Bayer manufactures two different types of flea control that makes pet owners feel confused with one another which can be very critical for the health of felines. We are referring to Advantix and Advantage. Many a times, pet owners want to know which is the best flea and tick preventative treatment amongst these two. There is a deadly difference between Advantix and Advantage which can seriously harm your kitty’s health. Let us first of all look at one important difference between these two products. Advantage is recommended to be used for dogs and cats with a different product manufactured for each pet. While Advantix also popularly known as K9 Advantix which is specifically for dogs.
Let us now look at some important points that distinguish these two products:
Advantage is a monthly topical treatment that can be used on the skin of a dog or cat on a monthly basis for flea prevention. Imidacloprid is the active ingredient present in this product. While Advantix is a monthly topical treatment that assists in preventing and treating fleas, ticks, biting flies, mosquito and lice on dogs. It contains imidacloprid and permethrin as the active ingredients.
Due to the integration of permethrin, there is a serious difference between Advantage and Advantix. The reason for that being dogs and other mammals are able to metabolize permethrin effectively; which can be considered as a safe option for them. But cats cannot metabolize this ingredient which causes them to suffer from toxic effects; if exposed. This is popularly considered to be permethrin toxicity. Your kitty can get exposed of this active ingredient through: direct application, close contact with a doggy that has been treated within the last 2 days, or if she has groomed the treated pooch’s fur after the application.
There are certain pet owners that perceive that Advantix can be used on both dogs and cats just like Advantage. But that is not true.
Due to exposure of permethrin to kitties, they suffer from permethrin toxicosis that can take up to 3 days following the exposure of Advantix on cats. Some of the symptoms of this exposure are:
- Depression
- Drooling
- Hyper-excitability
- Loss of appetite
- Loss of coordination
- Potentially loss of life if not treated on time
- Seizures
- Tremors and twitching sometimes on the ear tips
- Vomiting
Treatment
The treatment of your kitty can be done by decontamination of the skin through a bath, seizure control or tremor along with supportive care. One of the problems is intense raising of the body temperature due to incessant muscle activity coupled with tremors. In order to control this tremor, you can use Methocarbamol. Furthermore, you can use Valium for any seizure that may develop. These treatments need to be given with the aid of an intravenous injection to control the clinical signs. In order to keep the feline hydrated, intravenous fluids are given to her along with monitoring of vital sign and providing safe environment; so that she does not gets harmed during this stage of in coordination and disorientation. Remember, the clinical signs of tremors generally lasts for ½ a day to a day but it may persist for up to 3 days.
Conclusion
In order to prevent this ordeal, it is recommended to never use Advantix in a multi-pet household because accidents can occur. If you want to use Advantix on your pooch where you also have a kitty, it is important to keep the treated dog in an area which is not accessible to the cat. Allow the feline to get near the pooch only when the treatment has been fully absorbed into the dog’s skin. Before getting either of the two products, ensure to check the product labels and read all the fine print as a safety measure.
