Flea trouble - advantage doesn't work!

achrnysh

please help.

i have two indoor cats, we live in a one bed apartment.
my poor cats have had a flea problem for over two months now.
initially i tried Frontline spot one (twice for each cat within a month period) it worked when they had their first flea problem when we brought them home for the first time from the breeder. This time it didn't work.
Next we tried Advantage spot on for them, which the vet said was the best thing available, as spot on apparently doesn't do the job as well as it used to. still fleas. We then ordered Indorex spray.
Whilst my partner bathed the cats with Flea or Die (natural flea shampoo) after which all fleas seemed to die, and then he put advantage on for them once they were dry. In the meantime I hoovered and sprayed the Whole apartment. washed all the bedding etc. Indorex is meant to last a year for both live fleas and eggs from a single application.
They seemed to now have fleas for a little while, nice clean cats. Just now i have caught a flea on the female.
I really don't know what to do. I have used the best products that were highly recommended by the vets and other pet owners. But nothing works.
I am at the end of my wits. the poor cats are suffering again.
please help.

zaksmum

Advantage was useless with my dogs too.

I went back to Frontline for them and had no problems since.

fluffnutter

95% of fleas live in your home and not on your pets. I suspect the problem is your house, not the animals. What you're seeing is newly hatched fleas on your animals - they will soon die after biting, but you're seeing them nonetheless.

Hoovering the house once is simply not enough. You need to do this over and over again for weeks - a cycle of vacuuming, spraying, leaving for a few days, vacuuming, spraying, leaving for a few days etc. Wash all bedding as hot as you can, pay attention to soft furnishings and where the skirting board meets the floor. Move all the furniture every time and hoover behind it.

Indorex and Advantage do work but you have to really pay attention to the home. It can take months to rid your house of a flea infestation but you will get there if you're vigilant about the environment.

zaksmum

So how is it that when I used Advantage, the dogs were still scratching but when I used Frontline they stopped completely?

clayderwoman

make sure you're applying the advantage properly. i.e getting it on the skin also you shouldn't use it for 48 hours before or after you've bathed the animal as it needs the skin oils to be absorbed. If you read the leaflet in the box it tells you how to use it.
As for the indorex no insecticide will kill old crusty pupae but they will lay dormant in the house for up to 12 months. they hatch out into adult fleas when stimulated by vibration. Again if you read the indorex instructions it tells you to hoover vigorously every day for a week after application. The newly hatched fleas will be killed by the indorex on the carpet.
Also make sure you've sprayed the hoover bag with indorex too and everywhere your pet goes beds sofas etc

achrnysh

what you are saying is true.
I didn't know about the application of advantage to be done 48hours after a bath. BUT they had already had advantage on them prior to that, which had only been on for a week and a half at most.
and indorex vise, maybe i was sent a faulty product - as i have treated the house thoroughly sprayed under, behind and in between any crevices of all furniture, as well as flooring and skirting boards. But the aspect of the pupae waking up and not being killed by indorex stands. i didn't know about hoovering vigorously, as it wasn't on the bottle's instructions. but surely the pupae that wake up should be killed by the product AND repelled by advantage?

clayderwoman

they will be killed by the indorex when they hatch but it takes up to 24 hours if you hoover you'll wake them all sooner and trap them in the hoover bag

moggymutt

achrnysh wrote: »

what you are saying is true.
I didn't know about the application of advantage to be done 48hours after a bath. BUT they had already had advantage on them prior to that, which had only been on for a week and a half at most.
and indorex vise, maybe i was sent a faulty product - as i have treated the house thoroughly sprayed under, behind and in between any crevices of all furniture, as well as flooring and skirting boards. But the aspect of the pupae waking up and not being killed by indorex stands. i didn't know about hoovering vigorously, as it wasn't on the bottle's instructions. but surely the pupae that wake up should be killed by the product AND repelled by advantage?

Advantage should not be used again so soon as only one and a half weeks after a previous application.

spartacusthe1st

Go on to https://www.ourpetworld.com
And order advocat, In the uk it's prescription only and it's what most vets use now. It's half the cost on this website about £15 for 3 pipettes, and free delivery.
Might take up to 10 days to get it in the post but I swear its THE best flea treatment out there!!

Rummer

We have ongoing issues with fleas too. The house has been sprayed every 6 months with a vet recommended spray and we treat our cats every 4 weeks with a vet approved product and still our cats have them on and off.

At the moment we are using Effexor however I am going to try a different product and see if it has a better effect.

spartacusthe1st

Well I'm glad I bothered to reply