Frontline or Advantage Cat Flea Treatment? by:Lec Watkins
The two biggest names in the world of topical cat flea medicine are Advantage and Frontline
. How do they differ and how do you know which is best for you and your cat?
Both Frontline and Advantage offer month long protection from fleas. Both are given as flea drops. These are 'topical' cat flea treatments which you put onto your pet's skin. From one spot on your cat's skin the active ingredients in the products are taken up by the sebaceous glands to be distributed all over the body. Being oil based, both are fully waterproof so you can bathe your pet without a problem.
So far, both these cat flea medicines seem the same. But, though they are used in the same way they do contain different active ingredients which give them different attributes.
Advantage Speed
Advantage cat flea drops win for speed of flea killing action. Within an hour of contact fleas die and only 12 hours after using the product all existing fleas and their larvae should be dead. Frontline on the other hand, takes a few hours to really get going but still manages to destroy all fleas within 24 hours.
Frontline Power
Frontline for cats wins for power. Both products destroy adult and larval fleas. However, Frontline goes one step further by halting the development of flea eggs too and destroying ticks.
Long Lasting Flea Control
Advantage will give consistent flea protection for a month. Frontline is guaranteed to do the same but is often effective for up much longer. Six weeks is the average effective period but sometimes up to ten weeks will be covered.
Frontline or Advantage
If ticks are a problem for your cat Frontline is definitely the best brand of flea drops. If not, things are a little less clear cut. Though both products have equally good safety records owners may wish to give only the minimal variety of chemicals to their cat. In this case, using Advantage with only one active ingredient would be the preferred choice.
Personally unless Advantage can be sourced significantly more cheaply than Frontline (which is not usually the case) I recommend using Frontline Cat Flea Treatment. This is because it often continues working for such an extended period. This means less chemicals used and a little money saved too.