Zodiac Pet Products Flea And Tick Shampoo: An Affordable Yet Powerful Flea Killing Shampoo For Cats
Zodiac specializes in anti-flea products for cats and dogs as well as pest control for homes and gardens. Their Flea and Tick Shampoo features an effective formula based on piperonyl butoxide, combined with pyrethrins for increased insecticidal potential.
This is an alcohol-free formulation enriched with coconut conditioners that make feline fur softer and more groom able without irritating the pets sensitive skin. Like most flea killing shampoos for cats, this product is ready-to-use and comes in 12- and 18-ounce plastic bottles.
The label says that you need about 1 1/3 tablespoon of the shampoo per 5 lb of the pets weight, meaning that even the smaller size will last if you only have one cat to treat. Its also quite affordable compared to other options on the list.
The shampoo can be applied as often as once a week if needed to control reappearing fleas since it doesnt kill larvae or prevent egg hatching. However, frequent bathing can be uncomfortable if your pets skin is sensitive and prone to dryness.
Zodiac recommends pairing the flea bath with bedding and/or home treatment using appropriate products, which is sound advice given the fact that these parasites tend to spend most of their time off the host. This product makes a safe kittens flea bath provided that your pet is at least 12 weeks old.
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How To Get Rid Of Fleas
To treat fleas you need to:
Treat your cat – treat your cat and any other cats, dogs and rabbits in the house . Ideally use a prescription product from your vets, but if this isnt possible, use an NFA-VPS product. Products you can buy of the shelf, without a prescription often contain less effective ingredients
Treat your home – 95% of a flea infestation is in the home, this means that if your cat has fifty fleas on them, your home is likely to have up to one thousand fleas and eggs – and they can survive for up to a year! You can buy household flea spray from your vets or online.
WARNING: Never put a dog flea treatment or a household flea spray on a cat. They often contain permethrin‘, which is extremely poisonous to cats . Contact your vet immediately if your cat has come into contact with a dog flea treatment, or household flea spray.
Other necessary treatment. Fleas can transmit worms, so your cat should be wormed at the same time as being treated for fleas. They may also need treatment for their skin if they have developed sores/irritation.
Most of a flea problem is in the home, 50 fleas living on your cat = 1000 fleas in the home
How To Give Your Pet A Flea Bath
Like with all other flea treatment products, you should read the instructions carefully before using it. Contact a veterinarian if you have questions regarding the health of your pet and a specific product. When you use flea shampoo to bathe your pet, start from the top and work your way down. This is important to make sure the fleas wont travel upwards and hide in places like your pets ears. It can be difficult to wash the head, but please be careful and avoid getting shampoo in the eyes. After you have applied flea shampoo to the rest of the body, let it sit for a couple of minutes and then rinse thoroughly. After giving your pet a flea bath, you can supplement with a flea prevention product like flea drops, that prevent fleas from attacking your pet again. Also remember to get rid of all the living fleas and flea eggs in your home.
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Homemade Dog Shampoo Recipe
While most of these items can be purchased at your local grocery store, I like to provide Amazon links to the products as well, just in case youd like to purchase them there. If you click any of the affiliate links to Amazon in this post and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission.
- ½ cup of water
- ¼ cup of distilled white vinegar
- ¼ cup of Dawn dish liquid
- Soap dispenser with pump
Pour the water, vinegar and dish liquid into a soap dispenser and shake well before each use.
Permethrin And Pyrethrin Insecticides
Permethrin is a pyrethrin-containing chemical that is often found in dog shampoos. Its added to their shampoos because its very effective at killing flea and ticks. While it controls fleas, ticks, and other parasites on dogs, its not safe for cats. When cats are exposed to permethrin, it can be life-threatening and deadly.
What exactly is permethrin? Its a highly effective insecticide that is used in common household insect control products. Historically, it was derived from the Chrysanthemum flower, crushed into a powder, and used to control body lice. Back then, they were much more concerned about body lice on humans, not dogs!
Fast forward to the present, and synthetic permethrin is manufactured in industrial quantities worldwide for use in pest control products, including canine flea control products.
While Permethrin has an interesting history, lets move back to how it can affect cats.
Signs of permethrin poisoning in cats include diarrhea, vomiting, excessive drooling, labored breathing, and tremors. It doesnt take much, either. Just a bit on your cats skin is poisonous!
In case youre not convinced, 10.5% of cats that are exposed to permethrin die. If your cat shows signs of Permethrin poisoning, its important to go to the vet immediately!
