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My cats still have fleas after treatment. What should I do next?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

I noticed my two cats had fleas. So I flea bath them several times. Then I went and bought some flea medicine. A week later after treating them they still have fleas. Would it be alright to treat them with a better brand of Medicine

4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT

Licensed Veterinary Technician

Published on August 13th, 2018

If you used a topical preventative and applied it soon after bathing, it won't have been as effective as it should be. These produce use the oils in the skin to spread. When you bathe a pet, these oils are stripped and you have to wait for them to build up again. Typically, it recommended to apply a topical 3 days before or 3 days after a bath or getting wet. It should then be used monthly for at least 3 consecutive months, preferably year round. You should also treat the environment, since most fleas live off of the pet and only hop on for feeding. Vacuum everywhere the cats have been. Discard of the bag or empty the canister outdoors immediately after. Wash all bedding in the hottest water allowable by fabric and dry in the dryer. Use a cat safe area treatment to prevent reinfestation. An oral preventative, such as CapStar, can be given to quickly kill any adult fleas on the cats. Get it from your vet or from the local Petco.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on December 19th, 2016

    You have done the right thing by bathing the product right off. This typically is all that is needed to ensure your pets safety, especially if you have done it right away before the product had a chance to be absorbed. So since you have already applied a flea preventative, the only safe thing you can give KeAnu right away is an oral medication called Capstar (Nitenpyram), which wil kill all the fleas on her within 1 hr. This however is not a preventative, so keep KeAnu away from fleas or flea infested areas for a minimum of 2 weeks, at which time it is safe to apply another topical flea preventative. I would recommend Revolution for cats.

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    Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on July 18th, 2017

    I'm surprised Mylo has fleas after Capstar: you may want to talk to your veterinarian about the topical preventative that you used. Some topicals don't work well in certain areas of the country due to flea resistance and some take awhile to kill adult fleas so you may continue to see adults for awhile. It is safe to give a bath with blue Dawn dish soap but you do not need to add vinegar I would not recommend it since it might cause irritation to the eyes, nose and mouth. If it has been more 24 hours since the last Capstar you could also repeat this medication. You may also need to treat the environment if there is a heavy flea load (talk to a pest control company about how to treat your home and yard) and make sure all pets in the house are on a good preventative.

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    Answered By Vanessa Yeager DVM MPH

    Veterinarian

    Published on October 9th, 2017

    Hi and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I will have to know what the medication was in order to advise further. Some flea medications that are topical absorb and dry fairly quickly within 24 hours so a bath two days later would not effect the efficacy of the medication. It would be helpful to know which medication was used. Typically, you do not wan to administer more medication than indicated so Kitty is not overloaded with medication.

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