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In our house, Tax, Molly, and I are not allowed to use dirty words.  Most of the dirty words are four letter words, and we do not even dare speak the dirtiest four letter word of them all, but Mom said that I could spell it here: F-L-E-A.  In fact, F-L-E-A is such a dirty word, Mom changed it to “friends.”  So, sometimes if I start scratching too much while we watch TV or lounge around the house, Mom will say, “Come over here and let me see if you have any friends.”

Since it is spring and the F-L-E-A-S are coming back after staying in hiding for the winter, let us discuss the popular methods of control.  Today, control has become very sophisticated compared to a time when it was merely a bar of soap, dip, spray or a shampoo.  Once you got the dog washed and dried, you would follow it up with a spray or a powder.  That is all so OLD FASHIONED!

The first big innovation to come along after all the years of the old fashioned stuff is a product made by the Bayer drug company, called Advantage.  Bayer claims that Advantage will begin killing fleas within one hour of application.  They further claim that within twelve hours your dog will be free of all of his “friends.”  After application, Advantage will prevent fleas for up to four weeks. It is recommended that you apply it on a monthly schedule, and my suggestion would be to do it on the same schedule as your heartworm preventative.  If you use this product regularly, it is said to inhibit larvae growth in your dog’s bedding area.  Bayer has a very useful “How To Apply” page, and it is also available for our feline paw-pals.  Advantage is sold in different amounts, based on the weight of the dog.

Not long after Advantage came on the scene, they were met with some competition from Merial with a product called Frontline.  Frontline markets itself claiming to be the #1 product recommended by veterinarians.  I cannot confirm their claim, but who am I to argue?  I CAN say from personal experience that Mom has used Frontline on me, and it did indeed kill off all my “friends.”  Like Advantage, Frontline is used monthly, dispensed on the neck and down through the shoulders, and is available for cats.  This product is available in two different types: Frontline Top Spot, a product that kills chewing lice, adult fleas and ticks at all stages; and Frontline Plus with S-methoprene, a product kills adult fleas, flea eggs and flea larvae.  Also like its competition, Frontline is available without a prescription from a veterinarian, and it is sold based on the weight of your dog.

There are many places to purchase Frontline and Advantage, however you should be careful about purchasing counterfeit Frontline.  The sneaky thing is that the packaging may look legitimate, so you have to do a little work.  A counterfeit pack can be identified by

• The lot numbers on the box not matching the numbers on the individual applicators
• It not being in the required child resistant packaging
• None of the required instruction sheets are included in the packaging
• The individual applicators not being marked with the maker’s name (Merial)
• The writing on the package not being in English

For either Frontline or Advantage, if you have a puppy that currently weighs 20 pounds, but will weigh 100 pounds full grown, I recommend that you not purchase a full 6 month supply.  When the medication is due the second or third month, I promise that your dog will weigh more than 20 pounds, and you will be very angry when the product does not seem to work for your no longer 20 pound dog.  That weight thing is VERY important!

Another product that has been introduced is called Advantix, and it is also made by the Bayer Company.  Advantix was originally only for dogs, but they have recently added a product for cats.  The Advantix product also inhibits bites from mosquitoes and ticks, as well as controlling fleas.  That can be a big help in combating diseases like West Nile or Lyme Disease.  Like Frontline, there is also a counterfeit Advantix out there.  To ensure what you buy if your product is legitimate, the language should not be anything but English, and it should bear the manufacturer’s name, Bayer.

While researching these control methods, we came across Capstar, a pill that will kill existing adult fleas, however Capstar is not a prevention tool, so it should be used in conjunction with a preventative type of flea control.  This looks like a great product for shelters or rescues, since they often take in animals that are covered in fleas and ticks, and they are likely to only use it for one or two treatments.  According to the manufacturer, one Capstar rids you of “friends” in about thirty minutes.  For the deserving shelters and rescues, this might be a good item to donate.

There is a product out there that claims to kill fleas, ticks, ear mites, sarcoptic mange, and prevent heartworm.  This product is called Revolution, and it is available only by prescription.  Revolution kills fleas in the development and adult stages, and it contains a heartworm preventative called Ivermectin.  Ivermectin is used to prevent heartworms, but it is important to note that it does not kill existing heartworms.  You should not give your dog anything containing Ivermectin until your vet approves it, because your dog will need to be given a heartworm free status.  If the test is negative, the vet may prescribe Revolution for your dog, and it comes in a pill.  For the felines, Revolution also treats roundworms and hookworms.

There is a prescription-only pill product that controls fleas in the development stage, but they do not have any effect on existing fleas, Sentinel.  It also works to control heartworms, roundworms and hookworms.  While it works in a style similar to Sentinel, Program is available without a prescription.

Flea control has come a long way since the days of soaps, dips, and sprays.  In addition to the methods listed above, there are products sold in mega pet stores, grocery stores and large discount stores.  The problem with these is that they contain chemicals that are not good for your pet.  Plus, by the time you purchase enough of any of these products, you could have paid for the good stuff.

When fighting the F-L-E-A-S, it is important to remember that they can eventually develop an immunity to the product you choose.  After many years of using Frontline effectively, it seemed to stop working.  In other words, I had the dreaded “friends” again.  Mom switched me over to Advantix for a while, and that took care of them.

When shopping for the right solution, it is important to examine the possible side effects of each flea control remedy.  That may be something Mom and I cover in the future, but let’s face it, this post has gone on pretty long as is.

If you are not a fan of “friends,” I would get him on the good stuff ASAP.

Tags: Advantage, Advantix, Capstar, dip, Flea control, fleas, friends, Frontline, Heartworm, hookworms, mange, powder, Program, Revolution, roundworms, Sentinel, soap, spray, ticks

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 10:22 am and is filed under HEALTH, PUPPY. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.