Frontline Plus not working

[Kyra231]

What the fuck. I have to say I think the damn fleas are building an immunity to it after a decade of it being in use or North Carolina is once again showing its propensity for mutant bugs.

I've always had a dog, if not 2 or 3. Occasionally flea problems happen, apply frontline, flea problem disappears.

Not this time. My poor mastiff apparently has flea allergy dermatitis & had made short work of his groin & tail, poor bastard(applying hydrocortisone to 180lb dog who think's it's going to kill him 3x a day is no fun).

I've called every vet in the phone book none in driving distance carry anything BUT frontline & advantage & none will prescribe others to order online since those aren't working.:banghead:

Has anyone else heard of Frontline not working recently? I've been reapplying it ever 3 weeks instead of 4, it keeps them fairly flea free for about 2.5 weeks then right back they come. I'm at my wits end now & bombing isn't an option because of the birds. I'd really like to avoid dropping a small fortune on products that aren't worth the cheap packaging they come in.

Aside from my thought of shooting the dogs & burning down the house..I'm hoping someone has a product or treatment they've tried that worked?

~K.

[Parkbandit]

I use K9 Advantix on my dog Dude.. and I've never seen a flea on him in 2 years. I also give him a shower with a mild flea/tick shampoo once every couple of weeks.

The trick is.. doing it EVERY month and not just using the stuff when you see a flea. He gets the flea treatment and a heartworm treatment every 15th of the month.

[Malvadere]

My dog's Frontline treatment seems to do nothing too.

[Kyra231]

I use K9 Advantix on my dog Dude.. and I've never seen a flea on him in 2 years. I also give him a shower with a mild flea/tick shampoo once every couple of weeks.

The trick is.. doing it EVERY month and not just using the stuff when you see a flea. He gets the flea treatment and a heartworm treatment every 15th of the month.

I usually do, an unexpected trip to Cali when my fil was dying just made me forget to tell the dog sitter about it. Heartguard I have the sticker on the calendar & the dog sitter only gave them that not knowing the flea meds were in there for it at the same time....so yay fleas.

I'm leary of Advantix after my St. Bernard was hospitalized for 3 weeks from a reaction to it. I may risk it at this point since I can not tolerate insects or bugs in my house.

[Killer Kitten]

Revolution is also a great product, I'm an Advantage user myself but will fall back to Revolution if I can't get what I prefer. It's only available through vets, and I'm amazed that nobody in your area carries it. Maybe if you request it by name?

An oatmeal shampoo bath could help your dogs' skin, and maybe the vet could give him a course of Pred and a Dex shot for his skin, rather than topical treatments.

Good luck, I hope you wipe out the offending bugs. I hate fleas!!!!

[ElanthianSiren]

For the chewing, I give my greyhound benedryl (vet said to) if he breaks out. He only weighs 80 lbs though, so I can't tell you how much you'd need for your mastiff.

Since you actually missed your dose, couldn't that be the problem? I was under the impression that advantage worked by disrupting the egg cycle also.

[CrystalTears]

Not sure if you have rugs, but I'd shampoo and clean those out as well. I wouldn't be surprised if you have eggs/fleas within carpeting or furniture. Wouldn't hurt to go that route.

[Allereli]

I was at Petsmart yesterday and I really wanted a pet. Now I don't. Thanks PC!

[thefarmer]

Kyra

We just went to the vet with the a similiar problem. We've noticed a several fleas on our puppy and him scratching constantly. He's on Frontline too. Our vet said that this has been the worst year for bugs (fleas/ticks/small critters) in NC that she's seen in awhile.

After a few days of being reassured the Frontline's working and still seeing the occasional flea, my wife got the vet to prescribe some pill that'll kill anything on the animal for 24hrs, (ontop of the frontline which takes awhile to work). I forgot what it was called, but it was only a couple of bucks and you can give it to them anytime you need to. I think the period between doses is a day or two.

[Kyra231]

For the chewing, I give my greyhound benedryl (vet said to) if he breaks out. He only weighs 80 lbs though, so I can't tell you how much you'd need for your mastiff.

Since you actually missed your dose, couldn't that be the problem? I was under the impression that advantage worked by disrupting the egg cycle also.

The missed dose caused the problem, they're back on it but the time they missed allowed for fleas to come hopping on in & make camp.

The vet recommended 1mg/lb of benedryl for my mastiff so he gets hefty doses & he had a cortisone shot it's just taking time to calm down & the re-infestation every 3 weeks is not helping him :(


Revolution is also a great product, I'm an Advantage user myself but will fall back to Revolution if I can't get what I prefer. It's only available through vets, and I'm amazed that nobody in your area carries it. Maybe if you request it by name?

I'm very unimpressed by everything in this town, the lack of knowledgeable vets is high on my list. I'm happy to have a good supply of baytril as a base backup should something go wrong with my birds because these fuckwits are clueless.

At the vet I currently use I asked for Program(one of my personal favorites)..blank stare...Revolution....blank stare/ummmm we don't carry that....How about Sentinel? 'Ma'am all we carry is Frontline & Advantix' in a condescending 'I'm talking to a retard' tone

Rinse & repeat over every place I called town. Some 'used to carry' other products but to quote the receptionist 'no one bought 'em so we quit.'

I'm now on a waiting list to get them into the vets office on base, maybe sometime this month <g>.

I've been thinking of calling my vet in Michigan & see if they would ship me something. Most likely against some law, but couldn't hurt to ask. Hmmm.

~K.

