Hi Y’all! Last weekend, I confessed my feline flea prevention faux pas. On Thursday, we talked about my 5 favorite flea preventions for dogs. Today, we’re going to give the cat people some love. Flea prevention is just as important for cats (even if they are indoor only) as it is for dogs. Cats often have fleas with few symptoms or signs- they are fastidious groomers and an owner may see their cat itch and be unsure why.  However, many flea products available on the market can be harmful or deadly to cats, and so it is important to know which products are best for your kitty.

Although this article will focus mainly on flea products, many of the products I list below are also heartworm preventatives. Heartworm disease in cats results in respiratory distress and can even be fatal. Your cat won’t need a heartworm test to get started on heartworm prevention, but it must be purchased from a vet or with a veterinarian’s prescription, so talk to your vet today about getting on flea and heartworm prevention.

Disclaimer: I have not been sponsored or paid to write about these products by anyone. These opinions are my own and are based of 2 years of experience as a veterinarian and a combined total of nearly 10 years of working in the veterinary medical field. My opinions do not necessarily represent the views of my employer or of the veterinary medical profession as a whole. To ensure complete transparency, products listed below that are followed by a star are sold in the veterinary practice where I work. Products that are italicized have been given to me as free samples by company representatives.

Please note that I only recommend products that are safe and effective. I would never recommend anything that I didn’t feel comfortable using on my own pets.

Now, without further ado, here are my 5 Favorite Flea Preventions For Cats

1. Revolution* 
   Revolution is a very safe, gentle, and effective flea and heartworm preventative. It is applied topically on the back of the neck and lasts for a month. It also protects against ear mites, roundworms, and hookworms. I use this product frequently on my two cats. This is also the product I use on many small mammal species, such as ferrets, guinea pigs, and rabbits (although this is considered “off label” use).
2. Advantage Multi
   This product is also a topical flea and heartworm prevention that protects against ear mites, roundworms, and hookworms. The biggest difference between this product and revolution is that Advantage Multi has been tested and is labeled for use on ferrets. This product is only available through your vet, but another product marketed by Bayer (and available over the counter) is Advantage II, which is essentially Advantage Multi without the heartworm and intestinal parasite component.
3. Bravecto for Cats*
   This is one of the newer products on the market, and it is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Like the others, It is a topical that is applied to the back- but it only has to be applied every three months. The only downside is that you must apply a larger volume of product compared to Advantage or revolution, and the solution is somewhat greasy until it dries. It protects against fleas and ticks, but does not protect against heartworms or intestinal parasites. I recommend using a monthly oral heartworm prevention, such as Heartgard, if you’re using this product.
4. Comfortis*
   Comfortis is a prescription product that is also available for dogs. We didn’t talk about it for dogs as I prefer Trifexis for dogs, which is essentially comfortis plus heartworm prevention. There isn’t a trifexis for cats, unfortunately, so you should pair comfortis with a monthly heartworm prevention. It is a tablet you must give once monthly, by mouth. The biggest downside is that this tablet is somewhat large, and can be difficult to give to cats as they can be significantly harder to give medicines to than dogs.
5. Seresto
   Seresto for cats is an over-the-counter collar that prevents fleas and ticks for 8 months. I really like this product. It is very safe, effective, and has a safety release mechanism in case you cat gets caught on something. I don’t recommend any other type of flea collar for cats- seresto is different from other collars because it is safe and effective, isn’t greasy or smelly, and doesn’t contain chemicals that are highly toxic to cats.

Question for readers: Are you guilty on skimping on your cat’s monthly flea and heartworm prevention? Have you ever had a good or bad experience with a product? Share below!

If you liked this post, please comment, subscribe, or share to help us reach more pet owners! Don’t forget to stop by on Thursday, where we will break down my 5 LEAST Favorite Flea Preventative for Dogs and Cats.

P.S. Happy Easter!

Photo cred for Easter Bunny and Orange Cat Picture: Pexels.com