Advantage flea treatment

[BoudicanDestruction]

Anyone else find that Advantage has stopped working?
It's always done the trick for us but this time it just hasn't. Is this one going the same way as Frontline now?

Are we looking at prescription only treatments now?

Over a year ago for catofhate. It's now prescription all the way.

Just found that we have to use prescription flea treatment. The vet says we have to bring the cat in regularly to keep being issued the treatment. Expensive! Is it really necessary to keep taking the cat in for repeat prescriptions?

New rcvs rules regulate pomv flea treatment, if vet writes in notes at time of consult that its ok for 'fluffy' to have repeat 'product name' for 12 months then you are ok to get it direct from vet or a written script from vet until examination 12 month's later and so on.

Yes I found it pretty rubbish though not as bad as Frontline now is.

This doesn't seem to be a particularly bad season for fleas thank God. The cold autumn seems to have killed them off.

Catofhate is on a preventative care plan that means I pay monthly for two checkups per year, wormer, flea killer, and vaccine boosters.

We've had an awful autumn for fleas. Frontline did nothing neither did seresto collar. Had to get prescription from the vet plus indorex spray and nuke the house repeatedly.

If you do some research you can get prescription-only flea medication sent without prescription from overseas. (I think it can be confiscated at border control.)

I only take mine in annually for their boosters and they get weighed and a general check up and the i can get the flea/wormer monthly for the year until the next check up. I dont need to take the cats in each time.

I don't recommend this because a) it can get confiscated at customs, b) it's prescription-only for a reason, and c) your cat should get regular health checks anyway.

You can buy what is prescription only stuff online shipped from New Zealand.

Atlanticpetproducts.com

Advantage is fortunately still working for my cats, including my hunter who spends a lot of time seeking out flea ridden rabbits.🐰

This is interesting because my cat suddenly had a reaction to a flea bite and had loads of scabs from scratching them (and I suddenly had loads of bites too). Only through daily combing has it calmed down. I didn't realise the spot-on flea treatment can stop being effective. Is that permanent once it starts?

Oh this is interesting.

We have a 14 yr old cat who is semi-feral, but as he has got older he has become more and more tame and spends a lot of time indoors now. Unfortunately despite regular treating with alternating frontline/advantage he still has an active flea infestation. He absolutely cannot be taken to the vet - I doubt I'd even get him in the car carrier tbh. Is there any way at all to get anything better than frontline without a vet visit?

Use a trap cage with tasty food inside it and put the trap cage with him in it into the car. This will work for the first vet's visit, at least. The prescription spot-on works for three months and the vet will only want to see the cat once or twice per year.

Yes. The local fleas have become resistant to it.

@selffellatingouroborosofhate does that mean using a different brand would help? Currently use Frontline. Other than regular flea combing/expensive prescription medication, is there a solution?

A different brand won't help if the ingredients are the same. A fipronil-resistant flea is resistant to all fipronil products. An imidacloprid-resistant flea is resistant to all imidacloprid products.

The expensive vet flea killer is only needed four times per year.

@ponygirlcurtis Frontline stopped working for us about 14 years ago. But Advantage still works for our cats. It contains a different active ingredient, imidacloprid. You can buy it from suppliers like Viovet and VetUK.

Thank you both, something to think about. I just started a new 6-pack of Frontline too! 😭But if doesn't improve I will try Advantage, and then think about the vet flea option. Currently pulling around 5-6 off per day with the flea comb, but it's time intensive! Cat quite likes it though...

Thanks @selffellatingouroborosofhate , what is the expensive vet flea killer called?

We’ve switched to a three monthly spot on one from the vet, I’m not sure of the brand as we took her in to get treatment for her skin as it was so scabby and they did it there, haven’t needed the top up yet
Frontline and Advantage have both stopped working for us… the dog has also been switched to a tablet from the vet (he’s the problem child, goes to doggy daycare and brought them home despite being treated on time every month 🙄)

Same here (though our flea treatment and wormer are both quarterly now) - just ring up for the repeat prescrption the rest of the year.

This is illegal under the veterinary medicines act, and you can be prosecuted. In addition you can’t be certain the pack contains the correct drug. Recent deaths from fake Yumove sold on eBay and Amazon prove this is very risky. Go to your vet and get the real stuff.

I found it stopped working last year.

Really annoying, cat has bravecto now the same as the dog, works so far.

After years of battling fleas as various products stopped working I now use Bravecto combined with a 6 monthly Program injection which kills the flea eggs on the cat and stops them from breeding. This obviously has to be done at the vets and it isn't cheap but it's sorted the problem - for now anyway.