For Fleas

We were just introduced to this today. We have had a problem in the last week or so with fleas and had the exterminator out for the second time and sprayed the yard so I wanted to kill all the fleas on the dogs at the same time. This is a pill, at our vet $8 for dogs over 55lbs, $6 55lbs and under. It starts working within 20 minutes and kills everything on your dog for 24 hours. We just tried it and it works WELL!! Put the dogs in crates and there are dead fleas all on the crate floors!!

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This is a 24 hour fix, not long term but kills everything on the dog, follow up with frontline, advantage ect.

Just looked up the active ingredient!!! Biological and Chemical warfare on fleas and ticks!!! SWEET!!!


Nitenpyram is an insecticide used in agriculture and veterinary medicine to kill insect external parasites of livestock and pets.[2]

In veterinary medicine, it is used orally with dogs and cats to control fleas (often under the brandname "Capstar"[3]). After ingestion, it takes only 30 minutes for the pill to kill every adult flea on the pet. The effects of this pill are approximately 12 hours. Nitenpyram is safe to use on puppies and kittens as young as four weeks old so long as they weigh at least 2 pounds (0.91 kg).

Nitenpyram is a neonicotinoid, which means that it is a neurotoxin that blocks the ability for neural messages to transmit through the central nervous system of the flea causing (almost) instant death.

It has no long-term residal activity and therefore is not effective as a longer-term flea preventative. It is usually used to kill adult fleas quickly on an infested animal to give immediate relief for a day. It is then usually followed up with Frontline, Advantage, or some other longer-term flea preventative to prevent reinfestation. In heavily infested animals, it can cause extreme itching as the fleas die; this almost always resolves on its own.

It is often used as part of the protocol in treating environmental infestations.

 

My small terrier mixes have had them so bad this year, I have used about 6 Capstar already. The only problem is the life cyle stages of the flea is so long, it takes about three months to get rid of all of them. They have gotten better with regular bathing with home remedy's and some apple cidar vinegar. I just came in from trimming the bushes and tree's and spraying all around with chemicals, hate using 'em, but got to get rid of them.

 

Capstar is a quick fix. But it is short acting. And Old Fort that price is VERY expensive for Capstar considering that it only cost Vets around $2 a dose. You can buy it much cheaper from places like JeffersPet.com.

There is a new product that is on the market called Comfortis. It starts killing fleas in 30 minutes and FULL kill in 4 hours and last 1 month. The price is comparable to frontline. We have had excellent results in dogs with FAD (Flea Allergy Dermatitis) Only bad point is that it does not work for ticks.

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The active ingredient in Comfortis™ is spinosad. When ingested by fleas, spinosad targets the flea’s nervous system, causing the flea to show involuntary muscle contraction and tremors. Spinosad-induced excitation leads to flea paralysis and rapid death.
While extremely toxic to fleas, spinosad does not affect the mammalian nervous system. Dogs do not have the same response to Comfortis™.
Because you give Comfortis to your pet orally, you do not have to tolerate the mess and inconvenience of topical pesticides. Comfortis is rapidly absorbed in your dog’s bloodstream, where it circulates and protects your dog from flea infestation for a full month. Comfortis begins killing fleas within 30 minutes, so you know your dog is getting fast relief and long-lasting protection.
Comfortis does not depend on your dog’s skin and hair coat to distribute across the body. That’s why Comfortis is a great choice for dogs with skin problems, as flea protection is vitally important and cannot be compromised.

 

havent tried it but its nice to keep in mind. Im extremely gung-ho bout a clean yard. I ve noticed that fleas would come from neighbors yard and even there neighbors. I ve have been known to remind neighbors to cut there grass or else ill slow down on sending BBQ plates to neigbors.point im trying to make is that fleas are known to come from an unkept yard whether from ya own or the neigbors

 

Comfortis sounds like a nice product, however there have been a few isolated cases where it causes neurological side effects. It also has been noted that when used concurrently with extralabel doses of ivermectin (such as treatment for demodex) it increases the chance for ivermectin toxicosis. I'm afraid to use it since I use it for HW prevention and it is a higher dose than that in heartgard.

 

I found that inbreed/linebreed dogs do not have a same immune system like cross breed or regular bred dogs, so its important to be proactive.

 

With every medication there can be a side effects and it varies from dog to dog. And as you said isolated. There has been dogs have neurological reactions to frontline, advantix, advantage, revolution, and promeris. When using chemicals you always run a risk of an adverse reaction.

And it is FDA approved. Which means that they did their trials. It is not to be used in pregnant or lactating bitches. But for those with dogs that have severe FAD it is a miracle.

And yes the old 1% Ivermectin for heartworm preventative. Well the old addage 1/10cc per 10lbs. While yes that is way more ivermectin than in heartgard, Iverheart....... And way more than needed to prevent heartworm. And can cause many side effects if given incorrectly and at a higer dose. Considering those products use micrograms in stead of the mgs than most dogs receive from the 1/10cc per 10pds.

I also use Iverheart or Heartgard as heartworm prevention. I still stand by that 1% Ivermectin given at 1/10cc per 10pds is an overdose (and to qualify for literal definition of overdose it has to be given 5x recomended dose) Which it is if giving the 1% solution (10mg/ml) at 1/10cc per 10pds.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I use Ivermectin also.

 

As I have posted in other threads. We use Over and Out Fire Ant bait for our yard and dogs chain spaces. The active ingrediant is Fipronil. We just put it in the spreader.

