# Frontline for Dogs on the Cats??



## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

Is this going to work? I think it is~ but before I put it on my cats let me run it by y'all and see if I'm missing something.

So~ I went out to buy more flea/tick stuff yesterday~ a friend showed me that Frontline Top Spot for CATS had the exact same active ingrediant of "fipronil" in the exact same percentage at 9.7% as the Frontline TopSpot for dogs has. Both products state that the other 90.3% of the product is "Inert Ingrediants". As far as we can tell~ the ONLY difference between the Frontline TopSpot for Dogs and for Cats was the amount contained in the little applicators at 0.136 fl oz for dogs and 0.017 fl oz for cats. But both products COST $45..............

So~ IF I'm doing the math correctly~ AND I'm not missing something scary (I already checked~ Frontline TopSpot is NOT the product that is dangerous for cats to be around your dog when wet)...........then............

For $45 I can purchase 3 individually packaged doses of Frontline for Cats~

Or for $45 I can purchase 3 individually packaged doses of Frontline for Dogs~ use a sryinge to extract each individual packages into 8 cat size doses (yeah~ I think it's 8 doses in each one! 0.136 divided by 0.017 equals 8). So infact I would wind up with 24 cat size doses for the same $45 I would pay for 3 prepackaged cat sized doses?

Am I missing something?


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## Terry W (Mar 10, 2006)

opening a package, and exposing it to air, will alter the 'chemical makeup' of the active ingredients and the carrier agents---
why not try getting your stuff from a catalog, like from UPCO-- ususally less expensive, and in the appropiate sized, single use package.....


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## Janis Sauncy (Apr 11, 2006)

I do this with Advantage. I did "the math" and figured out that for a few dollars more than what the cat size cost, I could get _eight times_ the amount by buying the largest dog size.

I just measure it out in a syringe. I make sure I put the cap back on tightly and then put the tube in a zip-lock bag.

I've never noticed any loss of effectiveness.

Janis


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## holleegee (Mar 3, 2005)

I don't know....I asked my vet about it and he about jumped out of his skin. He said not to try it. (and I don't even buy it from my vet, I buy it at Petco at their vet.) I should have asked why but I didn't. I wanted to buy the biggest tube (I think for dogs 60lbs) and measure it out for my two dogs and cats. Next time I go I'll ask for a reason why.


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## celticfarmgal (Feb 25, 2008)

I do that with advantage too they have handy resealable caps. never tried it with frontline , advantage was always cheaper and worked just as good
vet probabally freaked cuz some other stuff ( Advantix comes to mind ) is toxic to cats


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## ldc (Oct 11, 2006)

And, just in case anyone can use this, www.petshed.com's site charges only 1/3 of what the local vet supply charges here. For: heart worm rx, Frontline and Advantage. It's in Australia; I've used them for 4 yrs or so, takes 3 -10 work days to arrive, and only 5$ to ship. No perscription form needed. Meds are in same boxes as here; same brands. I do what the above posters do; I buy the largest dog sized Advantage (think it's 55K) and split it among the dogs and cat! Send some up to my mom etc. ldc


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## Organic Cowgirl (Oct 6, 2007)

I've been doing this for about 8 years now. (? errr, not sure...but almost as long as I've had my dog. Maybe longer, I may have done it with just the cats and ferrets.) I'm on the "Ferret Mailing List" and there are several vets on there. They say when vets balk at this, it's either due to ignorance on the product or from potential loss of sales. The FML folks use a couple of methods. One is the measured with a syringe method. The other, which is what I've used all this time is the "One Drip per Pound" method. That method works well for Frontline Plus and one other one. (Advantage, maybe?) Some of the topical flea treatments aren't ferret-safe, but I can't remember which are which.

Anyway, we have a 45 lb dog. I can get the 44-88 lb dog package and treat my ferret (two drops) and my cat (10 drops) and then put the rest on my dog. 

I can also get the REALLY big dog size (89+lbs, I think) and do my cat, my ferret, the two stray kittens we have right now, my dog and my MIL's dog. All from one big dog dose, which is priced only $2 over the cost of doing _only_ my dog with the one that is weight-appropriate. 

My animals have spent all these years free of fleas/ticks and healthy as can be. (Errr, as healthy as can be when I dump chemicals on them each month. )

I have two options. Do it this way, or don't use the treatment at all. I couldn't afford to buy them all individually.


