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My senior cat has fleas, Frontline failed. Is Capstar safe for her?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Russian Blue | Female | spayed | 17 years old | 6.5 lbs

I have a 17 year old cat and she has fleas, for the first time. I put Frontline on her and she tolerated it without a problem. But by the next week the fleas were back. The barn apartment is NOT flea infested. I have had Frontline fail on other cats that live at my house. Now it has failed on her as well and there is no contact between them.. And II am at at loss what to do. I am afraid of capstar at her age. Advice?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on July 11th, 2018

Capstar is a very safe medication and I would not have concerns about using it even in an older cat as long as there are no known underlying diseases. That being said, Capstar will not prevent future infestations so if Frontline isn't working you will need a different preventative. I typically recommend asking your veterinarian what product seems to work best in your area. A final not - if Dory is in the barn apartment at al there probably are now flea eggs and potentially larvae, and soon there will be adults in the apartment. If they have no host (i.e. if you get Dory on a good preventative with kills fleas quickly) and you continue preventative for three months you may not need to treat the environment, but spraying or bombing the apartment and/or vacuuming/washing weekly could help get everything under control more quickly.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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