Fleas!

[Karbea]

My dog has had fleas for awhile now, I had been using frontline and after his last groom session was told he had fleas, the groomer said to stop frontline and use advantage.
I called my vet who said they'd not heard fromtline was working, and told me to call frontline. Frontline said the fleas I was seeing were passengers. Anyway I sprayed the house with a flea killer (can't think of the name) and have been bathing my dog in flea shampoo. Anyway I though I'd got rid of them. Fast forward to Wednesday. He goes to the groomer again, she shaves off his hair and tells me she's seen loads of fleas, now his hair is short I can see them too. So on Friday I go back to my vet, and demand advantage, they give it to me but tell me I need to wait until the month is up before I reapply the advantage.
I gave him frontline on the 1st nov.
Anyway, today whilst I've been at work, he has itched a big sore on his head (dh didn't stop him itching) I've put sudocream on it, and put a lamp shade on him.
He is now really down, he's continually trying to itch, he is shivering because he is cold.

I feel like such a bad mum.

Can I give him the advantage sooner?

I've bought him a child's puffer gilet from the charity shop to sleep in, but he's making me feel guilty right now I feel like cuddling him to sleep, so he doesn't itch or be cold.

Advice please...

Thank you!

[Star21]

I am interested to see any responses to this as I treated my cat with frontline last Sunday and she is still scratching a week later. I have heard fleas have become immune to frontline and I want to change to advantage too but am going to have to wait another 3weeks. I feel so bad to see her itching and am constantly hoovering after spraying the house with indorex.

[Karbea]

I've cats too and another dog, but only one of the dogs seems to be itchy.
My cats were on frontline but the vet changed them to another brand (can't think of it's name either) but the receptionist said it has the same chemical as frontline, so probably won't be working either! It's a big nightmare. I'm praying for snow so the buggers are all killed off!

[Karbea]

Argh... It's actually Advocate I got from the vet for my dog.

So my question is, how long after frontline plus can I use advocate...

Thank you!

[Karbea]

Oh and Aclaim was the thing I sprayed the house with.

[WookieCookiee]

I would follow the vets advice on applying flea treatments as I have no idea how they could react! get the flea comb out. Lots of treats for your dog, flea comb, bowl of really hot water to dip the flea ridden comb in and some kitchen roll.
Comb all your pets and get him out of the gilet- it will be full of flea eggs by now. Spray treat your house and hot wash pet bedding.

[bakingtins]

Your vet is ( correctly) giving you the data sheet recommendation, but if you ask them to phone on Monday the pharmaceutical company will often give off-label data as to how soon you can safely apply another topical product. The alternative is to use something like capstar which is a very short acting oral tablet to get you through the next couple of weeks then start the advantage. By bathing the dog you are removing residual frontline from the coat (it spreads in the oil) and further reducing the effectiveness. We need to know what you treated the house with and how you did it as 95% of the problem is in the environment. It sounds like he now has a hotspot/wet eczema on his head (a surface infection caused by intense irritation) which tend to get worse quickly and needs steroid/antibiotic cream or gel to settle it.

[bakingtins]

X- posts. Advocate and advantage are both imidacloprid so same advice applies. You need to treat all the pets. acclaim is fine, make sure you treat the whole house even if you have pet-free areas, and the car.

[bakingtins]

Snow won't kill them, assuming your house is heated.

[Karbea]

I have sprayed the house as per the instructions on Acclaim, and I've done it about three times although the can says yearly.
I've been washing/changing bedding every other day for the last 6-8weeks (since first fleas were seen).
I've waited 48hrs both times after frontline was applied to wash the dogs (they are american cockers, love mud and did have very long hair) - so need regular baths.

[Karbea]

I meant snow will kill them outside of our house, and I assume in the car (I will spray the car hadn't thought of that).

[ireallydontlikemonday]

Ddog had had fleas, vet said they're immune in this area to frontline. Got advocat and de fleas in line with everything, still itching, vet said advocat him again and it worked.

[Karbea]

How frequently did you use advocate? And how soon after you applied frontline?

[Karbea]

bakingtins yes I think the sore is probably a hotspot, it looks slightly less angry after the sudocrem although it must really be hurting him as he wasn't very happy for me to apply the cream.
Our vet isn't open tmr and my previous pup died at our local emergency vet, I really don't want to take my boy there... Urghhhh. Bloody fleas!

[bakingtins]

If you bath them a lot you might be better with something that is not topically applied e.g Comfortan monthly tablet. Even allowing 48 hrs for the product to be distributed over the coat, you will remove the reservoir by frequent shampooing.

[Fluffycloudland77]

There's an injection that stops fleas breeding, cats have it but its worth asking about it.

