I used Hartz Flea drop for kittens about 3 weeks ago, want to use advantage for kittens tonight, Can I??

Question

Basically I had put some of the Hartz Flea Drops for kittens on my 5 month old cat about 3 weeks ago and it didn't seem to kill the fleas on him. I have some Advantage for kittens on hand and would like to use it tonight to kill off the last of the fleas. Can I use it safely at this point? The vet had recommended waiting about a month before using another medicine. I'm thinking that since Hartz is a topical medicine not absorbed into the bloodstream vs. Advantage which IS absorbed into the body, it might be okay at this time frame? What do you think?

Answer 1

call your vet in the morning and ask them...its better to be safe than sorry

Answer 2

How much does your cat weigh? Under 9lbs or over 9lbs? Most if not all topical flea medications have to be applied according to the animal's weight- if you use the under 9lb dose on a cat that weighs 10 or more pounds, the animal will not get the full benefit of the product. Do you see where I'm going with this? The reason why the Hartz product did not work is because the fleas are immune to it. Ever heard of the saying "You get what you pay for?" Anyway, Advantage as a topical medication works by killing adult fleas and eventually the flea eggs if you use it consistently- 1 dose is applied once a month, and your cat is protected for that month until the next dose is applied. So you can use the Advantage at anytime- just not with other topical flea control medications like the Hartz products. Hope this helped.

Answer 3

Are you crazy! Hartz flea products have killed and or caused serious injury to thousands of cats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wash the cat and use a fle comb do not put anything else on the cat that could even remotely cause a reaction to happen. You are very very lucky, your kitten is still alive. I have a neurologically damage cat from having Hartz flea drops on for 30 minutes before he was bathed and taken to a vet... I stree a flea comb, just have a bowl of soapy water to dip it into and the fleas will drown, the soap breaks the water tention.

If you have any doubt that what I am saying is the truth about Hartz just check out the web sites below

Answer 4

First off I'd bath the kitten, to get any, if there's if any, residue left from the first. The Hartz flea med's has a very small amount of pesticides init and if your lucky killed a flea or two... I would use the real stuff right away! I would then confine him into a small room, ie the bathroom for a couple days to give the fleas that fell off him and all the eggs a chance to die, fleas don't like to bite people, but will hitch a ride any chance they can get. Also make sure you wash his beding and vaccum the entire house! Also do not put a flea collar on him, there has been studies that show cats and dogs can get pesticide poisoning from them!!!

Answer 5

Please don't EVER use a Hartz flea control medicine for your pets! Those products have killed pets and should be removed from the market!

Follow your vet's advice and don't use any medicines until the vet says it's safe to do so.

In the meantime, you can safely get rid of the fleas by using Dawn dish detergent, warm water and a flea comb. A web search will fill you in on all the details...

Once it's safe to use flea meds on the kitty, look into using Revolution for them instead of Advantage. Revolution will also protect it from worms, including heart worms. It costs a bit more than Advantage, but the additional protection is well worth the few extra dollars you'll spend.

Good luck with the kitty! :-)

Answer 6

I moved my answer from the bottom to the top wiIh this disclaimer: I don't have a veternian license and what I'm suggesting should not be construed as being medical advice for your pet other than from a laymen.

SO TO ANSWER YoUR QUESTION.

If the 1st treatment was a 30 day dose, I would go ahead and treat the cat with the new medicine. If the original treatment was a 90 day dose I would treat the cat with 1/2 the dose of the new medicine and see if that solves the problem. Then make the decsion in a few days if you want to treat her again with the other half.


I;m an ol country boy and as is the norm when you have as many animals as we do, we often treat them medically ourselves. Meaning that I vaccinate my dogs myself and about once a year have to give my wifes cat a penicllin shot or two to clear up a bladder infection. Along with, the other treatments that go on as part of having a horse farm. All these medicines are available at the feed store.

What you say makes sense however, so does listening to the advice of your veternairan.

On the farm, there is a distinction between my house dog and the farm dogs. Lucy, my house dogis a family pets. Farm dogs are dumped dogs that find their way here and tomorrow he may decide he has found a better deal down the road and that is ok. If he comes back, that is ok too.

Farm dogs live at the farm all the time and sleep in the barn. Lucy, on the other hand, is a part of the family. She lives in town and gets to go with me most everywhere I go, including the farm. She has great manners, social skills and intellegence.

I explain all this to let you know that whereas, Holly, a farm dog got kicked in the head by a horse a few years ago and lost an eye. I gave her a penicillin shot and asprin. She laid down a few days and has been fine ever sense. Lucy would have been rushed to the vet. However, Lucy got her paw broke when a horse stepped on it and I treated that myself too and she is perfectly ok.

My point is that if you are going to be crushed if on an outside chance the cat dies, I want you to wait and talk to the vet again. I don't have a veternian license and what I'm suggesting should not be construed as being medical advice for your pet other than from a laymen.

SO TO ANSWER YoUR QUESTION.

If the 1st treatment was a 30 day dose, I would go ahead and treat the cat with the new medicine. If the original treatment was a 90 day dose I would treat the cat with 1/2 the dose and see if that solves the problem then make the decsion in a few days if you want to treat her again with the other half.

Answer 7

Wow, your kitten lived thru an application of an Hartz product? My vet said NEVER use Hartz as they are known to kill pets with their flea and tick stuff;oops I digress.
I agree that you should call the vets office. It is "about" time; But still ,better safe than sorry.

BTW: I just bought 6 applications of Frontline Plus for cats from Austrailia for less that 3 months would cost here(anywhere-I looked) That price included $10 for insurance and shipping. The Aussie dollar is worth less than our dollar in their economy.

Answer 8

It'll be quite safe - it'd be safe a few days after. It's Hartz itself that is harmful, not mixing it with Frontline, which is not harmful. If you want extra assurance, ring Merila (the company who make Frontline) - their number will be on the box. Don't leave your doggy with fleas any longer! And please help spread the word to all you know what you've just found out - Hartz doesn't work! (and is potentially harmful, like most petshop products) Chalice EDIT: No point in bathing the dog 3 weeks after applying the Hartz, if it was going to cause harm it would've done by now! Also, don't bathe an animal within 3 days of applying Frontline - Frontline requires the natural oils of the skin to work, so you mustn't wash these off by bathing.

Answer 9

Don't use the Hartz stuff. My friend is a vet tech and she said that she has seen cats and dogs die from that stuff. Advantage works great. That's what I use for my cats. I would call the vet though and find out if you shouls wait a week to make it a month.

Answer 10

I think you should be fine but to be safe you may want to cal lthe vet in the AM.....and just for future purchases Hartz flea products DONT WORK FOR CRAP!!! I know this out of experience sadly a lot of people fall into that trap!! BEST OF LUCK@

Answer 11

I would say yes go ahead and use it. never use Hartz flea products. Many cats have became very ill or even died from Hartz Flea products!