I think my cat is allergic to fleas. I even use frontline. Does anyone know symptoms of flea allergy?

Question

When the Frontline wears off the itching and sores come back.

Answer 1

My two Rottweilers are allergic to fleas and its a pain in the butt!,If your cat is an out side cat, she will will pick up fleas as soon as she comes into contact with an untreated cat. If she lies in the garden you can throw garden lime down, it suffocates the dirt fleas but wont hurt your cat or the garden, If she is an inside cat, you may have to get someone in to spray your carpets etc, you will have to find some where to put the cat for about 24 hours.
Symptoms of flea allergies are continual chewing of the site of a flea bite, loss of hair in that area or sores, if this is happening you may need to take your cat to the vet to get some cortisone to help relieve the itching and calm the sores down.
Also keep up with the frontline too, I swap to advantage now and again, just so there is no chance of an immunity being built up.

Answer 2

Then don't let the Frontline wear off - use it monthly!

It does sound like your cat is allergic to fleas, basically this is characterised by excess itching and sores/bald patches appearing on the body, particularly the back and flanks.

You need to eliminate all fleas. Frontline is good, but it isn't a complete treatment - I would suggest progressing to Frontline Plus which is the same thing but with an added ingredient to kill the flea eggs and larvae. You also need to spray your house, because this is where many of the fleas are. I also suggest a 6-monthly Program injection for your cat, from your vet - this will sterilise any remaining fleas. That's the complete, all-round way to attack fleas.

Chalice

Answer 3

How old is your cat? Young cats cannot tolerate fleas as well as more mature cats. Did you know, for example, that fleas can kill a small kitten by sheer loss of blood?

If the Frontline is "wearing off" and there is still a medical problem, perhaps there are still fleas in your house that have just hatched and those are bothering your cat. You can't just treat the cat; you have to treat your house for fleas as well.

The Frontline should be working for months at a time. If it's not, you need to treat the other sources of the fleas.

Or it's possible the Frontline is what your cat is sensitive to. I'd take the cat in and have the vet look at the sores and get some advice from him or her. This is nothing to mess with. :)

Answer 4

THat could be a flea allergy.

I work at a vet hospital, and we are finding that Frontline is considerably less effective against fleas than it used to be. The manufacturer says they haven't changed formulas, so it's probably that fleas are becoming resistant to its active ingredients. (It takes about five years for such resistance to develop, and Frontline has been on the market nine years.)

We are recommending Advantage for cats now. It seems to be still quite effective against fleas. Like Frontline, it stays on the surface of the body and does not get into the animal's system. The cost per dose is about the same.

Flea allergy causes intense itching in susceptible cats, along with scratching so hard it tears up the skin and sores develop. Often the vet has to treat the sores with antibiotics and ant-itch medicines while treating the fleas with Advantage, to break the cycle.

Answer 5

It doesn't sound like you were ripped off. I work in a Pets At Home and we've recently started selling Frontline and had no compliants- I also use Frontline on my own cat (I'm in Hampshire) and never had any issues with fleas, and he's eight years old. Are you sure it's fleas causing the problems, and not something psychological like OCD with her grooming and itching, or even something like a brain issue, like damage? I don't think fleas would be able to withstand that, and vets aren't known for ripping people off, especially since Frontline works fine.

Answer 6

Well first, how do you know he even has fleas? Second, if he was wearing the frontline how does he even have fleas. Third, if he does have fleas it doesn't mean he is allergic to them that is what happens when small insects bite animals. If they are not going away then you should take him back to the vet and get something stronger.

Answer 7

Your cat would driving you mad because of its scratching. Usually if a cat is allergic to fleas you will find they scratch so much that they rub the fur off in patches.

Try using a different brad of flea control. I didnt' find Frontline worked that well on mine, so I changed to Advantage and it works great. If the problem persists, you will need to take furbaby to the vet.

Answer 8

Frontline may be the problem not the fleas.I had a cat who everytime I stuck flea repellant on her she would jerk around a day or so afterward and I wondered the same thing.However when I visited my vet it turned out my Kitty was allergic to The flea repellant and not the fleas.Some pets are real sensitive to things like this.I would consult a vet and don't pay out rageous prices.Go to Dr.Kenneth Hill I promise he wil give you a fair price.

Answer 9

My dog is allergic to fleas, and that's exactly what happens to him...he gets hot spots, itching, so he digs and digs creating sores.

Answer 10

Signs to look for are your cats' skin is extremely irriated and constant scratching resulting in the fur being lost ..