to wonder why they still sell frontline

[LEMmingaround]

When it doesn't actually work any more.

I heard the rumours. Found fleas on my dogs on a weekend. So figured it always worked really well before i'll just use it this once. £25

Did it work? Did it fuck!

So today, a week and a bit later i go off to the vets and come out £47 lighter of pocket and armed with a packet of advocate.

It had better fucking work -i had to borrow the money to buy it as dp doesn't get paid til next week. I nearly cried when they said how much it was (to be fair i have two dogs but even so!)

The vets know frontline doesn't work . Loads of people complaining - so please explain to me why you still sell it

In fact why does anywhere still sell it. Its still £25 for a three pack for small dogs.

This particular bunch of fleas has cost me £75

This happened to us. The advocate worked, but but that time my poor cats had pulled out their back fur

GPs know that nit lotions don't work yet it's still sold. It still makes money. Frontline is the same.

Four of my cats had horrid allergic reactions to Frontline. Never again.

Fleas hate garlic. If you can spray your cats with watered down garlic oil it will help. Lavendar should keep them out of your house.

Same happened here, happily applying FL until dh became smothered in awful bites and we investigated, both cats riddled with the blighters

Advantage, Indorex [bastard vets charged me £25] , it's £10 on Amazon and I was well out of pocket.

Yanbu. I used to use frontline and never had any problems with fleas bit Ddog was always picking up ticks . Swapped to advocate and something else (advantix?) which covers pretty much everything they can pick up. Since last year I've been using a flea and tick collar because I'm useless at remembering to reapply stuff .

Does everyone else only apply flea treatments when their pets get fleas rather than as a preventative thing then?

YABU it worked brilliant for us, popped it on dcat fleas gone in a week

It works in some areas, not in others. It's localised, because the fleas in certain areas are more exposed than others.

They did, I believe, try to increase the effectiveness by increasing the active ingredients, but failed to get licensing.

I want to know that too- do we use to prevent or cure? It would be money saving, but don't want them to suffer again...

I tend to only use something if they get fleas but have generally been quite lucky. Apparently they are bad this year.

Bloody dogs

Did you ask the vet what was best, or did you go to the vet and ask for frontline?
By the time you notice fleas on your pets the house will be infested. You need to worm the dogs and treat the house.

It's always worked on my two.

There's no evidence that it doesn't work anymore, the 'fleas-develop-immunity' thing was started by vets so that you'd start buying their more expensive products. Typically it no longer works because your animal has gotten wet within 48 hrs of it being applied, or you haven't treated your house, or you're doing it every 3 months instead of 1 month etc.

Yes, you must treat the house and the dogs' bedding or the critters will merely lurk somewhere, laughing their tiny heads off. I have cats and Frontline always works.

Have you got a nit comb? Very handy for removing the odd flea (all fleas are odd...!) But only if your dogs have smooth-ish coats. Our cats are Siamese so it's easy to monitor the fleaflum situation.
Ticks are something else. We remove any with tweezers. Don't let the blessed things bite you, as Lyme disease is extremely nasty, and endemic where we live.

I use frontline every on my 2 cats on the first of every month as a preventative measure now after a massive infestation

Frontline worked for me, fleas and ticks Dead!

My old cat had a really nasty reaction to Frontline years ago.

I use advantage on my moggy. I also spray upholstery and carpets with flea insecticide once a year. Not seen a flea in years.

Fuck Frontline. Advocate is brilliant stuff although, like you say, bloody expensive (was £50 a pop for my 45kilo GSD a couple of years back). I tended to only use it at certain times of year (for example, when he was most likely to pick up ticks from the moors) and then treat it as a 2-3 monthly treatment rather than a monthly one.

Your vet should write you a prescription for it, so long as they've seen/weighed your dog in the past 12 months. I have my current vet do it this way so I can go online and buy it cheaper at one of the pet pharmacy sites (some of which are also on topcashback etc.,)

I'm a vet , and we don't just go in the profession to make money !! We actually have compassion for the animals !!! Frontline is no longer very effective at all . Fleas have become resistant to it . If vets sell it it's because it is a product which doesn't require a prescription and we are trying to cater for those clients that don't want a vet appointment and therefore a prescription only product but want simple flea treatment . These clients would normally be told that the frontline is less effective . Vets have to charge more for flea treatment as unlike the Internet companies they have overheads to pay for and this enables them to offer reasonably priced treatment for other conditions .

Front line seems to work on my two. I spray the house with the 12 month free spray every month too. Hate the little buggers.

alfie

My vet gives me one called stronghold i pay £13 every month on DD to collect a box every 3 months and worming tablets Is this prescription?

I'm also confused about treating once a month I thought you are meant to do it every 3 months

Frontline and other fipronil based products still work, people just tend to use them incorrectly. Unless using the prescription only Frontline Combo the bog standard OTC Frontline needs to be used in conjunction with a household spray (RIP Flea, Indorex, Acclaim etc.) as the vast majority of fleas are in the environment, not on the pet. Treatments need to be repeated and guidelines about bathing/swimming observed.

As Alfie mentioned we also stock it purely for its ability to be sold OTC - unless the vet has examined the pet in the last 12 months we can't hand out decent prescription stuff but it causes offence if we tell clients they can't buy something and they accuse us of money grabbing. This is despite not charging anything for flea/worm consults.

NoNoDont Advocate doesn't treat ticks!

stronghold is prescription only. It's effective against fleas but doesn't cover for lungworm, which is why I prefer advocate. They both need to be applied monthly ( doesn't your box contain 3 pipettes??). the wormer will be to cover tenors which neither stronghold or advocate cover, and every 3-6 months is fine for this.

Tenors?? tapeworms

I used frontline every 4 weeks religiously on mine. Put stickers on the calendar and everything.

Got an infestation and DS ended up covered in bites, which is just what he needed with disabilities and health problems

Got a man in to spray the house, he said he's always going to houses where frontline has failed and he wants it off the shelves.

Went to the vets, they said the same and directed me to buy advantage online for £10ish for 4 pipets. So they weren't saying it to make money at all.

Used advantage this year, no fleas at all, and cheaper than shitty frontline

And actually I did use it in conjunction with a household spray!

Still ended up with bites all over my little child with autism causing major distress and costing me a fortune.

It angers me that stuff, really really angers me.

it's because it's so popular and used indiscriminately - the fleas get immune. You need to have a complete break for as long as you can manage and use an alternative product, allow fleas without the immunity to survive (not live with fleas, just use an alternative so these genetics survive). Then BAM - it'll work again. Us it sparingly, as a last resort, doing it to the date on the calendar is wonderful for frontline sellers but will achieve immunity for the fleas quicker.