Fleas/Frontline drops didn't work

[BobblyGussets]

Fed up now. I treated the cat with those drops on the back of his neck. The blurb said he would be protected for three months, but I can still see them coming off him after two weeks.
I also cleaned the whole house, hot washed all the bedding, pillows and duvets, lit three "flea bombs" but we have counted at least 15 flea bites on poor DS1.
I have seen them, they hop off the cat onto our white duvet cover, they look like very long fleas.
Helps! Please does anyone have any ideas?

[bootsycollins]

I paid £7.50 at the vets last week for a prescription, I then bought 6 months worth of Advocat for just under £25 from an online chemist, bargain , I sent the prescription to their free post address and received my order within 3 days.

[BobblyGussets]

Just a bit of info in return for all the helpful advice and discussion from you all here: I spoke to the woman in the local independent pet supplies shop (up yours "Pets at Home")and she said she researched fleas when she got the job. Apparently, the eggs/larvae (can't remember which) can lie dormant in the house for up to three years, developing into fleas at anytime the conditions are favourable, so the house does need treating, especially corners, carpets and soft furnishings. Oh how I have loved vacuuming thoroughly all of our 28 stairs and everywhere else .

[cozietoesie]

Ah well. As long as it works.

[fergoose]

dunno - have been cat owner for over 20 years so have had plenty of practice. Oh well it works and price is good so hopefully we won't have any more fleas :)

[cozietoesie]

As far as I can see, it has the same active ingredient. Is it possible that with a bit of practice, you were putting it on more accurately? (eg down to the skin as opposed to on the hair - or on a slightly better place.)

[fergoose]

I didn't realise it was the same ingredients. But I know Frontline didn't work at all, my poor old cat his flea allergy was terrible, switched to Effipro and he is fine now and no fleas, plus so much cheaper. I wonder if switching brands is the key. Is Effipro exactly the same formulation as Frontline then - nothing at all different?

[cozietoesie]

Is it frontline that's starting to fail in various parts of the country? (Because then, presumably, the same would come to be true of effipro.)

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Interesting fergoose effipro is just a generic of frontline sold to vets as a cheaper option exactly the same drug in the same concentration in the same carrier nothing different.

[bonzo77]

A flea collar made my old cat very subdued after about 24 hrs. I took it off and he recovered fine. My Mum's cat had the same. My current cat gets front line and advocate alternate months. When she had a very stubborn infestation we also used indorex in the house.

[fergoose]

oh well frontline failed for me but touch wood effipro works brilliantly on both of mine, not seen a flea on them since using it, and it is cheap too.

[RooneyMara]

You don't need to treat the house, just the pet.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I think effipro is the same as frontline. I seem to remember comparing ingredients once.

[cozietoesie]

That's OK if your cat will wear a collar, Lonecat. All of my boys have regarded collars (however early the introduction) as a resignation issue.

[ChewingOnLifesGristle]

I have always used Stronghold on my cats and (please god don't let this be tempting fate) have never seen a flea on either of them. One of them has a lot of white on him so any flea evidence would be easy to see.

It's on prescription. I get the prescription from the vet then buy it online in 6 mnth packs.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Effipro is frontline in another outfit.
The new Seresto collar (prescription only from your vet) is really good lasts 8 months repels ticks and kills fleas. My cats have worn them for the last year no flea or tick seen. It actually is very well price in my clinic £30.39 which works out £3.80 per month so cheaper than most of the over the counter products.

[cozietoesie]

I don't know if there's anything wrong with it fergoose. Just don't know. There's a lot of data emerging on it but I don't use the product so I can't set aside the time to study it.

[fergoose]

Yes, it does contain fipronol. What is the problem with that ingredient?

[cozietoesie]

Something called Fipronil. There's a lot of information out there about it if you have a spare day or two to do the necessary research.

[thecatneuterer]

I've just found the dangerous ingredients: pyrethrin and permethrin.

Of course most cats will be fine with these, but some will react badly and can die. Even if they've previously had no trouble it doesn't mean that they will never react to it. Fergoose I've tried to look up the ingredients of Effipro but couldn't find them. If it does contain either of these ingredients then I definitely wouldn't recommend it.

[thecatneuterer]

Spero Flea collars don't really work. Nor do any other unlicensed flea products. And what's far, far worse, some of them can actually kill your cat!

Bob Martin's used to be the worst offender. Our clinic used to regularly see cats that were convulsing that had been treated with Bob Martin's (the correct one for cats and the correct dose). The vast majority of these died. There is a lot on the internet about it. I still feel upset about two year old cats that I was sent to pick up one Christmas Eve that were convulsing after being treated. The vets cared for them right through the night but they were dead the next morning.

About a year ago Bob Martin's changed their formulation so it no longer contains the dangerous ingredient (which I've just forgotten the name of) but most of the other 'off the shelf' spot on flea products still use it.

Personally I would still boycott Bob Martin's as they knew about this problem for years but still carried on regardless, and of course all other off the shelf flea products should be avoided like the plague.

[fergoose]

I buy Effipro - works a treat and good value. Can buy online too.

[Spero]

Never known a flea collar, or anything you can buy in supermarkets to work.

Still not been arsed to make an appointment for cats, it was more of a preemptive strike as no fleas apparent yet but as soon as they arrive they all feast on my daughter and I will be officially a Bad Mother.

[RobinBedRest]

Anyone else use flea collars, I'm wondering what they have on now as they are just sold in supermarkets so presumably not licenced at all?

[BobblyGussets]

We got Advocate from the brilliant vet surgery who saw us on Saturday morning, so Sausage didn't have to spend the bank holiday with fleas.

I hope you find something that gets rids of your fleas soon, Spero

Thanks everyone, you are fabulous pussy advisers.

[Irishmammybread]

If Frontline is applied correctly it should work, but it doesn't kill the fleas straight away,it can take 24hrs for the fleas to die so you can still see live fleas on the cat if it keeps picking them up from the environment.
Spraying the house will help with environmental control.
Comfortis is a new palatable tablet given once a month and is the fastest and most effective product, most fleas are dead within an hour. You also know the cat is treated effectively, sometimes a spoton can go on the hair rather than the skin and drip off and cats sometimes don't like the sensation on the back of their neck!