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Assuring All Dogs And Cats In The House Are On Flea Prevention
If you have multiple dogs or cats in your home, it is important that they are all on prevention. If you have noted fleas on one cat or dog in your home, it is likely that all of the cats and dogs in your home have fleas. In order to truly get rid of fleas, each cat and dog needs to be on a reliable vet recommended flea prevention consistently and for consecutive months. Assuming that just one of your pets has it, and the other do not because you do not see them will lead to the non-treated cats and dogs continuously getting bit by fleas. Due to lifecycle and longevity of fleas, you will never be able to get rid of your flea problem in your home if you leave one of your cats and dogs unprotected or decide to just treat them for one or two months.
Sentry Purrscriptions Flea And Tick Shampoo For Cats: A Fragrant Flea Wash For Cats
This shampoo contains coconut conditioners that are good for a feline coat, making it shiny and more groom able. It also has a sweet coconut berry scent, which I found quite appealing.
Just like the above-mentioned solutions, PurrScriptions Flea and Tick Shampoo for Cats is a ready-to-use treatment, meaning you dont need to mix it on your own. All you do is lather the wet animal and rinse its coat with warm water. However, the manufacturer suggests that you leave it on for four to five minutes for better effect.
This can, of course, be a challenge with a cat thats clearly not willing to bathe. The manufacturer makes no claims about the shampoos ability to prevent further infestation a major disadvantage for those who own several pets, making it difficult to contain the epidemic.
According to the label, you need to wait for at least two weeks before re-applying the product. This product is only safe for kittens at least 12 weeks of age.
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Prep Everything Before The Bath
You don’t want to start your cat’s bath only to realize you forgot something, so set up everything in advance. Trim your cat’s nails a day or two before the bath to reduce scratching.
Have several towels ready. One should be on the bathroom floor to soak up spilled water, and one will be used to blot your kitty’s fur after his bath. Some people even put a towel or rubber mat at the bottom of the tub so their cats have more of a grip while they stand.1
Brush your cat’s fur before you bathe him. Matted fur can be tough to detangle once it’s wet, which might hurt when you’re applying the shampoo.2
Have the flea shampoo near the tub so you can reach it easily. Adams Flea & Tick Cleansing Shampoo is a great choice for cats. It kills fleas, ticks, and lice while preventing new flea eggs from hatching for 30 days.
What Causes Flea And Tick Dips And Shampoos
Amitraz insecticide poisoning caused by flea and ticks collars or dips and shampoos has many symptoms, which are separated into three categories:
The active ingredients in puppy shampoo are very nearly the same as what you might find in lice shampoo for humans. The two listed in Hartz Flea And Tick Shampoo are Phenothrin and Pyreproxyfen. The first is a synthetic pyrethrin and the second is a pyridine based insecticide.
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Is Flea Shampoo Safe For Kittens
Not only most flea shampoos, but most flea treatments, are unsafe for kittens under 12 weeks of age. If you have a very young kitten with fleas, the safest treatment option involves a combination of flea combing and bathing with a gentle dish soap as well as steps to remove fleas from the environment.
When To Contact Your Vet
If you think your cat has fleas, call your vet practice for advice. If they have had a vet check recently, its likely youll be able to collect a flea product without them being seen, but if they havent been examined in a while, or have developed skin problems due to fleas, they will need an appointment.
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Why Is It Important To Use Cat
Due to the fact that cats are biologically built differently than dogs, cats have different sensitivities than dogs. Because cats are more sensitive than dogs, some dog shampoos will cause irritation rashes or other ailments to your cats body.
Sometimes folks will use Dish Detergent to clean their cats. This is a bit of a gray area for me, and while I admit it is effective, you will want to read my more in-depth post about the pros and cons of using dish detergents.
Never use a dog flea shampoo on your cat, ever! Over the counter flea shampoos are already harsh on cats, let alone using their dog counterparts! If you need a flea treatment, make sure to talk to your vet or begin by using the original Dawn Dish Soap.
What To Do If Your Dog Or Cat Has Flea Control Product Toxicity
If you notice any signs of toxicity, contact your veterinarian. It is generally recommended that you immediately wash your pet with warm water and a mild detergent, such as Dawn® dishwashing liquid. Pets can chill easily so dry thoroughly after bathing and keep your pet warm. After bathing your pet, proceed to your family veterinarian. If unavailable, find your closest veterinary emergency clinic.
