Cat ate Frontline, is lethargic. What can I do without a vet?

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Foot foot. I'm sorry she hasn't been well! So cats are very sensitive to flea treatments, and her symptoms seem to match up with flea treatment toxicity (except for urinating outside the litter box). It may be that the Frontline is causing her problems. I would wash off the Frontline now, give her a bath to get it off if you applied it within the last 24 hours. If it's been more than 24 hours, have her seen by a vet now. Depending on when you applied the Fronline, either wait a week (if the Frontline was applied in the last 24 hours) or two weeks since the application (if apply longer than 24 hours ago), then use a different flea treatment program like Revolution or Advantage. I would not use Frontline again. As for urinating outside the box, this could be due to feline idiopathic cystitis. Stress can bring this on, and a reaction to flea treatment can be stressful. Have her seen by a vet for this. I hope this helps!

Lethargy is a very general sign of illness in dogs, and can be caused by systemic illness, infection, inflammation, or injury. Lethargy isn't a side effect of Frontline, so I'm suspecting that it may be to to a medical illness. As long as Scout is eating and drinking normally as well as going to the bathroom normally, I would keep an eye on her for now. Should she still be lethargic in 48 hours, then I would be concerned and take her into the vet for an exam. If she stops eating and drinking, and develops other signs such as vomiting or diarrhea, then I would take her into a vet right away. I hope this helps!

it may be a reaction to the medicine. The best thing to do is bathe him in dawn dish washing liquid to strip the medicine and oils from his coat and skin. If he starts twitching or having tremors, then he needs to go to a vet. If he is not normal by morning then I would take him in to see if there is something else going on

One drop from the dog's vial of Frontline shouldn't be a problem. The concentration is often the same, just the volume applied is more for a dog. Keep an eye on her just to be safe but she's probably fine. If she does show any signs of sickness, refusal to eat or drink, lethargy, drooling, vomiting, etc., get her in to your vet or an emergency clinic right away.

If the vomiting becomes a regular thing at least 3 times a week, you should take her to the vet in order to get it checked. it could be the flea spray that you used for the house, it's not likely to be the frontline though. it could also be something totally unrelated and just a coincidence.

Fleas are never a fun surprise! Indoor cats can acquire fleas if they come inside on your clothing, through open windows, or on other pets in the household. Even though you have removed all of the adult fleas on Daisy, those adults have likely already laid eggs that will be impossible to remove. Flea collars (with the exception of the Seresto collar) tend to be very ineffective. It is possible that the collar may be affecting her negatively. Since Daisy has been relatively lethargic since you put the collar on, consider taking the collar off and using a high quality flea preventative medication, such as Advantage, Bravecto, or Revolution. Be sure to use one of these preventatives regularly for at least the next few months to break the fleas' life cycle, but preferably year-round. Cats can acquire tapeworms by eating fleas infected with tapeworms, so it may be worth taking a stool sample to Daisy's vet. If Daisy remains lethargic, stops eating and drinking, or develops any vomiting or diarrhea, she will certainly need to go to her vet for further evaluation. I hope that all goes well!

Poor Shadow! She is very young to be fully immersed in water, it is incredibly stressful and dangerous for young animals. Moreover, dish soap is very bad for their skin and coat and not even a truly effective way of killing fleas, when the eggs hatch there will be no residual activity. In future it would be much kinder and more effective to buy a spot on flea treatment such as frontline. Now as for why she is so poorly: best case scenario is that she has gotten very cold and stressed and her body is temporarily reacting to it. But on the same hand she may have got water in her lungs ( her lungs are tiny so it doesn't take much) and this will make her incredibly sick and is potentially life threatening. You need to get her to a vet asap because if something serious is going on it needs to be treated quickly. Hopefully it is just that she is in a bit of shock. In the mean time keep her warm and comfortable. In future if you need any advice regarding pet care please ask your vet or ask us, we will always help. Best of luck.