Problems with Frontline

[Keni]

Cats went into cattery for last two weeks, so treated them with Frontline Combo before they went as per cattery request (due to be treated anyway) . Came back, cats scratching, brushed through and both cats had fleas. Checked again next day, stil the odd one or two appearing.

Looks like Combo's not working on them either!

[Ovidia]

Watch out with Frontline and Advantix. I used it on my dog, the first 2 times she was depressed and anxious for a few hours. The third time she had visible neurological damage and could no longer walk. We rushed her to the vet who gave medication to cleanse her liver. He had seen this before. At the time he was not sure whether she would recover completely. Luckily she did. So if your pet is showing signs of anxiety or depression, do not use it again. The reaction to this 'treatment' gets more severe every time it is administered.

I will never use any of these products again and will try to deal with fleas and ticks in another way.

[Rabbie]

Mrs Rabbie is a vet and we always treat our dogs with Promeris which covers fleas and ticks. So far no adverse reactions but we have notiv=ced this years that the ticks seem to be developing a resistance to thos treatment.

Very worrying

[Christine Animal]

"Adults who play with a cat or dog while it's wearing a flea and tick collar are exposed to up to 500 times the Environmental Protection Agency's safe level of pesticides, according to a first-of-its-kind study by scientists at the Natural Resources Defense Council. For children, the levels can be 1,000 times higher than what's safe. The worst are collars containing chemicals called (get ready for a mouthful) propoxur or tetrachlorvinphos, which kill pests by disrupting their nerve pathways. Four out of five top-selling brands we shopped for contained one of these, so check labels. Luckily there are other effective pest-killing options. "Pills that pets take internally seem to be safer," says Jerome Paulson, M.D., chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics council on environmental health. Two common brands are Capstar and Program."

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/9-health-risks-arent-worth-taking-190800070.html

But what does it do to the dog or cat ?!

 

[Pommier]

We've thought for years that it can't be good for an animal to be constantly dosed with insecticide, so our last two dogs and our current one haven't been treated. The only problem we had was when one of them went to the vets to be spayed and she came home with fleas (although the vet claimed there was no way she caught them at his premises!). We always have short-haired dogs; long haired would be more difficult, also if you've got cats as they bring fleas home with them, but I believe that in our situation and so long as you check regularly, permanent treatments are overkill. 

[Rabbie]

[quote user="Pommier"]We've thought for years that it can't be good for an animal to be constantly dosed with insecticide, so our last two dogs and our current one haven't been treated. The only problem we had was when one of them went to the vets to be spayed and she came home with fleas (although the vet claimed there was no way she caught them at his premises!). We always have short-haired dogs; long haired would be more difficult, also if you've got cats as they bring fleas home with them, but I believe that in our situation and so long as you check regularly, permanent treatments are overkill. [/quote]Unfortunately Fleas aren't the only problem. Ticks are also a danger for pets because of the the diseases they can cause.

[Pommier]

True, but we also check for ticks (and they are also a problem for humans but I wouldn't permanently dose myself with insecticide!). We've got tick removers, and bizarrely the only time our dogs got ticks was on a visit to Birmingham.

[Quillan]

Ok here is an update.

Our little black cat now seems OK having had a Capstar tablet and Avantage (which I confused with Avantix for dogs only).

Poor old Max, that's the dog that has problems with spot treatments is not so well. He is still scratching having been treated with Capstar, Program and unfortunately Frontline (we just had to watch him carefully for about 8 hours while he just walked round in circles never resting). Took him to the vet today who combed him through and found a (like one) flee. Trouble is he is also allergic to flees and just sits and scratches which is distressing to both him and us (as in we don't like to see any of our animals distressed).

So we have used four of these 'bombe' things, have washed all animal and human bedding, sprayed other fabrics with an insecticide and all of us are now sitting in the garden for the next three hours with the house shut up tight. It's just lucky we have no guests although the animals are never allowed anywhere near the guest bedrooms but this is a 'belt and braces' job.

The other dog, Paddy also scratches from time to time but nothing like poor old Max. Max has had a jab to help stop him itching and we have been given another treatment for flees called Comfortis which I believe is a 'green' treatment and approved by the FDA in the US. This is the first time we have used this and they will be having them with their dinner tonight. They are quite big, a bit like those big extra strong mints you used to get in the UK. Apparently they contain honey to make them palatable. Don't know if anyone has any experience of these tablet but if not I will report back on the results.

[Keni]

Have just treated our two cats with Frontline Combo again. This time, I treated him first, then immediately started playing with him and his favourite toy for five minutes to distract him. Which it did. Then did the same with her.

No frantic washing or twitching this time and they've just curled up for a nap - always do this time of the morning, I mean, they've had to get up, eat, use the litter tray and had five minutes each playing - it's a hard life! [:)]