea bath I found roughly less than 20 adult fleas on her, she was 8 weeks old. 

Now 2 weeks later having taken her to the vet to be treated with Revolution, I've still found two or three live fleas on her. How is this possible and how do I get rid of them for good? Please help!

Click to expand...

I think you should call the vet and discuss this with them, since you paid for the Luna to be treated there. We have an article about treating fleas in young kittens with some very good ideas and tips - 

How to Treat Fleas in Young Kittens

When I got Maia at 8 weeks old she was infested. I bathed her with Hartz Ultra Guard dip. You just fill the sink and put some of the dip in the water Nd dip your baby . I did it for a couple of times and the fleas disappeared she also had the flea collar for a couple of weeks but I never saw another flea.

surille said:

 
My kitten Luna had a mild case of fleas - after her first flea bath I found roughly less than 20 adult fleas on her, she was 8 weeks old. 

Now 2 weeks later having taken her to the vet to be treated with Revolution, I've still found two or three live fleas on her. How is this possible and how do I get rid of them for good? Please help!

Click to expand...

If she is still exposed to fleas they can still get on her, and it can take a day for them to be killed. Revolution doesn't prevent fleas from showing up on her, but it should kill them within 24 hours.

Also, Capstar, an oral med that is very safe will kill all the fleas in about an hour but must be given daily.

MaiaElizabeth said:

When I got Maia at 8 weeks old she was infested. I bathed her with Hartz Ultra Guard dip. You just fill the sink and put some of the dip in the water Nd dip your baby . I did it for a couple of times and the fleas disappeared she also had the flea collar for a couple of weeks but I never saw another flea.

Click to expand...

I'm a little hesitant about using Hartz products, seems to be a lot of negative reception on the internet with Hartz, a lot of horror stories too 

Did you treat the house as well? Fleas can live on blankets, towels, sofa cushions, etc. Wash as much as you can in hot water and vacuum thoroughly for a couple of days. Empty the vacuum canister or bag into a trash can outside the house. I'm not sure if whole house flea bombs work or not.

You can give your kitten a bath with regular blue Dawn dish wash soap to remove fleas. It's safe to use on pets. Just be careful not to get any soap into the eyes.

This happened to my parents when their 3 cats got fleas. Even though they got treatments, the fleas were in the house & just jumped back on them the next day. They eventually went to the vet to get capstar and also had a pro exterminator bomb the house. The fleas were pretty much gone after that, just a few stragglers. 

I have bathed her with blue Dawn, fingers crossed!

surille said:

MaiaElizabeth said:

When I got Maia at 8 weeks old she was infested. I bathed her with Hartz Ultra Guard dip. You just fill the sink and put some of the dip in the water Nd dip your baby . I did it for a couple of times and the fleas disappeared she also had the flea collar for a couple of weeks but I never saw another flea.

Click to expand...

I'm a little hesitant about using Hartz products, seems to be a lot of negative reception on the internet with Hartz, a lot of horror stories too 

Click to expand...

Yes please don't use any OTC pet products like this from Hartz, Seargents, the lot...
They can be very dangerous. I too have used Hartz topicals without incidence. This was before I knew better though. Many pets have adverse reactions to these medications.

Do not use them.

IF you are seeing live fleas still on your kitten then the environment needs to be treated as well and quickly. The fleas have to bite to be killed so you may still see some lingering live fleas on your kitten. Wash ALL bedding, blankets. Vacuum thoroughly and tie vacuum bag into a plastic bag and tie up. Toss in outside garbage. We have used this product in the past - Ortho Home Defense but I am very hesitant to suggest anything that is not approved from your vet first - especially since this is such a young baby. Your vet may have something to "bomb" the house with that is safe for kittens but it must be done. Make sure you take the kitten out of the house until the product is completely dry and remove all water/food dishes as well before you spray/bomb the home.


And,
PLEASE do not ever use any Hartz products. See video and advanced warning of a cat having a reaction to the Hartz flea topical.

The Blue Dawn soap bath worked - or so I thought. 

Today is the last day my kitty's revolution is effective. I look and of course, I see flea dirt. After bathing her, I found one flea. We just came back from the vet this weekend and were instructed to hold off on applying a second dose of revolution til the last one has worn off. I really hope this works I'm so tired of seeing fleas!!!

surille said:

The Blue Dawn soap bath worked - or so I thought. 

Today is the last day my kitty's revolution is effective. I look and of course, I see flea dirt. After bathing her, I found one flea. We just came back from the vet this weekend and were instructed to hold off on applying a second dose of revolution til the last one has worn off. I really hope this works I'm so tired of seeing fleas!!!

Click to expand...

Have you been bathing her all the while? If you bathe a cat it significantly reduces the effectiveness of the topical medication. At least I'm pretty sure that's the case.

I bathed her once after her first treatment and found a couple stragglers... I'm starting to wonder if she got fleas from the vet. He didn't clean the flea comb which clearly had hair on it. 

I really don't know what to do I'm losing hope, I have a black DSH at home as well and I don't want him getting fleas because I'd never see them until it's too late

Since Luna has fleas, you need to just assume your other cat as them as well. The fleas won't just stay on Luna or stay confined to one room.

Have you treated your other cat for fleas as well? If not, do so immediately. This could be the likely reason you still see fleas on Luna.

CatPack said:

Since Luna has fleas, you need to just assume your other cat as them as well. The fleas won't just stay on Luna or stay confined to one room.

Have you treated your other cat for fleas as well? If not, do so immediately. This could be the likely reason you still see fleas on Luna.

Click to expand...

They were both treated with Revolution the first time and I gave them both a dose yesterday as well. However I was not really successful in applying it properly - my first time doing it and on my own - and this morning without having to even part her fur or anything, I saw a flea on her belly and possibly some flea dirt. 

