Fleas

I recently dicoved my cats have fleas. They are on frontline. I gave them their first dose on August 12th. It's supposed to last one month but I noticed fleas again yesterday. They are itching pretty bad again. I am wondering is it okay for me to give them their next dose even though it hasn't been a month? I also got borax for the carpet. How long do I have to leave it on the carpet and how harmful is it to the cats?

I think you leave Borax on the carpet for 8-24 hours but I could be mistaken. I have had fleas but never used Borax. I just put a flea collar cut into pieces into the vacuu, bag and vacuumed over the entire apartment.

What you can do for the fleas, since it is nearing time to retreat I would (if you can) give the cats a bath in Dawn Dish soap, maybe twice if they have fleas bad. Then treat them after they dry. Keep a flea comb handy and run it over them occationally to pick out any that hop on in between treatments. I would also switch off between Advantage and Frontline and possibly Revolution or another flea medicine from the vet. I have foudn that when continuously retreating, sometimes one will become ineffective if continuously reapplied.

I wouldn't dose them again so soon. I used Revolution on my 3 older cats last month, and 2 of them had bad reactions to it (one stopped eating for 4 days, the other vomited phlegm for 4 days). I know these flea treatments are supposed to be safe to use, but I would be cautious about retreating them after only 2 1/2 weeks.
I do agree with Jen's post---I would switch off between the other brands. (altho' I won't be using the Revolution again!)

Fleas have a multi-stage lifecycle. What you are probably noticing is new fleas emerging from egg, larval, and coccoon stages. The frontline is only effective against the adult stage. It will likely be about 6 weeks before you get rid of all the fleas. In the meantime vacuuming and washing bedding in hot soapy water will help.

The Frontline doesn't kill the fleas instantly, so you will still see them on the animal, however, it will die within 4-6 hours. I would recommend treating your home, but wait until the next dose is due before reapplying.

Also, some animals are extremely allergic to flea bites, so one bite could set off a reaction which would result in the constant itching. If it continues, they may need a cortisone inj. by the vet for some relief.

Good luck, hope they feel better soon!