cat - sensitivity to flea medication

Question
I'm a new cat custodian, and I thought the spot treatment would help the cat I'm taking care of. Then I read about it online - Sergeant's. I bathed her within an hour of the treatment, to pick it up off her coat, but I'm still concerned that she's having a reaction to it. She was very out of sorts almost immediately, including listlessness and fast breathing, which was why I removed as much as I could as fast as I could. Compared to some of the reactions I've read, hers seems mild, especially now. She never stopped eating or drinking water; her litter box deposits look normal, if smaller in the last 12 hours. What remains as symptoms that I can see: I think she's itchy around her face, about 12 hours after the initial treatment, and itchy on one side of her neck. She's otherwise behaving normally enough that I'm not inclined to take her to the vet unless something worsens.

Should I keep her inside while I see how she's reacting over a longer period? Do you know whether the allergic reaction peaks at some point - like when the medication's effectiveness does, as it says on the box, 48 hours in? How long should I monitor her closely for worsening symptoms? Should I be more worried than I am?

I won't mess around with bad treatments next time. I hadn't done enough research before I went this route. But if we can ride this out together without an expensive IV/vet treatment, I'd really like to.

Answer
You did the right thing by washing it off of her Molly. Sargeants really needs to be removed from the public stores as it has done nothing but kill cats and make them very sick.

Just keep the fresh water around for her and the itchiness should subside also. She should just keep getting better, as long as her breathing is normal now and her listlessness is over.

Some people have used the dog treatment on the cats thinking they could just use less and this has caused a major reaction. I had another person write in about this same reaction and she said the label didn't say not to use it on cats.

Worsening symptoms would be lethargy, not eating or drinking, not urination and of course the increased breathing.

Disorientation, dizziness, falling down are all signs of that also.

It sounds as if she is out of the woods but keep a close eye on her for the next 48 hrs and don't let her outside.

If she has fleas, once she has recovered from this go to your vet and get some Ovitrol spray that you soak a rag with and rub her down with and then put her on Sentinel montly tabs. That will kill off all the fleas on your property and her in a few months and she will also be protected from Heartworm disease.

I have used it for over 12 yrs and my cat and dog have no fleas, nor does my 3 acres of land.

Call your local vet if she does get any worse.