Frontline isn't working

[honeybee13]

Hi everybody.

 

Has anyone else had problems with flea-spot treatment? Our Teddy, Cavalier King Charles, can't seem to keep them at bay. We've never had trouble with our cats, but we're having problems with him [first dog].

 

We use the right dose of Frontline once a month and put it onto his skin, but within a week or two he seems to have them back. Last time he went to the poodle parlour, we'd done the treatment really not long before, and she found some.

 

Does anyone have any ideas other than clean the house better please? I try to wash his bedding and hoover where there might be fleas or eggs on a regular basis.

 

My best, HB

[hightail]

Buy Advantage instead. It's now available without prescription. There is a growing feeling that fleas are becoming resistant to Frontline. I'm not sure I believe it's true as people are turning to alternatives such as Effipro and swearing blind they do work where Frontline doesn't. As they're both fipronil under different brand names I start to wonder who's kidding who. Advantage is at least a true alternative. Also worth buying a spray such as Acclaim for the house. It isn't cheap but it is worth going round the edges of rooms with fitted carpets where the vacuum cleaner doesn't always reach.

[honeybee13]

Thank you, hightail, I hope you're well. Good point about fipronil, I'll try something else for a while.

 

And I'll get the spray out again.

 

HB x

[Bandit127]

+1 for Frontline not working. At least - not working as well as it used to.

 

My cat used to last 6 months on a dose. Now it is about 2 weeks before she is scratching them out again.

 

I will try Advantage - thanks for that.

[honeybee13]

It's not just me then?

 

HB

[renegadeimp]

Theres a treatment your vet can offer by injection. It's relatively new, but it keeps them at bay for a good while. As another poster on here said, fleas, just like viruses/bacteria and a ton of other stuff are becoming more and more resistant as time goes on.

[Lillibelle]

We're going to try the Advantage,,because it comes in a 4 pack (4 cats here) and it's cheaper,,but mostly cos our little girl cat gets dermatitis and frontline isn't protecting her for longer than 2 weeks it seems,,we are meticulous as I'm sure everyone else is,and the products aren't cheap so lasting 2 weeks is not good enough

 

 

Lillibelle

[hightail]

Could be even more economical to buy the large cat pipettes and use one per two cats. The full datasheet can be found here for accurate dosing.

http://www.noahcompendium.co.uk/Bayer_plc/Advantage/-40836.html

You can pick up 1ml syringes online or even in Halfords

[assisted blonde]

My vet said that there really is a lot of fleas around this year having said that they are dying off a bit now, do the other flea killers also protect against ticks as we live in a rural area and the cats spend all day in the fields?

[hightail]

The claims made for efficacy against ticks vary wildly. The 'me too' fipronil products sometimes claim they are treatment for fleas and ticks. Frontline doesn't make the claim on the datasheet. Another fipronil product's datasheet does say

"Although the product has not demonstrated an immediate acaricidal effect, acaricidal efficacy for up to 1 week against the tick Ixodes ricinus has been shown. If ticks of Ixodes ricinus are present when the product is applied, all the ticks may not be killed within the first 48 hours, but they may be killed within a week."

 

This is slightly different from the claims splashed over advertising material.

[The Final Straw]

You will probably find they are cat and dog fleas, not just dog fleas - just because you think they are not on the cats means nothing. You also need to treat the whole house, especially skirting boards, cat/dog bedding areas and soft furnishings with a good flea/mite killer - there are a few about, but get it from the vet - not much you can get from any shop/supermarket will work very well, they are just not strong enough.

Try treating the cats and dog all at the same time with something stronger from the vet such as Stronghold (You MUST use different ones for the cats/dogs, dog flea/mite treatments can be dangerous for cats!!!) its not going to be a cheap exercise but it should sort your problem out,

You do need to keep on top of it though. We are coming out of what would be the 'flea season', but with central heating it very rarely goes away these days.

Good Luck

[The Final Straw]

ooops - just spotted reply re the injection above, yes its Program (which is also available in a food addition method - very good for animals who have a bad reaction to spot-ons) - but you need to treat the problem first before the prevention, the injection is great I use it on the pets I dont want spot-ons or who are savvy to food applications/wont take anything by mouth....but it wont solve the tick issue.

