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Can I use flea shampoo and topical treatment together on my cat?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

My cats have fleas. I bought Sentry Purrscriptions Plus flea shampoo & CatMD Advanced2 topical flea treatment. Cats are easy to bathe. How and when should I use these products? I don't think I should use them simultaneously but could I use them with a latency period? Topical treatment is weight appropriate.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Lauren Jones VMD

Veterinarian

Published on May 23rd, 2017

In general, flea shampoos are not effective and only serve to cause skin irritation. Also use caution when choosing topical flea prevention from less known brands, as many have been shown to be quite unsafe and ineffective. If your cats have a flea infestation, I would recommend giving your cats oral Capstar because this will kill adult fleas within 30 minutes, but it will not provide ongoing flea prevention. Simultaneously, apply a weight-appropriate dose of a high quality topical product for flea prevention (such as Advantage or Revolution) to all cats in the household. Bathing should not be necessary. However, if you find an excessive amount of flea dirt and debris on your cats that you want to wash off, you can bathe them in a gentle baby shampoo or oatmeal based pet shampoo. Should you choose to bathe them, be sure to wait at least 2-3 days after applying any topical flea prevention. I hope this helps!

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

    Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

    Published on December 28th, 2016

    I would not recommend bathing in flea shampoo, as it can be quite irritating to the skin and some cats react badly to the chemicals in it. You can get an oral tablet called Capstar (nitenpyram) that will safely kill all of the fleas on your cats within 30-60 minutes - just as effective as a flea bath, but much safer and less messy :) Capstar only lasts for 24 hours, so you will also need to start them on a good quality monthly flea control medication like Revolution or Advantage Multi to prevent them from becoming re-infested.

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