Recommendations for Flea Control

Advantage     Advantix    FrontLine    Flea Collars   What About the House

       In recent years there has been a revolution in the world of flea control. Smelly sprays, choking powders, collars that slipped off, ineffective shampoos and dips that smelled like they were taken from a toxic waste dump are all things of the past. The modern way to treat and prevent flea infestations are medicines that are given or applied to your dogs and cats once a month. Below we'll review the best of these and tell you which we think you ought to use.

• Advantage
  
  • Advantage was first released for use in the US in 1996. It is a chemical that depresses the nervous system of fleas so deeply that the flea dies.  Within 24 hours of application Advantage has killed 98% of all fleas on your pet; within another day all the fleas are dead and new fleas are continually killed for a month. Advantage comes in a small squeeze vial that is squirted between your pet's shoulder blades.
    
  • For a few hours after application the area where Advantage has been applied is sticky and if you touch the area you might pick up some of the chemical. After that the chemical is absorbed into the skin and touching (or kissing) your dog will not expose you to the drug.
    
  • Although routine shampoos and swimming won't remove Advantage from your pet's skin, shampooing your pet with a very sudsy shampoo and working the shampoo on your pet's coat very vigorously can remove the Advantage and allow fleas to infest your pet.
    
  • The flea does not need to bite your pet to be killed by Advantage.
    
  • Although not licensed for it, reports from our clients do indicate that Advantage seems to kill ticks in their cats.
    
• Advantix
  
  • Advantix combines the flea killing power of Advantage with the tick repellant and killer, Permethrin.
    
  • The great thing about Advantix in our area is that not only does it kill ticks but it repells them too. Therefore you won't often see a living or dead tick on your dog if you apply Advantix regularly.
    
  • Unfortunately since cats are very sensitive to permethrins, Advantix can't be used on cats.
    
• Frontline (Top Spot)
  
  • FrontLine was released in late 1996. It is a nerve stimulant. It speeds up the flea's nervous system so that the flea gets very agitated (you don't want to be around an agitated flea!), and finally "burn out". You apply FrontLine the same way as you apply Advantage, by squeezing the little tube and applying the liquid between your pet's shoulder blades.
    
  • FrontLine also kills ticks.
    
  • As with Advantage, the skin will remain wet for a short period of time and if you touch the area you may be exposed to the chemical.
    
  • Because the drug is bitter, if you place the medication where your cat's tongue can reach it you might see your cat foam at the mouth for a little while. This is not serious, it is just your cat's way of getting the bitter alcohol (which the drug is dissolved in) taste out of its mouth.
    
  • Since FrontLine speeds up the fleas' metabolism the fleas get more active before they die. Therefore you may actually notice the fleas more after you've applied this medication than before you apply it. After a day or so, the fleas will die and you will not see any more for a month.

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  Which Product Should You Use?

  •  After 8 years of using these products and talking to our clients, hearing their success stories (and their complaints) we feel that Advantage is by far the best all around product for your cat and Advantix for your dog. We would love to recommend FrontLine because it kills ticks in addition to fleas which is great for cats. However we have had too many clients complain that their pets still had lots of fleas when they were using FrontLine.
    
  • If ticks are still a problem for your dog we suggest you use a Preventic collar in addition to the Advantatix.
    
  • If ticks are also a problem for your cat we suggest you use FrontLine which is the easiest product to use for the prevention of ticks on your cat. Since cats are such good groomers and typically have smaller flea burdens than dogs you may find that FrontLine is enough for good flea and tick control.
    
    If you need more information about any of these products here are some links to the manufacturer's home pages for the specific products.
     

               Advantage                     FrontLine

                             

    Problem	Dog	Cat
    Fleas alone	Advantage	Advantage
    Fleas and Ticks	Advantix and perhaps a Preventic Collar	FrontLine or Advantage
    Inside pet, few fleas	Advantage	Advantage
    Allergic Pet	Advantage	Advantage
    No fleas, just prevention	Advantage	Advantage

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What About Flea Collars?

 The only thing good we can say about flea collars is...they're cheap. The problem is that "You get what you pay for!".

 Here's the lowdown: Flea collars do kill fleas. However they do it slowly. It takes about 4 days for a flea collar to kill a flea. In that amount of time, the flea has laid about 400 eggs. Then mom and dad flea die. Now 2 weeks later 400 newly hatched fleas jump onto Fido or Mittens. The flea collar again kills the newly acquired fleas....in another 4 days. During those 4 days the new fleas have laid another 80,000 eggs (400 fleas=200 females x 100 eggs a day x 4 days). Soon you have an infestation.

My advice....stay away from flea collars

What About the House?

• If your pet has fleas you MUST treat the house to eliminate the problem. Treating your pet alone will not do the trick.
• Flea eggs can lie dormant in your house for up to one year, giving you a year long "time release" flea infestation.
• For every one flea you see on your pet  there are 100 times as many in the house.

• Please see our recommendations for eliminating fleas from your home.

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