Fleas

melbury

I treated our dog with Frontline nearly three weeks ago and he still has fleas and is continually scratching/biting/licking.

I always used Frontline on our other dogs and never had a flea problem, but see that many people are saying Frontline doesn't work anymore.

I am going to order some Advantage today, as that has very good reviews.

Does anyone know if is okay to change over from Frontline to Advantage provided that I wait for a full month since using the Frontline? I don't want to overdose him on chemicals:(

I have also ordered a product called Aromesse to try and ease the itching for the next week and a bit.

borkid

I'm not sure if it's the same with dogs but with cats if they have fleas you also need to treat the furnishings in the house, upholstery, carpets and animal bedding, basically anywhere the fleas can hide.

Callie22

It's probably different for dogs but I have a cat and found Advocate better than Advantage - Advantage seemed to irritate my cat's skin and made a little patch of fur fall out, but Advocate seems to cause her fewer problems (and less whinging when I apply it!) I switched from one to the other by just using it at the normal time, I don't think there'll be an issue if you do that as they're both designed to be monthly treatments.

chucknorris

melbury wrote: »

I treated our dog with Frontline nearly three weeks ago and he still has fleas and is continually scratching/biting/licking.

I always used Frontline on our other dogs and never had a flea problem, but see that many people are saying Frontline doesn't work anymore.

I am going to order some Advantage today, as that has very good reviews.

Does anyone know if is okay to change over from Frontline to Advantage provided that I wait for a full month since using the Frontline? I don't want to overdose him on chemicals:(

I have also ordered a product called Aromesse to try and ease the itching for the next week and a bit.

I'm in a sort of similar situation, my wife forgot to his administer frontline, we usually do so monthly, although it is supposed to last longer. I think that it might have been as long as 2 months before I noticed fleas on our dog.

I rang the vet, and they said we should switch to Advantage anyway, when I said that I had just administered frontline (on the Friday), they said it would be OK to use Advantage on the Monday. But we didn't do that (I was still concerned) what we did do was:

1. Gave him Johnsons 4fleas tablets (available over the counter at most large pet shops), they killed the fleas on him (but don't offer ongoing preventative protection). But they can be used in addition to frontline. It was really good at killing them, but we did also give him a tablet for the following 2 days, as we spotted the odd flea on him (which had probably had hopped onto him after the first tablet usefulness had expired.

2. We immediately hoovered our carpets and soft furnishings (low level) and spayed with a spray that kills adult, larvae and other stages of the fleas's life cycle, and continues to do so for a few weeks. You need to do this because 95% of an infestation is off the dog.The spay is also available at most good pet shops (make sure you get a one that kills all stages of the fleas life cycle, not just adult fleas).

We will be switching to Advantage, but I have a years supply of frontline, so I may switch intermittently (subject to the shelf life of our frontline) and also check that there are no issues with changing from one to another.

melbury

chucknorris wrote: »

I'm in a sort of similar situation, my wife forgot to his administer frontline, we usually do so monthly, although it is supposed to last longer. I think that it might have been as long as 2 months before I noticed fleas on our dog.

I rang the vet, and they said we should switch to Advantage anyway, when I said that I had just administered frontline (on the Friday), they said it would be OK to use Advantage on the Monday. But we didn't do that (I was still concerned) what we did do was:

1. Gave him Johnsons 4fleas tablets (available over the counter at most large pet shops), they killed the fleas on him (but don't offer ongoing preventative protection). But they can be used in addition to frontline. It was really good at killing them, but we did also give him a tablet for the following 2 days, as we spotted the odd flea on him (which had probably had hopped onto him after the first tablet usefulness had expired.

2. We immediately hoovered our carpets and soft furnishings (low level) and spayed with a spray that kills adult, larvae and other stages of the fleas's life cycle, and continues to do so for a few weeks. You need to do this because 95% of an infestation is off the dog.The spay is also available at most good pet shops (make sure you get a one that kills all stages of the fleas life cycle, not just adult fleas).

We will be switching to Advantage, but I have a years supply of frontline, so I may switch intermittently (subject to the shelf life of our frontline) and also check that there are no issues with changing from one to another.

Thanks, I have just ordered some Advantage.

It will be a month on Wednesday since we used the Frontline, so will apply the Advantage then and hope it works and doesn't cause him any problems.

Katiehound

melbury wrote: »

Thanks, I have just ordered some Advantage.

It will be a month on Wednesday since we used the Frontline, so will apply the Advantage then and hope it works and doesn't cause him any problems.

I would contact the provider of the Advantage and just check that you aren't overdosing him on nasty chemicals as that might be very harmful. (Or phone your vet!)

melbury

Katiehound wrote: »

I would contact the provider of the Advantage and just check that you aren't overdosing him on nasty chemicals as that might be very harmful. (Or phone your vet!)

I asked the supplier(PDO) and also many people have used it even sooner after using Frontline and say no problem.

He is pretty miserable scratching/biting/licking all the time, so it will be a relief to get rid of the fleas - fingers crossed.

Katapolt

My Yorkie has a terrible problem with fleas, and we have 3 cats also, so it can be a nightmare keeping on top of it all!

If i see fleas this is my usual course of action:
- bath the dog straight away with a flea shampoo. give them a good scrub to detach any that are clinging on.
-hoover all carpets, stairs, sofa ect that they use.
-chuck bedding/blankets ect in a hot wash
-spray anything i cant wash with a flea killer spray

And to help with the skin complain side of it, a nice little doggy massage with some coconut oil works wonders!

chucknorris

Katapolt wrote: »

My Yorkie has a terrible problem with fleas, and we have 3 cats also, so it can be a nightmare keeping on top of it all!

If i see fleas this is my usual course of action:
- bath the dog straight away with a flea shampoo. give them a good scrub to detach any that are clinging on.
-hoover all carpets, stairs, sofa ect that they use.
-chuck bedding/blankets ect in a hot wash
-spray anything i cant wash with a flea killer spray

And to help with the skin complain side of it, a nice little doggy massage with some coconut oil works wonders!

We are still dealing with fleas, although he (our dog) seems to be clear, or at least only one or two every few days, we are still being bitten. So we have had to re-do the house (spraying/washing etc.), we are beginning to realise that this might take some time.

For the long term I have gone to 'belt and braces' we now use Program' (which perverts fleas from breading) on top of the Frontline (spot on treatment). I think we might switch to 'Advantage' soon (for the pot on treatment).

pawsies

If you plan to get advantage I suggest you order it this weekend while it's going cheap.

http://www.petshop.co.uk/Brand/Advantage

melbury

chucknorris wrote: »

We are still dealing with fleas, although he (our dog) seems to be clear, or at least only one or two every few days, we are still being bitten. So we have had to re-do the house (spraying/washing etc.), we are beginning to realise that this might take some time.

For the long term I have gone to 'belt and braces' we now use Program' (which perverts fleas from breading) on top of the Frontline (spot on treatment). I think we might switch to 'Advantage' soon (for the pot on treatment).

Haven't seen one on him for a while, but he is still scratching quite a bit. I read that it can take a couple of months for the fleas around the house to jump aboard and get wiped out. I look on him as a flea killing machine on legs now:D