Our cats got fleas and they have all just been treated for them. Even though the cats are not aloud in the same room as my rats I want to make sure they don't end up with fleas.

I have Advantage for kittens up to 4kg and what I'm wondering is if I gave all 4 rats ONE drop on the back of the neck if this would help protect them from getting fleas.

Is this a wise idea?

If the cats have been treated already I wouldn't bother treating the rats unless you can see evidence of fleas on them too. My understanding is rat fleas are really small whereas the fleas that like cats and dogs are larger and even if they do find their way to the rats they won't stick around as the rats aren't the preferred host.

As for Advantage I've not used it. I have a feeling I have seen posts from people whose rats had a bad reaction to it but that may be because they over-dosed or used Advantix which is different. RatGuide has a page on it anyway.

http://ratguide.com/meds/anti-infectives/advantage.php

Thank you for the link! Unfortunately I think I'm going to have to use the advantage on them. I saw one (cat) flea on one of my rats and since ridding the cats of the fleas I'm finding more of them in my bedroom. I believe they are hopping onto us when we walk through the house.
Really any medication can cause a reaction so I think as long as I keep the dose very small then they should be just fine. I can't let them live with fleas and I feel like they are itching more often then usual

You may want to talk to your vet about using kitten revolution instead of advantage. I'm pretty sure there are people who have used revolution on their rats without issue =)

If the fleas are affecting them you should be fine to use the Advantage as per the Rat Guide recommendations. You have the correct one to use (cat/kitten under 9 pounds/4kgs) and as long as you don't over-dose I don't see any issues.

If it makes you feel more confident I also found a post made on Goosemoose last year by one of the moderators saying they'd used Advantage before with no problems and that it's a "safe medication".

Thank you for looking into it for me! I know it might not be the best option but I was pretty sure it would be safe as long as the dose is very small. and I will make sure they get a TINY dose. I think if I use tweezers or something of the sort I can get just a small bead of the formula onto them to be sure too much doesn't end up on them. I'll then keep all the rats away from each other until it's dry.

If I hadn't recently spent over $100 dollars at the vets and $100 dollars ridding the cats of fleas I would go and get the revolution. But considering I need very little of the stuff and a box of it is well over $40 I was really hoping the advantage would be an okay alternative.

Recommended dosages are there for a reason, when it says 'one drop' it usually means a regular drop rather than the smallest drop you can give -as that will not be effective as you are underdosing your rats.

If you are going to give it, I would follow the recommended procedure;

ugh i am just now going through this - didn't want to start a whole new thread on this but also don't mean to threadjack, lol. just thought that i would pitch in that i feel your pain - just moved into a new place and it's full of bugs. have found 4 spiders crawling on me in the last 2-3 weeks and many more chillin in my kitchen, bathroom, etc. anyway, not sure if they picked them up here in this new house or somewhere during our move but i am pretty sure that the girls have lice?! they are like tiny brown grains of rice that you can SEE crawling around in their fur and on their skin and it gives me the freakin heebie-jeebies. i just ordered some 1.87% ivermectin paste to try and the roomies and i are planning on getting the house bug-bombed since it is really outrageous how many bugs are in here. not just spiders either, we have earwigs and gnats and i've seen at least 5 different species of spider as well as the occasional ant (two different kinds so far). sick sick sick.