Permethrin is sold under dozens of brand names across human healthcare, pet care, and garden pest control. The same active ingredient appears at very different concentrations depending on the product’s purpose, ranging from 0.25% in garden dusts to 65% in some dog-only flea treatments. Knowing which brand names contain permethrin, and at what strength, matters both for choosing the right product and for avoiding serious safety mistakes.
How Permethrin Works
Permethrin belongs to the pyrethroid family, a class of synthetic insecticides modeled after natural compounds found in chrysanthemum flowers. It attacks the nervous system of insects by interfering with sodium channels in their neurons. This disrupts normal nerve signaling, causes uncontrollable muscle spasms, and leads to paralysis and death. Mammals break permethrin down far more efficiently than insects do, which is why it can be applied directly to human skin or dog fur at appropriate concentrations.
Medical and Personal Care Brands
The FDA approves permethrin for treating head lice and scabies. These products come in two standard concentrations: 1% for lice and 5% for scabies.
For head lice, the most recognized brand is Nix Creme Rinse, a 1% permethrin lotion applied to the hair after shampooing. It’s available over the counter in most pharmacies. In Canada, it’s sold as Nix Lice Killing Creme Rinse.
For scabies, the 5% cream formulations require a prescription in the United States. Brand names include Elimite and Acticin. In Canada, this higher-strength version is sold as Nix Dermal Cream. All of these are applied to the entire body from the neck down and left on for a set number of hours before washing off.
Garden and Lawn Pest Control Brands
Permethrin is one of the most widely available insecticides at farm and garden stores, and it appears under a long list of trade names. Three common examples from Mississippi State University Extension:
- Bonide Eight Insect Control Concentrate: a liquid concentrate diluted before spraying on vegetable gardens, ornamentals, and around the home.
- Hi-Yield Garden, Pet & Livestock Insect Control: a multipurpose concentrate labeled for use on plants, animals, and structures.
- Martin’s Vegetables Plus: marketed specifically for food-garden use.
These concentrates typically contain permethrin at 10% to 38% and need to be mixed with water before application. Permethrin also comes in ready-to-use spray bottles that require no mixing, and as dusts at lower concentrations (around 0.25%) for direct application to plants or around building foundations.
Structural and Professional Pest Control Brands
Professional exterminators use permethrin-based products for indoor and outdoor pest management, targeting ants, cockroaches, spiders, mosquitoes, and ticks. The EPA classifies permethrin as a general use pesticide for residential and industrial applications, meaning licensed professionals and homeowners alike can purchase it. For agricultural and wide-area use like sod farms and nurseries, however, it is classified as a restricted use pesticide because of its high toxicity to aquatic organisms. Only certified applicators can buy those formulations.
Common professional-grade trade names include Dragnet, Astro, and Torpedo, though availability varies by region. Many generic permethrin concentrates are also sold at 36.8% active ingredient for professional dilution.
Veterinary and Pet Care Brands
Permethrin is a core ingredient in many topical flea and tick products for dogs. Two well-known brands are K9 Advantix II and Vectra 3D, both applied monthly as spot-on treatments that repel and kill ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes. These products contain high concentrations of permethrin, sometimes between 45% and 65%.
Permethrin also appears in livestock sprays, horse fly repellents, and premise sprays used in kennels and barns. Many of these are sold under the same multipurpose brand names found in garden stores, like Hi-Yield’s combination livestock and garden formula.
Critical Safety Warning for Cat Owners
Cats cannot safely metabolize permethrin. Their livers lack the enzyme pathways that dogs and humans use to break the chemical down, so even small exposures can become life-threatening. In one documented case series, 11 cats treated with dog-strength permethrin products (45% to 65% concentration) all required hospitalization, and four died.
Symptoms in cats range from muscle tremors, twitching ears and skin, and agitation to full seizures, loss of coordination, and vomiting. These signs can appear within minutes or take up to three days to develop. Even indirect exposure is dangerous: a cat that cuddles or grooms a recently treated dog can absorb enough permethrin through the skin to become seriously ill.
Every permethrin product labeled for dogs will carry a warning against use on cats. If you have both dogs and cats in your household, separating them for at least 24 to 72 hours after applying a permethrin-based flea treatment to your dog is essential.
Environmental Concerns
Permethrin is highly toxic to fish, aquatic invertebrates, honeybees, and other beneficial insects. Most agricultural and residential runoff scenarios modeled by the EPA exceed safe thresholds for freshwater and saltwater organisms. This is the primary reason the EPA restricts its use for large-scale agricultural and outdoor applications.
If you’re using permethrin near ponds, streams, or areas where bees forage, timing and application method matter. Spraying in the evening, when bees are less active, and avoiding application near waterways reduces the ecological impact. Product labels include specific buffer distances from bodies of water for this reason.