If I buy advantage or frontline plus for my 6 cats will it work forever?
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at
8:40 am
I’m moving soon to another place. if I buy frontline plus, use it on all the cats to kill the fleas.
So my question is when I move will the be flea free if I don’t let them outside.
Advantage, Frontline, (and Revolution) are only effective for about a month. The makers recommend you repeat the treatment monthly.
Going outside is not the only way that cats can get fleas. Fleas can get inside and onto cats in many other ways, for instance, people can carry fleas on their clothes.
We do not use any of the treatments each month (we have quite a few more cats than you do and we simply can’t afford it – I mean we really can’t afford it!). Instead we monitor the cats for fleas, primarily in the summer because, at least around here, we have never had a problem in the winter. If we find fleas or flea "dirt" on a cat, we will treat that cat and continue to monitor the others. We go over them with a flea come every so often.
The following is what we do if we have a major problem and it is what I recommend others do -
First get Frontline, Advantage, or Revolution from the vet to treat the cats. These products are intended to be used once a month to keep fleas off the cat.
Then, if you need to treat the house – which is often the case – use a product which not only kills adult fleas but also prevents eggs from hatching.
When we have bad flea years (haven’t had one in along time – knock on wood
we use Raid products for the house.
They make a fogger called Raid ® : Flea Killer Plus Fogger
http://www.killsbugsdead.com/fop_fkpf.asp
They also make an area spray called Raid ® : Flea Killer Plus Carpet & Room Spray
http://www.killsbugsdead.com/fop_fk_pc_rs.asp
We have had very good results with those products.
Remember, you want a product that not only kills adult fleas but also prevents eggs from hatching. If you use something that does not prevent the eggs from hatching, when they hatch you are back where you started.
There is a product, Capstar, which is a pill you give the cat. It kills all of the fleas on the cat within about 5 hours.
http://www.capstar.novartis.us/
It does not provide long lasting protection – it merely kills all the fleas on the cat.
You can use it to kill all the fleas on the cat and then treat the cat with Frontline, Advantage, or Revolution, and then treat the cat.
Ask your vet about Capstar and using it in combination with other products.
Capstar is available only by prescription.
We have used it to kill all the fleas on feral cats who we could not handle to apply something else. We transfer them to another cage or carrier, move them out of the room, fog the room, give them the Capstar in food, and then put them back in the main cage.
Capstar is like magic – it really will kill all of the fleas on a cat very quickly and it is safe enough that you could use it every day, if need be – though that would be an expensive way to control fleas, day to day.
Indoor cats can get fleas that people carry in on their clothes. If you think that might be happening, get an insecticide you can spray on the yard to kill fleas.
You will probably need to get a sprayer. The ones that attach to the end of a hose might be the type you could use.
Ask the people at a garden store, Lowes, or Home Depot, or similar store for help picking an insecticide and a sprayer.
So you’re saying you want to know will Frontline Plus kill fleas on your cats even if you move to a different place but don’t let them outside?
First of all, it depends what you apply this medication to. If it’s like a cream that you rub onto your cats’ backs it should stay ON your cats wherever they go (until it wears off. check the label.) If it’s like a house cleaning spray kind of thing, it should continue killing fleas where you live now, but won’t affect the cats anymore if you move away from where you sprayed.
Secondly, it’s okay to let cats outside (unless the law says otherwise). Cats usually don’t get fleas just from going outside occasionally. Usually fleas live and breed in those fluffy commercial cat beds – which need to be washed, like, ALL the time. A cat (remember: cat = animal) will be perfectly happy in a clean open-top cardboard box with some dry newspapers in a warm corner. This is much easier to keep clean and flea-free.
In short, it depends where the medication goes – on your cats or in your house. Also, the cleaner you can keep your cats’ beds, the less chance there is of them getting fleas.
My suggestion is to treat with Frontline Plus before you move, and once after you move. You can, of course, track fleas inside yourself, but I have never found that to be an issue.
By doing two treatments, you pretty well make sure not only are the fleas dead, the eggs are rendered dead also.
Also, it might be a slim possibility that you bring in fleas in your boxes, etc. in moving.
If you move you should keep using it to be sure there is no fleas where you are going to. After you move keep using it for a year, though you might not need to use it every month. If they aren’t going outside it’s just in case there were any fleas in the new place. So it might be a good idea to keep using it for a while.
No, you need to do the treatment once a month. One treatment won’t work forever.
♥A♥P♥
haha no. it’s like every month i think. Fleas get in whether or not you let your pets outside.
No cat will be flea free forever.
Maybe for a bit longer than a month if you keep them inside but usually the treatment only works for a month regardless of the area’s they are allowed.