Understanding The Chemistry Of Flea Treatments in Pet

Flea treatments for cats come in various forms acting uniformly against flea. Topicals, spot-ons, tablets or chews and other sundry formulations either kill the adult fleas or disrupt their lifecycle thereby preventing these pesky creatures from laying eggs or from maturing. Different ingredients work uniquely against killing or preventing fleas, most of which fall in either of these three categories – Insect Growth Regulator(IGR), Insecticide and Insecticide synergists.

What are Insect Growth regulators?

Insect growth Regulators or IGRs are preventive ingredients that prevent fleas from laying eggs by targeting their growth hormones. S-methoprene in Frontline plus is a growth regulator that decimates flea eggs and changes the hormonal balance in fleas. Pyriproxyfen is another such IGR that works against preventing fleas from reproducing. Frontline, Frontline Plus, collars or flea preventing shampoos are some common products that contain IGR.

How Does Insecticide Work?

Insecticides compromise the central nervous system of the fleas by blocking GABA and glutamate-gated chloride channels. In layman terms, it causes hyperexcitation in contaminated pest nerves that kills fleas remarkably. Fipronil, nitenpyram are two such insecticides used in flea treatment drugs.

What does Insecticide Synergist do?

They boost the action of an insecticide making its effect stronger and longer. Piperonyl butoxide is a common insecticide synergist used in flea preventing shampoos for pets.

All the flea treating products are bifurcated into these three main activators or chemicals. Some products have a combination of two and some may have single ingredient to kill fleas or other stages in their lifecycle. For instance, Frontline Plus Cat is an excellent example of a flea treatment with IGR and insecticide.

Flea treatments work effectively due to their compositions but every treatment has a direction to use which must be followed to get the desired results. And lastly, you must ensure that your furry pal is not allergic to the treatment you are using. Comprehending the treatments is the best way to know what they work for, saving you from purchasing the wrong treatment. Hope, now you know what science goes into developing products to treat your pets!