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## DamnearaFarm (Sep 27, 2007)

I forget which one I use, but i've been doing this for a few years- courtesy of my small animal vet. One big dog tube will do all six cats with some left over.


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

Thanks so much! I'm a dog lover, my husband is a cat lover, and my sister lives with us too~ between the three of us we've worked out way up to 6 cats~ and soon to be 5 dogs (I have two dogs~ I'm getting a third~ and my sister lives with us with her two little dogs!) I was going broke on flea medicine.....but willing to give up a lot of other things before I gave up either the animals or let fleas in my house! It was really getting outragous~ but if I can use ONE of the big dog frontlines to treat all 6 cats and my sisters two little dogs~ and ONE to treat both my dogs..........well.......WOW! Thanks so much!!

Do the ferrets need flea treatment if they never go outside and all the dogs and cats are treated?


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

That's how I do it. I buy the large dog size Frontline plus and measure it out by weight to do all my cats and dogs. Cats get 1/2cc (.5ml). I use a syringe. You can find the doses on ebay because they sell kits just for this purpose.http://cgi.ebay.com/FRONTLINE-PLUS-...ryZ20749QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## Organic Cowgirl (Oct 6, 2007)

Cheryl, we have treated our ferrets in the past b/c when I was in college, they (2 of them) went everywhere with me. I'd take them to the park and they just adored it. So, they got 'first-hand fleas.' Then, later, when I got busy with other parts of life and the ferrets became stay-at-home-mustelids, I was still finding fleas on them. (And the cat, who was indoor-only, at that time.) I believe what was happening was that the dog was bringing them home and they were transferring themselves to the cat/ferrets before they bit the dog. I still treat them b/c each time I've quit for several months, I've found fleas on the ferret. (Only one these days. )


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## Naturaldane (Apr 24, 2008)

so, what exactly happens when you put it on the pet and its exposed to air while seeping in, maybe thats why none of the stuff is working for me, ill refrane from saying much more, been inhaling to many chemicals today I think




Terry W said:


> opening a package, and exposing it to air, will alter the 'chemical makeup' of the active ingredients and the carrier agents---
> why not try getting your stuff from a catalog, like from UPCO-- ususally less expensive, and in the appropiate sized, single use package.....


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## Naturaldane (Apr 24, 2008)

Oh, btw after some sirous research and a similar thread posted here, I did it without any bad effects, didnt kill all the fleas but hey, its really bad here so it probably wasnt the product.


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

I'm pretty serious about flea prevention because one of my sons and myself happen to be those unlucky people who swell up particularly bad when bitten by a parasite~ my son is really bad~ a bite on his face will swell his eyes shut! As far as I can tell there are no fleas in here now, and I don't think they are bad in my yard~ I've gotten some bites but most I believe have been moskito bites and not nearly as many as I expected considering we were told so many horror stories about the fleas and moskitos before we moved here (AL) last September!!

But~ the money is becoming an issue~ treating so many cats and dogs every month is expensive~ so I just went ahead and used the lg dog frontline on the cats. I tried to go with the 1 drop for every 1 pound of animal~ but I was running out. So two of the outdoor cats (they came with the house) got less of it than the indoor cats did~ and one of the oudoor cats did not get treated at all. Thats probably okay~ we do not see her very often (only at about 4 times a week at evening feeding only) and I've missed her before if she was missing on flea treat day.

Thanks so much for the info that this could be done~ it really was becoming an issue buying the stuff for 6 cats and 4 dogs every month (and another dog on the way!). I just treated 5 of the cats for $15~ last month is cost me $90 just to treat the cats (that was all 6 of them~ but still!)


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## SageLady (Jun 10, 2008)

Janis Sauncy said:


> I do this with Advantage. I did "the math" and figured out that for a few dollars more than what the cat size cost, I could get _eight times_ the amount by buying the largest dog size.
> 
> I just measure it out in a syringe. I make sure I put the cap back on tightly and then put the tube in a zip-lock bag.
> 
> ...


This is exactly what my vet told me to do and it saves us lots of money.


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## Cindy in NY (May 10, 2002)

Minelson said:


> That's how I do it. I buy the large dog size Frontline plus and measure it out by weight to do all my cats and dogs. Cats get 1/2cc (.5ml). I use a syringe.[/url]


This is what we do also per our vet's recommendation. She gave us a blunt ended syringe to apply it with and a sealed vial to hold the excess. She also said that it would "keep" for a long time so we don't waste any.