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What To Do If You Use Dog Shampoo On Cats
If youve just bathed your cat and realised youve reached for the dog shampoo instead of the cat one, dont panic! First, rinse your cat thoroughly to make sure everything has been removed from your pet. Next, check the shampoo bottle ingredients for any toxic ingredients, especially permethrin and essential oils. If the shampoo doesnt contain these, its unlikely your cat will have a problem after using a dog shampoo just once. If you check the dog shampoo and find it contains ingredients toxic to your cat, keep your cat confined and call the vet. Most likely, theyll ask you to rinse once more and then talk you through the concerning symptoms to look for, depending on what the toxic ingredient is. By phoning your vet, rather than just monitoring your cat at home, youve made them aware of the problem so that theyll be prepared should you need to visit as an emergency.
What Is The Difference Between A Cat Flea And A Dog Flea
The only way you can tell the difference between the two is under a microscope. Despite its name, the most common flea found on dogs and cats in North America is the cat flea, also known as Ctenocephalides felis. Dog fleas, known as Ctenocephalides canis, can also affect dogs, cats, humans and other animals.
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Alternative To Flea Shampoo For Cats
If you do not want to use flea shampoo on your cat there are alternative flea treatments you can use.
Alternatives to flea shampoo for cats include using Dawn dish detergent, diatomaceous earth in your yard, throwing down Borax or salt onto your carpets/floors and vacuuming/sweeping regularly, flea collars, topical flea treatments and furniture sprays.
How To Give Your Dog Or Cat A Flea Bath
How to bathe your pet with flea shampoo 1 Read the instructions on the label first. 2 Wet your pet thoroughly. 3 Start from the top and work your way down. 4 Apply flea shampoo to the rest of the body. 5 Let it sit for a couple of minutes then wash off. 6 Dry your pet gently with a towel. 7 Use flea drops afterwards for added protection. More
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What Kind Of Shampoo Do You Use For Fleas
Many come with the added bonus of enriching and moisturizing your skin as well as making it smell good. Essential oils that are frequently used to help repeal fleas, ticks and lice are Cedarwood, Tea Tree, Lemongrass, Peppermint, Rosemary, Thyme, Linalool, Citrus, Cinnamon, Citronella, Bay and Eucalyptus.
Yesterday I bathed my dog with Hartz ultra guard flea and tick dog shampoo and she has been shaking ever since.She is a very playful and energetic dog but she just sits or lays down with her tail between her legs.her heart is beating kind of fast, I really dont know if she ok or not.
I Dont Get What The Big Deal Is Are There Any Other Side Effects Of Using Dog Shampoo
Well, actually it doesnt stop at skin and fur.
Some ingredients are actually toxic to your kitty and since cats are different than dogs in the way that they clean themselves, they are at a higher risk of ingesting the shampoo. If cats are not thoroughly rinsed after they are washed with a toxic shampoo, they may end up getting it in their mouths when they clean themselves. Toxic ingredients found in dog shampoos have been known to cause nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.
Dependant on how much of the shampoo the cat has ingested these three symptoms can be detrimental or fatal as all three lead to dehydration. If your cat shows any of these symptoms after a bath makes sure to take them to the vet immediately. Again, depending on how severe, your vet may recommend IV Fluids as well as a flush of their system.
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Is Hand Soap Toxic To Cats
Are you considering cleaning your cat with hand soap? First, youll want to know if hand soap is toxic to cats.
While some hand soaps are safe for cats, others contain chemicals that are toxic for cats. This is true even of the natural soaps that advertise only natural ingredients.
If you want to use hand soap, you first need to check two things.
If it does not contain any of these ingredients, you can probably use it on your cat just this once. However, you should buy cat shampoo to be safe.
Best Selling Cat Flea Shampoo
- Best selling flea shampoo for cats
- Effective at killing fleas and stopping flea life cycle
- Active ingredients are safe for cats
- Insect growth regulators stop flea life cycle
- Comes in a larger 12 oz size
If you want to invest in the best flea shampoo for cats that works, look no further. Adams Flea and Tick Shampoo is a flea shampoo that is safe for cats and dogs, so you will only have to buy 1 product!
It is the most effective flea shampoo treatment for cats and its safe to use on puppies and kittens as well. Adams flea shampoo kills fleas, their eggs, ticks and lice so its like buying a 4 in 1 shampoo.
This flea shampoo also repels and protects your cat from flea infestation for 3-4 weeks after a bath. You can give your cat another flea bath right away if the infestation is bad, otherwise, Adams recommend every 7-14 days.
As always, do a spot check on your cat to make sure that they are not allergic to the ingredients in this shampoo. Adams has a large selection of flea shampoos and products that are safe to use on cats. They are priced better than a lot of the competition, and the best price is online.
View more Adams Pet Care products here: Adams Pet Care
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