Cat Flea Prevention Collars

Flea collars can work on cats and kittens 12 weeks or older, when used properly. Fasten the adjustable collar snugly—yet comfortably—around your cat’s neck and let it do its work. The lifetime of a collar varies depending on the brand, but many protect your cat for up to 8 months. In addition to a flea collar’s effectiveness, they generally have fewer cat flea collar side effects than spot treatments or some medications.

Along with the flea collar, make sure you’re consistently cleaning your indoor space—as well as your cat’s bedding—and treating any outdoor areas with home and yard sprays where your cat could pick up fleas.

Most flea collars for cats contain a substance with active ingredients—natural or synthetic—that provide full-body protection, killing fleas and ticks at various stages in their lifecycles. Some collars target eggs, larvae, adult fleas and ticks, or all three. The substance is slowly released onto your cat’s fur and absorbed by its skin, so fleas are repelled or killed when they encounter it.

The best flea collars for cats will continually kill all life cycles of fleas and ticks for as long as 8 months. You might choose a water-resistant collar, as water can reduce the long-term effectiveness.

Many flea and tick collars for cats can start killing fleas and ticks within 24 hours. Some collars even kill new fleas within just a few hours. The substance needs to be distributed throughout your cat’s fur and absorbed by its skin for the collar to be most effective, and this process may take several hours.