Is it possible to have another dose applied immediately?

surille said:

CatPack said:

Since Luna has fleas, you need to just assume your other cat as them as well. The fleas won't just stay on Luna or stay confined to one room.

Have you treated your other cat for fleas as well? If not, do so immediately. This could be the likely reason you still see fleas on Luna.

Click to expand...

They were both treated with Revolution the first time and I gave them both a dose yesterday as well. However I was not really successful in applying it properly - my first time doing it and on my own - and this morning without having to even part her fur or anything, I saw a flea on her belly and possibly some flea dirt. 

Is it possible to have another dose applied immediately?

Click to expand...

That stuff is way too expensive to waste. I don't think you can apply another until a month. I guess if you gave her a bath and washed it off, you might be able to. You need to ask your vet though.


Also, Check with your vet, and see if you can bring them in to have it applied properly. They shouldn't charge you for this. Either that or watch some videos on YouTube to learn how.

Be very careful with cats and natural flea remedies... Some of the best natural flea remedies can make a cat extremely sick or even cause death. Anything citrus is no good, particularly stronger dillutions (i.e., citrus oils). Do not use any sprays/shampoos/powders that stay on your cat if they are any form of insecticide! It will make your cats incredibly sick! Do a lot of research before you use any of the natural remedies on your cat.

DE is a good one, but the fleas must come in contact directly with the DE. Feeding it does nothing against fleas. It has yet to be proven to do anything to intestinal parasites either, since the reason DE works is because of its teeny sharp edges that are no longer useful once wet.

DE is best used in a well ventilated area applied and brushed into a cats coat. This is not a quick fix though, it can take awhile to kill very many fleas and must be reapplied at least every other day.

Its best use is dusted (in combination with any regular salt) over a carpet, making sure to get every inch and around floorboards. Letting sit for about an hour, then vacuum. Make sure to removed the contents from the vacuum immediately. Done weekly, if you have fleas left, they are being brought in constantly from an outside source.

As for any topicals, they are placed between and above the shoulder blades so the cat can't groom it off, yes they can make your cat sick and potentially cause even more harm than just "sick". 

Topicals work by killing the fleas that come in contact with the cat. If the fleas are in the carpet/upholstery/linens and haven't come in contact with the cat, there will be other fleas and you will notice them on your cat before they're dead. Also do not double up on doses, its more than possible to overdose your animal and cause a great deal of harm or even kill it.
 

-My dad actually made that mistake, put a medium dog dose on a small cat by accident. He noticed after application that the tube said "medium dog" and thought it'd be fine anyway, two hours later the cat was having issues standing, vomiting, yowling, etc. Also note that most brands have the exact same formulation between sizes of animal and the product used, its just a different dose.

I agree with the people saying that there would be fleas/eggs/larvae hiding in the house and jumping back onto the cat even after it's been treated with revolution. However, depending on how severe the infestation is, if you keep up with the revolution treatments it will actually cause the fleas to eventually die out (assuming none of your cats go outside where they can pick up new ones). The problem is that the eggs can lie dormant for a long time so even if you kill ALL of the adults on your cat, it could still be several months before all the eggs and pupae in the environment have finished popping up out of the blue as adult fleas. However, the revolution disrupts the life cycle so every flea killed by it won't produce more fleas at least, so theoretically as long as you apply it every month, eventually they'll all die out after each and every egg in the house hatches, grows into a flea and gets poisoned by the revolution (might take a few months before they are all gone). Also, definitely check with your vet with this but I THINK in a severe infestation you can actually apply revolution every 2 weeks instead of 4 without it being harmful to the cat.

If your cat comes into contact with any outside fleas, you might see them on your cat and think it's infested again, but as long as the treatment is applied every month and your cat doesn't come into contact with new fleas too regularly (for example by going outside - good luck getting any outside cat completely clear of fleas haha) then they shouldn't be able to breed in your house and should clear up soon enough.

I use Revolution on my pets and it works the best out of all the other topical meds I've tried over the years.  

My first suggestion would be to repeat what others here have already stated, treat ALL animals in the house, whether you see fleas on them or not!  Treat the house with a spray that is formulated for carpets/furniture and repeat every day for a week, removing the animals when spraying and until it's dry.  DO NOT forget to cover/remove ALL food/water for your animals and you before treating the house.  Once the spray is dry then vacuum your house and don't forget under the furniture and along any baseboards/cracks in flooring as this is where the pupae are hidden.  Revolution kills adult fleas and larva but will not affect the pupae at all!  It also prevents the egg from hatching.  Don't forget to treat all bedding and any clothing that your cats have laid on as well.  I know my cats love to lay on clothes that are in the hamper or on the floor and even in the washer too! 

If you've treated all your animals, the house and bedding then I see no reason why you'd still be seeing fleas after a couple months.  I had a major infestation of fleas a few years back when my hubby lost his job and we were unable to get the Revolution for a few months.  Both my cats were very badly infested and after just one dose and a week of treating/vacuuming the house daily there were no more fleas.

Oh, please don't reapply the meds immediately unless you want to have an emergency visit to your vet.... and good luck on getting the fleas under control.

ttfn

MD

I second treating all pets and the house. The best house product I used was Precor 2000. It costs about the same as a month of Revolution. It's s big can, and if you follow the directions on the can, and use Revolution for a few more months (some use it permanently), you really should be rid of all fleas within 6-8 weeks, tops. Remember too yards (grass) will harbor fleas. If you let your cats or dogs in a flea infested yard, you will get them again. In this case you will need to buy a pet friendly product to kill fleas outside, as well.