Almost ALL of the OTC flea medications can be LETHAL to cats! They have an insecticide in them that certain cats canNOT tolerate and it just depends on the cat. My cat had a severe reaction to the HARTZ brand otc topical flea treatment and nearly died. We had to take he to the ER and they bathed her in dish soap to get it all off, then gave her some type of medication. Upon further research, we learned that there is a class action lawsuit against HARTZ and many other companies for the deaths of thousands of cats due to this insecticide. It may be the same type of insecticide in the K9 Advantix. I'm not sure, but either way I would never use ANYTHING but what the vet sells me on my cats. (Well, same for my dogs, but at the time I had thought I could use the less expensive stuff on my cat since she doesn't even go outside anyway...BIG mistake!)

Advantix is distributed by the same company that makes Advantage. It is their answer to Frontline. Advantage stays in the sebacious glands of the animal, Frontline, Revolution and Advantix are systemic which means they enter the blood stream. Permethrin is not a new chemical, it has been used in flea dips for years which is why many flea dips are never to be used on cats. Permethrin is very toxic to cats but then so are Tylenol and Ibuprofin. Using ANY of these products on a cat is asking for trouble. If a cat comes in contact with permethrin you should immediatley bathe them with dish soap and get them to a vet. As a side note Bayer is making it VERY hard for vet clinics to order Advantage versus Advantix. When using the Advantix product the company recommends you wear gloves...does this tell you something? Expect hair loss at the application site as you should when using Revolution. Personally I feel it is bad medicine and many clinics are put in the position of carrying a product that is not a very good one due to consumer demand. Sad but true, and if Bayer has their way...Advantage (the safest product on the market) will no longer be readily available.

Permethrin is the chemical that they said was harnful to cats.

I've been hunting around online since my friends stopped using BioSpot on their cats. (And consequently dogs.)

I only pulled up one website in my search for "BioSpot, Advantix" and then the chemical in both (that I guess isn't in Frontline? I'm still unclear.) "Permethrin." That's what's toxic to cats.

This website I pulled up had this to say:

The main active ingredient in Bio Spot is a pesticide known as Permethrin (it is used in more than 18 similar products, including Bayer K9 Advantix, Defend EXspot, and Hartz Control OneSpot). It kills insect's by disrupting their nervous system (this is also how nerve gas works). However, it cannot distinguish between an insect's nervous system, a dog's nervous system, or a human's nervous system. That is why it is important to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after handling.

Don't know how much stock I put into that quote as it's basically written by a customer complaining. So I personally wasn't responding because I don't know enough on the subject to really comment - but I also don't use any of those mentioned.

Julia

I have both bully and cat. I just got some of the Advantix, but haven't used it yet. Will take heed.

I thought people would want to know this, but I guess not.