[Kyra231]

Kyra

We just went to the vet with the a similiar problem. We've noticed a several fleas on our puppy and him scratching constantly. He's on Frontline too. Our vet said that this has been the worst year for bugs (fleas/ticks/small critters) in NC that she's seen in awhile.

After a few days of being reassured the Frontline's working and still seeing the occasional flea, my wife got the vet to prescribe some pill that'll kill anything on the animal for 24hrs, (ontop of the frontline which takes awhile to work). I forgot what it was called, but it was only a couple of bucks and you can give it to them anytime you need to. I think the period between doses is a day or two.

Sounds like capstar? Heh your vet isn't within driving distance of Fayetteville is he? I'd be willing to drive quite a bit to one who didn't make me feel like they pulled their license out of a cracker jack box.

[thefarmer]

http://www.1800petmeds.com/

Haha.. you poor bastard. I hate that town. Yeah. We're up in Cary. So a quick hour-ish drive.

Animal Kingdom Veterinary Hospital
www.animalkingdomvet.net

329 N Harrison Ave # G
Cary, NC 27513
(919) 460-9111
Get directions

[Amber]

My collie has flea allergy dermatitis also, but because collies are not able to tolerate cortisone, I've had to rely on tea tree oil, which works pretty well to reduce the itching and redness. The problem you're having, I believe, is due to the new batches of fleas developing in between frontline treatments. A new generation of fleas develops every three weeks or so, so your dog seems to keep getting re-infected. In order to break this cycle, you may want to try steam cleaning your carpets with borax, which is non-hazardous to birds, but toxic to flea larvae, to remove developing fleas before they have a chance to infect your dog again. You can also treat his bedding with borax. Additionally, or alternatively, you may want to ask your vet for "Program" which is a pill for your dog which will render female fleas barren.

[Amber]

You can buy Program online, by the way. http://www.medi-vet.com/Program.html

[Kyra231]

http://www.1800petmeds.com/

Haha.. you poor bastard. I hate that town. Yeah. We're up in Cary. So a quick hour-ish drive.

Animal Kingdom Veterinary Hospital
www.animalkingdomvet.net

329 N Harrison Ave # G
Cary, NC 27513
(919) 460-9111
Get directions

<3 Thanks, coming here from Michigan has been quite the ummm culture shock to say the least. Hour drive for a good vet is worth it, the dogs like the car anyway :)

~K.

[Ignot]

I have short hair dogs too and they can't handle any topical flea treatment. We just started using Comfortis which is an oral medicine and is has worked very well although I never had a flea problem with them prior. I am however battling a dry skin problem and i am open to suggestions. vet treatment isnt working and i can't keep taking them to the vet every time they get dry skin.

Look how upset he is:

2427

[Jack]

For the dry skin, try changing their food to Avoderm. My dog had dry itchy skin, and was pretty miserable because of it. I switched him to Avoderm, and it cleared up after a week of him eating it. It's not cheap food, but worth it I think.

[thefarmer]

Speaking of pet food... My wife wants to start using Rachel Ray dog food since it's the same price as whatever we buy now. She's impressed that it actually lists meat (pork, beef, chicken) first on the ingredients, versus other stuff than the meat.

Anyone else use that stuff?

[Drevihyin]

I have found frontline/frontline plus almost ineffective and refuse to buy it anymore. The only way I can break the cycle is to keep all my dogs on capstar and treat the yard once a month. I live on a farm and its almost impossible to try and eliminate those pesky fleas. If you ever use capstar make sure you do not buy it from a vet or you will be buying it for about 3 times the price that you can get it online.

[Ignot]

For the dry skin, try changing their food to Avoderm. My dog had dry itchy skin, and was pretty miserable because of it. I switched him to Avoderm, and it cleared up after a week of him eating it. It's not cheap food, but worth it I think.

I may try that thanks! Great Dane's have the worst problem with food....

[Gan]

We just switched from Frontline over to Advantix.

Big difference in flea occurrence.

[Gan]

I have found frontline/frontline plus almost ineffective and refuse to buy it anymore. The only way I can break the cycle is to keep all my dogs on capstar and treat the yard once a month. I live on a farm and its almost impossible to try and eliminate those pesky fleas. If you ever use capstar make sure you do not buy it from a vet or you will be buying it for about 3 times the price that you can get it online.

If you're trying to treat large outdoor areas, 7-dust works great.

Its not recommended indoors.

[Jack]

Speaking of pet food... My wife wants to start using Rachel Ray dog food since it's the same price as whatever we buy now. She's impressed that it actually lists meat (pork, beef, chicken) first on the ingredients, versus other stuff than the meat.

Anyone else use that stuff?

Pretty much all of the top shelf foods list real meat as their first ingredient. The ones that start out with corn, or some other filler are what you want to stay away from, as well as ones that list Animal Byproduct Meal, since that is ground up feet, beaks, feathers, and shit. Other meat based meals aren't quite as bad, but still not the best, since they are dehydrated meat that's ground into a powder. Pet food is some pretty nasty stuff, so it's always good to read the ingredients, and find out what they actually are. The food I mentioned, Avoderm, is good in that regard. The Lamb and Rice formula starts out with Lamb, Brewer's Rice, and other stuff I would consider eating myself.

[Gan]

Science Diet is good stuff.

We used to use Eukanuba (Iams) back in the day.

[Parkbandit]

For food, I'm using some prescription diet stuff for my fat little puggle. The little bastard would eat all day long if we allowed it.

[Kyra231]

My St. Bernard was allergic to everything we tried to feed him from Science diet to all naturals, I finally landed on a brand called 'Premium Edge' and it was awesome for him. I still feed it to my starling to this day due to the higher protein content in it than most dry foods(and being preservative free).

~K.