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## Willow101 (Feb 20, 2008)

I use Advantage and follow the vet's instruction on how to divide and administer the doses. They also have Frontline at the office, however they did not say I could do the same with Frontline. I didn't ask but usually, when I am looking at treatment options they give me alternatives. They didn't do that with the flea treatments.

I am very cautious about treating cats with anything not recommended by vets. So many people kill their cats because they don't read labels or assume they can modify and everything will be fine. My cousin killed her cat because she used an over the counter flea treatment product labeled for dogs on her cat. It wasn't a pretty death. So, you can adjust dosages on some of these products but I would highly recommend doing it only with your vet's blessings.

Willow101


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## GraceC21 (Mar 5, 2018)

Did somebody try to use frontline for cats on the dogs? I have only this one "https://catspurfection.com/frontline-plus-for-cats-reviews.html" I want to treat by it my dog. Will it work?


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Don't put dog frontline on cats. I almost killed one doing that once. Live and learn. They do recover after a night at the vets laying semiconscious, but that's a lot of money on medical care. Live and learn. Cat stuff on dogs isn't a problem, but it is much weaker, and doesn't work well.


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## Lady89 (Feb 22, 2014)

ya my vet showed me this trick it cost a lot less for me to buy one XL dog then 6 cats and it is the exact same stuff. But ask your vet about how much to use first it is by LBs my cats get between .5 and 1.0 milligram


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## ufo_chris (Apr 30, 2010)

Frontline is ok but some dog flea meds can kill a cat.
Especially ones with permethrin.
Please research bf using any to make sure ingredients are the same as in the cat one.
I know one of the advantage ones you can not use on cats.
I think its the 2 or plus??
I do do this, splitting larger vials,but I always double and triple check on ingredients and dosage.


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

mekasmom said:


> Don't put dog frontline on cats. I almost killed one doing that once. Live and learn. They do recover after a night at the vets laying semiconscious, but that's a lot of money on medical care. Live and learn. Cat stuff on dogs isn't a problem, but it is much weaker, and doesn't work well.


I did the same thing. Had 2 almost dead cats laying out eyes rolled back. I washed the unconscious cats and they came around.


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## ufo_chris (Apr 30, 2010)

Dog Frontline ingredients


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## ufo_chris (Apr 30, 2010)

Cat Frontline ingredients


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## ufo_chris (Apr 30, 2010)

If u look u notice same exact ingredients and cat one even has a higher amount of the second one.
I would tend to think those cats that had adverse effects from it would have either had it from the cat one also due to allergies or whatever 
OR 
the dosage wasn't right and they got way more than what they are supposed to.
I always triple check the ingredients and dosage.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

ufo_chris said:


> OR
> the dosage wasn't right


I used to always buy the largest size and use a needle and syringe to measure out the doses needed for my various animals.


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## ufo_chris (Apr 30, 2010)

Bearfootfarm said:


> I used to always buy the largest size and use a needle and syringe to measure out the doses needed for my various animals.


That's what I do also,
then take needle off and apply.


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## CountryMom22 (Nov 27, 2014)

Could be the inert ingredients that aren't specified causing the problems. My friend used dog Frontline on her cat and it almost died. I wouldn't do it. The $400 vet bill my friend's cat wracked up wasted any savings she might have had.


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## KansasKitty (Sep 2, 2020)

holleegee said:


> I don't know....I asked my vet about it and he about jumped out of his skin. He said not to try it. (and I don't even buy it from my vet, I buy it at Petco at their vet.) I should have asked why but I didn't. I wanted to buy the biggest tube (I think for dogs 60lbs) and measure it out for my two dogs and cats. Next time I go I'll ask for a reason why.


Vets don't want you to even know this is possible, because they would be missing out on $$! Veterinarians are just as greedy as anyone else!


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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

We use these FL products. They are expensive, but they work. Our dog only had a few dead ticks on her this year.


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## jenn1976 (Sep 25, 2020)

I work in the animal field. There are different types of frontline. Th original frontline the frontline plus frontline top spot andfrontline gold. If you are splitting your large dog use only the frontline plus. The top spot has permethrins in it . So you could end up putting to much on your cat and it can kill it. Just splitting the dose evenly doesnt mean the ingredients split evenly. It causes muscle tremors and seizure like activity. If this starts to happen wash cat in dawn immediatly and call vet. The frontline plus doesnt have peremthrins and it may take longer to get fleas under control it still is awesome for ticks. Use flea and tick all year even in winter. You don't know how many flea and tick infestations we see in winter. Hope this helps.


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