Now as far as fleas in a clean vs dirty yard. I think it depends on climate, wildlife, stray animals, and environment. We live on 16 acres in a State Forrest. God only knows what travels through our property. Plus we live in Florida, and we have alot of sand instead of dirt. All things that fleas love. We have no issues with fleas. I use frontline on the dogs (i get it at cost) and Over and Out. Now we only have 7 adults and 2 pups that we are keeping out of this current litter. So it is still pretty inexpensive for me to treat this way.

 

I know there are side effects with every medication and flea preventative out there. I just wanted to warn others about the interaction with ivermectin since I know a lot of people use that for HW prevention because it's cheaper.

Being FDA approved doesn't guarantee anything to me Look at the old proheart injections...Things are approved all the time to be later pulled off the shelves.

I'm sure it's a great and effective product, I have heard good reviews about it. If I didn't use Ivermectin, than maybe I'd try it...what about Promeris, any reviews on that? My work hasn't started carrying any of the new stuff yet.

 

Proheart (revamped) is comming back. But they are requiring Vets to take a live conference/online course before they allow them to provide it to clients. The Vet I work for is not sure if she will carry it.

I have heard ups and downs regarding Promeris. I have a friend who is a Vet Tech Manager (member of this board) that they did a test case for demodex using Promeris and they had excellent results. None of the hospitals I have worked at carried Promeris while I was there. So I do not have any first hand experiences with it.

While yes I know it is more cost effective for the 1% Solutuion for those with larger yards. And yes I know people have used it for YEARS. But it is way to much. And I know being FDA approved is not the end all. Ivermectin is used for Demodex and it is not FDA approved for that. And Albendazole is used for Coccidia and that is off label. But they are usually under a Vet's supervision. And if you work in the Veterinary field you know that some clients with a little info/knowledge can do more harm than good. LOL

 

Got that right! And with the internet, people are self diagnosing and self medicating way too much!

I heard about Proheart coming back, the doctor I work for is getting it soon, I think...But I still won't use it.

I am curious about Promeris though, nothing is working for me for more than two weeks here.

 

I will not use it either.

Have you treated your yard? The 2 that Merial suggests are Amdro Fire Ant Bait (IGR S-Methoprene) and Over and Out Fire Ant Bait (Fipronil) Same active ingredients as in Frontline Plus.

I am about 1 hr east of Pensacola. Like I said I literally live in a State Forrest (Blackwater River). Since I have been treating the environment (Over and Out) and the dogs with Frontline. We do not see a single flea on them. I bring my 2 in the house alot. So I am ALWAYS checking for fleas. And I have been doing this for about 4 months. With great results.

Fleas make my skin crawl. I was drawing blood from a Cat today and on the neck I could not even visualize the jugular because of so much flea dirt. I was scrating my head, and body for about an hour after that. I swear I could feel them crawling on me. :eek:

 

I'm the same way...and mine all come in the house too.

One of mine is allergic to Frontline (I think), breaks out in hives everytime. We've been using the Bayer Tree and Shrub stuff for the yard (which is the same ingredient as Advantage) capstar, and advantage every two to three weeks...I think I'll try that over and out in the yard though and see if she breaks out. Thanks for the advice!

Ugh..sometimes I sit and think of how much easier life would be and how much more money I'd have without dogs lol

 

Yep I know. I spent over $3000 last year and that was with the Discount. LOL

When your dog broke out were you using Plus or Top Spot? Plus has the S-Methoprene in it and Top Spot is just Fipronil. If you knew it was a fipronil allergy then you could use Amdro on the yard.

But you are using Bayer Tree and Shrub on the yard that should work. The active ingredient is Imidacloprid (Advantage). I have heard of people using Bayer Tree and Shurb directly on the dogs every month. In theory it would work. Bayer T/S is 1.47% and Advantage is 9.1% concentration of Imidacloprid. You can purchase a 32oz bottle of Bayer T/S for about $20. I have never tried it. But I have heard great things about it.

They were using 1ml for 20-30pd dogs, and 2ml for 40-50pd dogs. My question to them was that Bayer T/S is way less concentrated than Advantage how could a 1.47% concentration work. She said it is working fine. And because it is so much less concentrated than the 9.1% Advantage it was safe. I have not ran this by my Vet for her opinion yet. But like I said in theory it is the same product.

 

It was Frontline Plus...When the Advantage runs out we'll probably just start using the bayer t/s on them, I've heard about people doing it with no problems also. The only reason I didn't try it is because I was told to use 15 ccs on my dogs and I thought that was way too much. I'll try the 2ccs though. That way at least if I'm doing it every 2-3 weeks it won't drain the bank.

 

For fleas and ticks my mom used to make a combo of wonder dust and borax powder and dust it around the yard the dogs never had fleas or ticks and thats in south fl
and as for the ivermectin ill have to beg to differ i had 2dogs raised on nothing but that they both lived till 14 good stuff in my book jmo

 

The capstar has worked well for me for a quick fix, but my neighbors have like twenty cats, so it's a constant battle. Personally I've found that after a capstar the best way to keep them off is to follow up with something like frontline and then suplement from time to time with Adams flea and tick spray. Adams kills just about everything and will even keep the mosquitos off for a couple of days. Doesn';t smell horrible either. Other than that I treat my yard once a summer and try to keep the grass short. I also keep cedar in the dog houses which I hear helps with the fleas some. Even with a fela factory next door my animals rarely have more than the occasional flea. You just have to remember to stay on it and keep a bottle of the adams handy.