Vetri-Science 3-Dose Flea and Tick Defense for Cats

Well, color me surprised.I have never had success with any flea/tick medication that is not over $20 per application - in other words, the big name and prescription brands. So why did you buy this, you ask? Destitution, that's why. And desperation that there had to be a more affordable solution out there.Before I moved, we had not had flea issues for many years. Indoor/outdoor dogs, indoor cats, a year round warm climate, a nice moist lawn just outside the sliding door...it seems like it would have been constant battle. We flip flopped between Frontline and Advantage for those years, rarely applying it monthly, closer to every two months. All good. Didn't have a reason to change medication, plus at the time I wasn't paying for it.When I moved, my two cats came with me. There were three cats already in the household, so that brought our head count up to five. Plus a dog. Almost more animals than we had square footage. I noticed that my roommates cats had some flea dirt - and as you know, where there's flea dirt, there's fleas. As I said before, I was in a bit of a financial squeeze, so I tried this brand after a little research. It wasn't Hartz, or Sergeants (booo), so I gave it a try, hoping that if I got it on my guys soon enough it would have more chance of working since it would be preventing an infestation instead of treating one. That was just about a month ago and so far, no flea problems. Good enough for me. Maybe my cats just taste nasty.The better test came yesterday when I snuck a dose on my flea bag roommate cat. She had a medium infestation and it was creeping me out. I've used a lot of Advantage in my professional life (animal care) and I'm used to its quick action, so I was a bit dubious as I kept checking her coat throughout the day and continued to see fat juicy fleas wiggling around. However after 24 hours, I saw a significant decrease in the flea population. I found several dead ones, and only one live specimen (who was mercilessly crushed). Now, maybe they've bailed ship to the one untreated cat, but at least that means they find the formulation less than inviting.Oh, and another nice thing - the liquid amount is surprisingly small. No need to drown your cat with a 1/4 cup of pesticides, like I've encountered with some other brands. Also, there has been none of that offended squinting and cowering that sometimes accompanies application with other types. A lot of the sensitivity and negative reactions to these types of topical medications are cat specific - just like people and our sensitivities, so no guarantee you're cat won't be horrible offended. As far as greasiness - it's pretty similar to Advantage or Frontline. About a day of oily necks, and then it goes away without any stickiness left behind. I did remember to remove their collar before application.I can't speak for its efficacy on ticks, or if it does indeed last 8 weeks, but I'm excited at the success I've seen so far. I'll be buying more and suggesting it to family. Hopefully I continue to be pleasantly surprised! I know my pocket book will be. More spending money for kibble and treats! Maybe *I'll* even get to eat too!

This product is more than adequate if used as directed. We used it on two normal sized cats and one large cat. We weren't dealing with some epic infestation. We did everything you're supposed to do to ensure that any sources of fleas/ticks had been properly addressed. The large cat required more of a treatment than a normal sized cat.While it may be apples-to-oranges to compare this to more expensive brands, I will still conclude that it is *almost* on par, as long as the condition isn't extreme. My wife and I don't ever really let things get to that point, though. The third larger cat was a recent addition, and we were pet-sitting for a neighbor, whose dog had fleas. So take that for what it's worth, but THIS brand worked.I wanted to put focus on the above two paragraphs FIRST. I'd read other reviews (when determining what to buy) that seemed to indicate that either this product was sub-par, or simply "borderline effective." There was either outright evidence or potential context clues in those reviews that lead me to conclude that directions weren't being followed, or some more extreme form of treatment was really in order. I think a percentage of users may not be aware that what they think is a normal-sized cat is actually a large one, and will simply require a large or add'l treatment.I could be fooling myself, but I think the more expensive brands have the added convenience of not requiring someone to follow the directions as closely. That's MY conclusion based on past experiences. In this last situation, we didn't really have the money to properly treat 3 cats with what the top shelf stuff cost. With the money we saved, it was a potential fallback for a follow-up treatment if needed. So there IS a gray area there, or at least my conclusions might be subjective or biased. I'm willing to admit to that.All of this said, I also want to err on the side of caution. Despite the cats now being flea free for a few months, I think it has more to do with what and how the treatment was done, as opposed to the product used. So I can only fairly give this product 3 stars. Had things been a little different one way or the other, it might add or remove a star.At the very least, I can suggest this product as an affordable alternative for SOME situations.

We have an indoor/outdoor cat that lives mostly outdoors all summer. It's getting cold here now and soon he will be inside all the time and we want to make sure that he doesn't have fleas! We used another brand of flea/tick defense during the summer months but it was more expensive. I was looking for a product that was cheaper but still did the job. Now, he was overdue for the flea treatment and I noticed that he had been itching and had some scabs on his neck. Although I never seen a flea I am sure he had them. This product was packaged conveniently in 3 separate applicators. It was easy to separate the first applicator from the others. I used scissors to cut the tip off the applicator to begin applying. It was extremely east to apply. The area on the cats neck appeared "greasy" after the application for 1 day. I didn't notice any difference in the appearance of his fur after that. The very next day after the application I didn't notice any itching from him. The scabs are all healed and still have observed no further itching or scratching. I am confident that this product did just as great of a job as the expensive brand we were using before! I love saving money and getting the same results!! Definitely recommend and will use in the future!