Lana asked 5 years ago
hello I have two cats one large 23lbs the other iS 7 lbs. I quarantined them after applying large advantage ii to the big cat and small to small to keep them away from my infant. They were in there for 2 days then I bathed them so they wouldn’t get the chemicals around the house near my child. 7 days later I bathed them again after I had put coconut oil all over them apparently this kills fleas too. However they are still on them should I or can I reapply it’s been 9 days since applications with two baths with dawn dish soap.
Adam Retzer Staff answered 5 years ago
Lana,
I’ve never read any study saying coconut oil kills or repels fleas.
Bathing the cats can remove the treatment and result in the infestation continuing. Dawn dish soap will especially reduce efficacy, as it is designed to remove oils, and the treatment works through animals’ natural body oils. It’s very likely the initial Advantage II treatment isn’t going to work well after that kind of bath.
95-99% of the infestation population consists of eggs, larvae, and pupae living in the environment (carpets usually). These stages will continually mature and emerge as adults to re-infest animals. It usually takes at least 8 weeks to end an infestation, some times longer.
The reason why topical treatments work is because they remain active on the animal for 30 days, and then are re-applied for 3 months. This gives a 3 month window of protection while the immature flea stages all mature, emerge, and die out. While the cats are protected, the adult fleas won’t be able to survive long enough to mate and lay new eggs. However, if the cats are unprotected, new eggs will be laid and the infestation will continue.
Typically you shouldn’t retreat more than once every 30 days with Advantage II. But if you read the label, it states that you can treat early if needed. For kittens (2-5 lbs.), retreatment shouldn’t be done more often than once every 14 days. For small cats (5-9 lbs.) and large cats (over 9 lbs.), do not retreat more than once every 7 days.