[FannyFifer]

Can you get this from vet, can use along side spot ons.

www.drugs.com/pro/capstar.html

[unlucky83]

Not dog! but cat - (this came up in active)
Frontline badly let me down on cat fleas about 5 years ago....was using religiously, spent fortune and had no problems for almost 2 years then I realised poor cat was infested....have never seen so many fleas on a cat -even strays I've rehomed... With a flea collar before the frontline I used to check regularly with a comb but I had got complacent because it seemed to work so well.
Vet at the time denied fleas could be immune to frontline - I mustn't have been applying it properly, even did the application themselves - it made no difference - but then at her last check when I said I wouldn't use a spot on ever again, the vet said frontline did have problems but to try another - I declined!
I have battled them now for years but I am finally winning. (I know she picks them up outside in the warmer weather - flea comb, send her out, flea comb as soon as she comes in and find tiny fleas on her .)
I do weekly flea combs (when it was bad I did daily), I use a good long toothed metal flea comb and comb for ages -they jump out of the way but if you do it for long enough they seem to get tired -just when you are about to give up you find a few more... I guess with a dog a bath would be easier and probably more effective!
I didn't want to spray the house cos I had young DCs so I hoovered really well and steamed the carpets regularly. Frequently washed/hoovered places the cat slept etc.
I read somewhere that some researchers found vacuuming got 90+ % of adult fleas and I keep a flea collar in the hoover bag. I found if I tried to vacuum in all the crevices etc daily I didn't get round to it -so I just made sure I did a quick run over daily and a thorough one once a week.
I'm not sure how worthwhile spraying 'everywhere' is either ...
I had a box of baby toys waiting to be got rid of, it was in a plastic box under a window - one were the cat jumped up. It did have a lid, but one of those that fold together and it wasn't quite closed. It hadn't been disturbed for a good few months - I started sorting through it and then noticed about 15 fleas jumping around in there...obviously 'hatched' because I'd disturbed them ...and no amount of spraying would have got them.
I think you just have to vigilant, check your pet often and lots of hoovering...
Good luck - I hate fleas - but I hate Frontline even more!

[JoffreyBaratheon]

I can't believe your vet hasn't heard the reports Frontline no longer works as people have been saying this online for a year or two. I used it for years and never saw a flea after using it on my pets. It always worked. About a year ago it totally stopped working on my dog. Just utterly useless. "Passengers" must be what they say to the hundreds of people who complain. Search online for "Frontline not working any more" you will get a lot of results. No way the vet doesn't know this.

I switched to Advantage which has worked. My new pup had Advocate which I understand is even better as it also knocks out worms, the mites that cause mange, and other nasties. But you need a vets prescription (can buy it cheaper online once you have the prescription).

I don't know about using something else sooner but in the meantime, a bath and a flea comb whilst wet would at least do something? Also treat the environment. Indorex has worked for me in the past.

[bakingtins]

Indorex, acclaim, rip flea, nuvan staykill = all the same thing, any of them effective for the environment.
The injection mentioned is Program, and it's available as an oral tablet for dogs, but it doesn't kill fleas, only stops them breeding, so not v useful in the face of an existing infestation. I suspect your particularly itchy dog has developed flea bite hypersensitivity and you need to use a product that quickly and effectively kills adult fleas.
I have to agree with joffrey there's no way your vet isn't at least aware of clients being unhappy with frontline, even if they believe the Merial line that it's fine. I've had loads of people using fipronil (usually bought online or from a chemist as we no longer recommend it) with huge flea problems. Swapping to advantage or advocate has sorted it.

[yesbutnobut]

OP I was going to start a thread myself on the same subject and to say loud and clear that Frontline did not work for me!! I am so cross that I allowed the vet to convince me that the prescription only Frontline Combo was still effective even though I'd heard/read that it wasn't working. As soon as I got Advocate the fleas went - it took only 48 hours and I was no longer combing out flea dirt. And that was after a month of trying to get rid of the blighters.

I also intend to contact Frontline themselves just to make sure the message is getting home. I was spending a fortune on it as I have 2 dogs but it just wasn't working.

Of course all the other precautions you mentioned I did as well - washed all bedding, regular vacuuming, threw away some old toys and cushions, sprayed with Acclaim.

It's such a relief they're gone!! I am still flea combing twice a day as I don't want to get into this position again. As regards using 2 products, I waited almost a month before using Advocate after applying Frontline.

[FannyFifer]

I had non working frontline on my kitten, he arrived with fleas, I got frontline, didn't work, vet said give it a while, 4 weeks later more frontline, did feck all, sprayed house, did everything.
Got Advantage, found an odd dying flea for a week or two then gone, no problem since.

I used advantage 2 weeks after the frontline, no problem.