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When Flea Preventatives Fail

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Lindsay Butzer, DVM
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

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You're frustrated. You've bought your pet's flea medications, but your pet still has fleas! It's possible your flea preventative didn't work for the following reasons:

All pets in the house were not treated with flea preventatives

Fleas will undoubtedly attack all animals in the house.
Use a topical flea spray to immediately kill fleas, or consider Capstar which quickly works to kill adult fleas.

Your home and yard were not treated to kill fleas

Use a fogger, spray, or powder to treat furniture, carpet, and hard to reach areas inside the home.
Use a yard spray to treat outdoor areas.
Wash all pet bedding and blankets.
Vacuum all flooring.

Pet's skin is too dry

When using topical flea preventatives, adding a fatty acid supplement with Omega 3 may help improve your pet's skin health by restoring its softness and flexibility.
Healthy skin helps flea medication easily spread throughout the skin and increases effectiveness.

Topical flea preventative wasn't properly applied to pet's skin

Do not put topical flea preventatives on your pet's coat hair because this does not allow the medication to work through the skin.
Make sure you apply the medication to the skin on your pet's back in between the shoulder blades.
New flea preventatives are moving away from topical application and can instead be administered orally. It's less mess with improved effectiveness! Learn more about the benefits of oral flea preventatives.

Tip

To avoid skin irritation, do not rub the flea preventative solution into your pet's skin or hair.