One of my labs got a reaction to fleas. She was due for a treatment. I took her to the vet for the skin irritation. The recommended prednisone, and for the fleas, the new oral dose of "Nextgard". I gave her that and also treated my other dog with the same Nextgard. I treated my cats with feline Frontline. 25 days later, they are all scratching again. This time I gave all but the biggest dog, frontline. I tried to give Nextgard to the black lab but she spit it out and the other lab was quick to snatch it up, yup, now double dosed. What really works for you to fight off the fleas. I haven't seen any in the home, just on the animals.
We use Advantix2 for flea and tick control. The ticks all die once contact is made. Just ordered another batch. Wish I could use it on me when I go in the woods.
My dog got fleas years ago, same reaction. My normal vet was on vacation, so took him to another. The young vet wrote a script for pills, which didn't work. My normal vet was back, took Baron there, the older vet laughed and said it was only an allergic reaction to the flea bite, wrote a script for a cream, and Baron was almost better within 24 Hrs. After that, during the warmer months, kept him on frontline...... Good Luck!
Frontline is crap. Doesn't work on fleas anymore. I don't know why as it once was a good product. Advantix2 is the way to go.
Just priced out Advantis 11 k9 on amazon. The cost is actually less than I'm paying for Frontline. I can't redoes until another month now. Let's hope I don't continue to have issues.
It's much easier to prevent fleas than it is to get rid of them. Once they're established, they're going to take several months to eradicate, no matter what area treatments or bombs or topical or oral treatments that you use. Plan on a minimum of three months of treatment to make the fleas go away. They have a long life cycle, and the majority of the flea population is in the form of eggs, larvae, and pupae. Only about 10% of the flea population is in adult form at any given time. Topical treatments like Frontline or Advantix work fine at killing fleas, but it takes time to kill these buggars. If the pets are constantly getting new fleas on them from the environment, it's gonna take time to make the fleas go away. Nothing is going to work at first. Nexgard is a good medication too, but again, if there is an infestation, it's going to take time. It's unlikely that you'll see any adult fleas living freely in the house. Once they complete their development into adult fleas, they have about 24 hours to find food and shelter. If they don't find food and shelter within that time, they'll die. Good luck. Fleas are incredibly frustrating. You're much better off just automatically treating your pets every month to prevent fleas.
There is a topical bath wash for animals when there is an infestation, not sure of the name (I'm not at home right now) . This wash is something you do in the bathtub or outside by the garden hose. You start at one end of the animal and work the medical solution through to the other end. You can actually see the fleas trying to make run to "higher ground" so to speak. The worst part is working the solution around the animals face, the fleas will run there. It works. As far as the topical oil onto the skin, we use advantix like some of the other dog owners have said. It's a pricey treatment but well worth it.
That's good advice. It is impossible to rid your animals of fleas, you must treat the whole environment of the animal not just the animal, which if they go outside is impossible. Treat your animals in non freezing weather to avoid the fleas establishing in your home. I don't treat in the winter, same for heart worm, no need to over medicate the animal. If you see fleas on your animal in the winter, then you most likely need to treat your entire home, which is not cheap, easy or fun.
We use Revolution (drops on the back of the neck) on all three dogs. I have been through a couple of house flea infestations and Chemical warfare is the only solution. It is all the prep work before the company gets here that is so hard. Our winters aren't really cold enough to eliminate fleas through the winter so we use Revolution all year. I much prefer Program (pills) but we are unable to get it up here anymore. Something about the factory being retooled - I think they went broke.
I treated all four of them, 2 dogs and 2 cats Saturday. Today, no scratching seen. Let's see how long this last. I have one more dosing of frontline left. Then I'll order Advantix from amazon. I just hate to see them itch. I bought some stuff to use inside, I haven't seen any in here but they must be around. One vet's office tried to tell me they only trust their sorce for purchasing Frontline. I told them I bought mine at Sam's Club. I doubt Sam's Club would be selling a knock off. I think the vet just wanted to protect their profits.
Woodwidow - They stopped making Program because there wasn't enough demand for it. It's an insect growth regulator, and prevents fleas from multiplying. Most people simply preferred to use something that killed the flea. Dead fleas don't lay eggs. However, there is another product called Sentinel (or Sentinel Spectrum) that has Lufenuron in it, which is the active ingredient in Program. Sentinel is a heartworm preventative, kills intestinal parasites, and prevents fleas from multiplying. Look into it. Cheaper than Revolution. Savemoney - There have been rumors flying around about counterfeit Frontline for several years. Couple those rumors with reports of Frontline not working right....Personally, I like the Nexgard so far. Its only been on the market for awhile though, time will tell.
Thanks. I'm betting if I called frontline they could tell me about the product by the numbers. What I do know is they have stopped scratching for now. I really want to use something effective. My two dog were reinfected by week three following Nextgard. But like other products, it may require three cycles to show total control. I went nearly 10 years without fleas. Now I am at it again. So far, none seen on me or in the house. My daughter brings her dogs over. She dosed her animals the same time I did. I hope this thread stays active through the summer because I really am interested in what experiences folks are having with flea control. We can all help each other.
The fleas get kind of immune to it...kind of like roundup resistant weeds that get immune over time. Wife use to work at a vet office. As to the OP you have to give out at least for 3 months before its under control. All those eggs in your carpet and on the animal have to hatch and bite the dog before they die. We didnt have fleas for the longest and only gave flea medicine every so often then the outside cat came in more and anyway they got out of control. 2 months in and they still have fleas...1000x less but still have them. It takes time. As my wife says you need to give it 60 days at least and more like 90 to see if itworks. Yes there is capstar that kills all the fleas on the animal in 24 hours but there is no residual and the fleas from everywhere else jump on. So when you walk your lab the fleas jump on him from outside so he is gonna scratch and bite till they die. Even live fleas can note the dog and they dont die instantly they still crawl around and bit more. I dont know if it takes 10 mins or an hour to die but its not instant...I have seen the "sick" fleas crawling around as there about to die.
We use advantix on dogs and revolution for the cats esp outside ones. But we use different stuff throughout the yr. We use to get it free so we used what the reps gave samples of to us.
A bath in mixture of apple cider vinegar unpasturized and Dr Bonners magic soap let them soak in it then we spray and rub the mixture of vinegar water into the skin on a weekly basis.It's the best thing we have found and its natural
If the double dosed lab starts seizing you know its having a reaction. Sometimes they have reactions when overdosed.
With our last flea outbreak we switched from front line to comfortis. It took a couple months but it took care of them.
We almost lost my dog from a reaction that attacked his nervous system it was frontline we used never again
