In order to understand why your flea medication is not working on your cat, it is important to understand how cat flea medications function.

How does cat flea medication work?

There are two main types of cat flea medication: topical solutions and pills.

Topical solutions:

Topical flea solutions for cats work by releasing a flea killing chemical into your cat’s sebaceous glands. Then, the chemical spreads through all your cat’s glands and covers the majority of your cat’s skin. Once on the skin, the chemical will cover fleas and paralyze their entire nervous system. Then, the fleas can no longer bite or even move, and they eventually fall off.

Flea Pill Medication

Pills for flea medication in cats work by releasing a special chemical (insecticide) into your cat’s blood stream. When a flea bites your cat, it ingests some of your cat’s blood. Once the insecticide is in the bloodstream, it immediately kills the flea when it is ingested. This is why flea medication can work in as little as 25 minutes.

Now that you understand how cat flea medication works, you are ready to learn about the reasons why flea medication sometimes doesn’t work on cats.

Flea medication not working on cat

The main reasons your flea medication is not working on a cat is: incorrect application, ill-advised behavior, inadequate medication, and patience.

Incorrect application:

The number 1 reason that flea medication is not working on a cat is because the owner did not properly administer the flea medication. For oral pills, this could mean that the cat did not eat a full meal before given the pill, which could weaken the effect. For topical solutions, this usually means that you did not put the solution in the right area of your cat’s skin. It is important to put the topical solution exactly where instructed so that it reaches the correct glands and spreads to the whole body. It is very important that you read carefully the instructions on how to administer the flea medication to your cat. Also pay attention to dosage so that you make sure you give your cat enough.

Ill-advised behavior

This is most common in topical solution flea medications. Most topical solutions advise that you do not let your cat swim or take a bath for a certain period of time while the medication is spreading to the rest of your body. If your cat’s skin gets wet too soon, it can wash away all of the medication. This is why it is extremely important to read the label and instructions on the medication.

Inadequate medication

It is important to note exactly what kind of flea mediation you are buying, as all flea medications are not equal. Some flea medications kill fleas, ticks, and their eggs, while some only kill adult fleas. Additionally, some flea medications only protect against fleas that are already on your cat, and do not prevent new infestations. It is important that you understand the functionality of flea medication when you buy it.

Patience

Sometimes you just need to be patient when it comes to flea medications. Sometimes it may appear that the flea medication is not working on your cat, but in reality you just need to wait a little longer. While some flea medications can kill fleas in as little as 25 minutes, some medications can take longer than a day to come into effect.