What is the best way to rid your cat from fleas? We have tried Advantage 2 and Frontline also. Neither one did anything at all, we also don't like to use chemicals on him. We even tried a new product called Furlife which is an all natural pendant that attached to his collar. That doesn't work either.
Thank You
Hi John,
Treating fleas is a frustrating process, as I'm sure you know. It doesn't just involve treating the cat but also the entire environment. One flea can lay about 50 eggs per day and you're usually not just dealing with one flea. The entire home environment may have eggs as well as larvae and pupae present, especially between couch cushions, in rugs, carpets, etc.
When treating a pet with a product, it's important to understand that most don't provide repellency. They only kill fleas once the fleas bite, or at least come in contact with the skin. So if you still have an environmental problem with fleas in the home, you will continue to see them on your cat, even if your cat has a preventative product.
First steps are washing all bedding on a hot water cycle, at least a couple times. Basic vacuuming or even steam cleaning in the home can help reduce the number of flea eggs, larvae and pupae that are present. Some infestations are persistent and folks have to contact a professional exterminator.
While resistance to products has been documented, most parasitologists still believe that most product "failures" can be narrowed down to not having the right expectations. Essentially, when using an effective product, you will still see fleas for a time until the environment is rid of them. And again, heavy infestations in the home will still result in seeing fleas on a cat until the levels in the home are reduced with environmental control. Using a product with an insect growth regulator (Frontline Plus and Revolution Plus as examples) can kill flea eggs on a cat before they hatch again, which helps to speed up resolution.
Eggs in the home environment may remain latent for a few weeks before hatching and developing further. This can sometimes look like you've got an infestation controlled, only to see more fleas again. This again, makes many assume product failure when in actuality it is just residual fleas in the environment hatching that were already there weeks ago.
The best expectation for how long this process can take is 1-3 months of time. You have to account for cycles of previously laid flea eggs hatching and being killed again by products.
Natural products don't work very well in my experience. I have had a couple clients who have insisted on using natural products like tea tree oil only to have the problem continue to get worse and they finally relent to using a topical product. You can also consider an oral product like Credelio cat, but all oral products will require a prescription. We do have a number of articles with detailed information on flea/tick products. Flea collars and products that go just around the neck I also don't find to be as effective as other topical or oral products. I have seen some patients with a flea collar and the fleas are avoiding the collar itself but are still having a party over the cat's hindquarters.
While I have little experience using it, you can check out our article on diatomaceous earth, which some use as a more natural environmental control alternative, though putting it directly on a cat is discouraged.
Here is a list of more articles on our site regarding fleas and flea infestations: How to Get Rid of Fleas on Your Cat, 11 Best Flea Treatments for Cats, Cat Fleas: Identification, Life Cycle, and Treatment.