I bathed my kitten 12 hours after frontline sprayed, did it work at all?

Question

I took my 8 week old kitten to the vet yesterday and the vet said there are no fleas on her (she looked around her fur). But she still applied some medication just in case (she applied Frontline Spray which I now found out by calling the vet back but I spoke to the reception). So last night at about 3 AM I wake up with a flea on my face and a couple in the bed. Also the kitten kept scratching a lot which I first thought had to do with the medication but then we thought it was because of fleas. So we washed all the sheets on our bed and her bed and vacummed EVERYWHERE and then I figured I should give her a bath, which I did with kitty shampoo. The doc hadn't told me about not giving her a bath after the treatment and i didnt know what the treatment was. Now I am looking up Frontline Spray and it says not to bathe after 24 hours. What should I do? We only found 2 fleas on her and 3 in the bed but I am worried. She is not scratching anymore. But does frontline need to be reapplied

thanks Julie, I did call the vet earlier but only the receptionist was there and she did not know, so I will call back tomorrow...

Yes, I was planning to follow the vet's instructions. The vet didnt tell me anything about what the spray was, what the side effects were gonna be, or anything about not bathing her, because the vet thought she didn't have fleas at all and she said it was just "preventative".

I freaked out and washed her after finding fleas on my head and in the bed and on her... if the vet had told me not to I wouldn't have. and I didnt think to ask the vet, "should i not wash her for 24 hours?"

Answer 1

Reapply the frontline because you have washed all the flea killing ingredients away by bathing kitty.

It is a known fact that those flea meds work better when the coat is oily not after a bath. Frontline and advantage are suppose to be applied once per month and left on the kitty. Reapply once per month during flea season.

Yes you are going to see fleas for awhile. The flea meds only work on killing the adult fleas. However there are 4 stages to a fleas life and you must wait until they all reach adulthood before they will be killed and you will be flea free. Expect to see fleas occasionally over the next 3 weeks.

Answer 2

The fleas were leaving her because of the treatment, it was working. You just stopped it from working. I think it must be reapplied, but not immediately after the bath. Reapply it like tomorrow.
PS. It is a good idea not to do the exact opposite than advised by the vet. I am not playing it smart, but I have done such things to, and learned from them. Eg. I overdosed some cats with medication (including frontline). make sure you follow the instructions and quantities as indicated by the vet and the product.

Answer 3

If Frontline says not to bathe within 24 hours of application, yes, I'd be concerned. I think the best thing you can do is call your vet and let them know what happened. Your vet will have a better idea about what you should do than anyone here will.