Liz asked 5 years ago
I have two large cats who have been dealing with fleas. On the advice of the woman at my local pet store, I used a generic brand of Frontline on the cats. I don’t know if I did it correctly. I put tried to get it directly on the skin, but I noticed later that their fur near the area I applied it was greasy and damp. I did separate them so they would not lick it off each other.
Whether I applied it correctly or not, the very next week the cats had more fleas than they had before I started treatment. Did I do it wrong, or should I switch to the more expensive Advantix for cats? I want to get this right, because I can only treat them after 30 days, and I don’t want to have to wait another month for this piece of the treatment (I have sprayed Precor 2000 and been vacuuming, etc., but what is the point if the best defense – the drops – isn’t working?)
Adam Retzer Staff answered 5 years ago
Liz,
Sorry for the late reply.
Do not switch yet if it was only one week. The treatment is very likely working. Flea infestation can be deceptive. Only 1-5% of infestations are adult fleas. The remaining 95-99% of the population are eggs, larvae, and pupae living in the environment. At the time of the 1st treatment, there are going to be a huge amount of immature stages. They will be continually emerging from the carpets. This can make infestations appear worse even after pet treatments.
However, if the treatment is working, these new adults won\’t survive on the animal long enough to mate and lay eggs. So the immature stages in the environment will be last generation. Usually it takes around 8 weeks for infestations to end, sometimes longer. This is because of the environmental stages.