 

Speak to your vet, for a good all rounder for Fleas/Ticks/Mites/Worms(most) try the Stronghold - best for not keaving a messy residue too!

[The Final Straw]

oh and the HOUSE TREATMENT i mentioned is RIP - you can get it from the vets.

[Lillibelle]

Well,,have done the cats (much to their disgust) with the Advantage,,and completely blitzed house and furnishings,,so lets see if we stay fleafree.

[Lillibelle]

Can honestly say ADVANTAGE is great...got 4 very contented non itchy cats,,even my little girl cat whose dermatitis is a nightmare is so much calmer,,and not a speck of flea dust in sight.Cheaper too,,4xpipettes=9.68 (online) compared to 3xfrontline at over 11 quid online,

[Batfink]

Frontline used to work on one of our cats and not on the other. IMO, it's a bit like different medications and different people - some work on person A but not person B. We now use Stronghold and that works properly on both (or did before the fatboy was squished)

[honeybee13]

Thank you for all the comments, guys, which I have listened to. We're still trying various approaches and I'll report back.

 

And good luck to anyone else who's battling with flea or parasite problems.

 

My best HB

[jackieandwayne]

I use (I think this is right) Advocate on Taz. Vet says one application kills all known beasties. So that should be worms, ticks, fleas and anythng else lurking about. I don't have the packet here as I buy a single tube each month (£9.69).

 

Anyway I did notice this summer that Taz had a couple of ticks, and that was shortly after a treatment. Never noticed fleas on him, and I think I'd spot worms.

 

Now, Aunty Thelma, who lives smack bang in the middle of the New Forest, has had a devil of a time with dog fleas and ticks this year. She uses frontline. Her vet said there has been an awful lot of beasties around this year and he SUSPECTS they might now becoming resistant to our treatments.

 

Lets hope they sort it all out before we get the plague making a come back! Seriously though, if you are allergic to flea bites, its very unpleasant.

[havinastella]

I was also having problems with Frontline, It wasn't working at all. I thought my cats had become immune, but I asked the vet and she explained one of the vital parts of Frontline had been removed.

 

I also used Advantage and it worked instantly, I have been waiting to redose the cats but wanted to see how long it would last before I had to. Eight weeks and the cats are still flea free.

[Lillibelle]

Ahhhhh that explains the Frontline failure,,Thanks havinastella......my poor little girlcat was suffering..but the Advantage has done the job so far,,still no itchy cats. And my poor OH gets bitten something awful,,,whilst the fleas ignore me

[jackieandwayne]

Oh, its just like the debacle with my HRT two years ago then - remove the compenent that stops the sweats and hey ho off you go - around 50,000 sweating middle aged women making their way to the GP in a rage!

 

Can anyone remember the days of defleaing dogs in a bathful of sheep dip? Must have been early 80's, was a pink like powder in a foil bag, fill the bath, chuck it in, then chuck the dog in, never mind the rubber gloves, just get yourself soaked in it as well! Well, that was the most effective flea treatment ever and that got banned too!

[Lillibelle]

Yeah Im of the age where nightsweats are an issue,,my family are constantly saying it's cold in my house whilst I'm hangng out the window melting

I remember that dog stuff,,didn't kill em so why ban it?

If I had known Frontline had changed months ago I could have saved a bloody fortune,,my poor cats (and me ole mans ankles lol)

 

Advantage has done the trick so far tho,,and banning my neighbour from my house (not that she knows yet!) keeps bringing dog fleas in

[kurvaface]

Resistance to flea treatments is a known problem.

 

Have you heard of a "Flea Bomb"?

[honeybee13]

Is it dangerous?

 

HB

[jackieandwayne]

A friend of mine from USA told me about these years ago. She said you place the thing in the room, light it, then get out. Doesn;t sound the sort of thing our H & S laws would allow, but she said it was very effective.

 

That sheep dip stuff was called Alucan or something like that, and it had a masking smell of cloves (cloves masking a smell like paraffin if I remember rightly). I got quite a bit in my mouth (dog was a bloody nuisance with baths at the time ) and it didn't kill me!