About Advantage Flea Drops for Cats

Fleas plague most cats from time to time. Fleas not only make your cat miserable, but they can also transmit tapeworms, an internal parasite that can cause malnutrition as well as anemia in younger or debilitated cats. Advantage by Bayer, is a topical flea adulticide that works to kill fleas for a full month before a new application is necessary.

  1. Benefits

    • Advantage goes to work immediately, stopping fleas from biting the cat within three to five minutes after the initial application. This is especially important for cats with severe flea allergies and anemia caused by heavy infestation.

    Residual Action

    • All adult fleas on the cat are killed within 12 hours of the initial application. This action keeps the adult fleas from reproducing or from passing any infective tapeworm larvae.

    How It Works

    • Advantage retains residual action for up to one month and is waterproof, meaning that your cat can be groomed and it will not wash off. This is possible because the topical medication pools in the hair follicles, which redistribute it periodically.

    Active Ingredient

    • The active ingredient in Advantage is imidacloprid and works by paralyzing the flea, rendering it unable to bite almost immediately and ultimately killing it. The drug kills both adult fleas and larval fleas.

    Drawbacks

    • While Advantage offers cats and their owners an effective way to control fleas year round, there are some drawbacks. Advantage is priced higher than many other more traditional flea products on the market including shampoos, dips and sprays. And, as with any medication, there is a potential for allergic reactions, sometimes severe, to develop.