Okay, I’ve tried Frontline and Promeris. I do my best to follow the instructions and apply in one spot between the shoulder blades (although I can’t keep it from dripping somewhat). I don’t have carpet and sweep regularly. I can’t treat my “yard” since the dogs have about a hundred acres they roam in. Are there any new flea repellents on the market? How about something oral? The dogs are miserable and I hate watching them try to contort themselves to scratch the right spot.
StG
We use Advantix. Sadie is mostly indoors though, but we do have a lot of carpet. She picked up some fleas when we visited some folks who had dogs, but they didn’t last long. It’s worth a try. For larger dogs, the vet says apply at the shoulder blades and in two or three spots along the back and at the tail.
Yep it’s that time of year. The cat has wanted to roam and brought fleas back with her. I need to give her Advantix and set out some flea traps. I had a really bad flea infestation a few years ago, and besides washing all linens and putting borax in the carpet, I made these flea traps.
At night, put out some of those night lights that plug into outlets. Underneath the light put a pan of water with some dish soap in it. Leave them out a few weeks every night. The fleas jump towards the light, land in the water, and the dish soap makes sure the surface tension isn’t there for them to escape.
Promeris made my dog sick.
We use Comfortis on our big (over 155lbs) pup.
I give him one pill at his afternoon feeding, and the next one the following morning.
No fleas.
The younger 6 month old pup is still too little for Comfortis and he seems to do okay with Advantage. I make sure it goes on skin, not hair.
The cat has always been on Revolution (make sure it is on the skin) and she does great with it. (When we found her, she had just about every parasite you could think of.)
Thanks for the reminder!
I’ve used Advantage for years with good results. I’ve had no flea infestations and the dogs’ have had minimal problems. OTOH, I’ve heard nothing good about Frontline or that Seargent one.
I have a friend who swears by Brewer’s Yeast tablets for keeping away pests. She says it makes the dogs smell bad to fleas, so they don’t attack them. She says its so effective she doesn’t need flea medicine. I haven’t wanted to go without the medicine, but I do give my dog a brewer’s yeast tablet with vitamins and Omega-3. I figure it can’t hurt and he loves the taste.
We use Advantage on our dogs and cats. The cats are indoor-only, but the dogs go out into the dog yard to potty and exercise, so we figure they’re bound to drag some fleas inside. We’ve been using it for years, and have not had any flea problems at all. Plus, the dogs and cats seem to handle it quite well.
Love love love Advantage brand for dogs and cats. I haven’t had to use it in a few years but now that we have outside dogs I suppose I better put in an order. I find it’s MUCH cheaper at Amazon than the vet office.
No, you do not put Advantix on cats. Advantage, yes, but Advantix is dogs only. It contains permethrins which causes problems in cats.
Whatever you use on your pets, you also need to treat your house and yard.
Advantage and Frontline soon lost their effectiveness with our dogs, while Comfortis has been the best thing we have found. (BTW, you can get all sizes much cheaper at Allivet.com than your vet (most likely, unless your vet will match prices, as our old one would)–they require Rx approval from your vet, but even with shipping you should save money) (I sound like an ad). Like you, it’s difficult for us to treat the outside environment, but we do all we can in the house, vacuuming (crucial, to get the eggs), spraying the furniture with either the strong Suspend mixed in a pump sprayer or just pet store upholstery spray, etc. For non-chemical prevention, you might want to try diatomaceous earth, which can be put on the pet (supposedly, we never tried that) or on carpet, etc. My brother had very good luck with that with his 2 inside cats.
A couple other prescription-needed flea preventatives available:
-Capstar- Precursor of Comfortis, it’s very effective, but lasts only one day. I give it to my dog after I take her to the dog park or know she has passed through a flea-infested area.
And remember, although it is very likely to be fleas, the animals may just be allergic to something that is NOT fleas (hence the scratching). Also, in some cases, even though you don’t see fleas and there are no fleas around, some dogs could be hypersensitive enough that a bite from a renegade flea is all it takes for them to get the itch.
Sentinel works great on my dog, it does fleas and also gets rid of heartworms.
Keep in mind that the best parasite preventative for any animal is good health! Although even healthy animals will be plagued by the occasional flea or tick (just as healthy humans will be bitten by fleas or mosquitoes or ticks), the ones who are at greatest risk for parasite infestation are animals whose own immune system is not in good shape due to malnutrition, stress or both. A dog (or cat) with a weak immune system can be quickly overcome by parasitic infestation.
Make sure your dog has a good diet. It’s not a guarantee that they will be parasite free, but its a good first step - and will minimize any problems that you do encounter. Personally for my own dog, I favor grain free kibble supplemented with raw meat, eggs and veggies (my dog is partial to greens and carrots!) And minimize stress by making sure your dog is exercised regularly.
I have 4 dogs and 4 cats. My dogs are farm dogs, the cats mostly house cats (two were supposed to be barn cats, but like the cushy house life better). They are all healthy, since I’ve lost my two senior citizen dogs in the last six months. They are vet an adequate diet, a decent-class kibble. I know they have fleas because I can see them on their bellies when I give scritchies. I think I’ll try Comfortis next, and see if that does any good. I may also try feed-through garlic, if I can get them to eat it. I’ve heard good things about garlic.
StG
Keep in mind that high doses of garlic are toxic to both dogs and cats (especially cats).
Since you’ll be going to the vet to try Comfortis (requires prescription), ask her/him about garlic supplements. From what I’ve gatherered, garlic products are not as effective as most modern anti-flea meds, although many years ago (before the meds) they were better than other things in the market.
Flea powder in the yard works well.