Frontline failure

[N80]

That's interesting, and it does make you wonder if the fleas, our fleas anyway, have developed some resistence. We have also used the Frontline every month, for the last seven years.

The odd thing is is that this got started when someone left the front door to our cabin open. When we came back there had been mice in the house. We caught them in traps, literally within an hour of putting the traps out. Mice never came back but they left the fleas. We bug bombed the cabin and there have been no more fleas there.

So, it may be time to try Advantage or the oral tablet.

 

[dmccarty]

Thankfully I have not had a flea problem in years....

When I did have a flea problem I found a flea spray/bomb that killed both the flea eggs and fleas. Read the back of the cans.

I also put into the carpet Borax. Its supposed to kill bugs and is something my granny used. At the time I used XX Mule team detergent. I would dump it on the carpet and spread it with a rake. Let it sit for awhile and the vacuum it up. Course alot of it stayed in the carpet but you could not see it. Make sure you pay attention when you get the detergent from under the sink. You don't want to grab the dishwasher detergent and spread that in the carpet.

The carpet did sparkle.....

I can say that the borax worked totally but no more fleas.

Our house has finished concrete floors. No carpet. Hard for fleas to live on concrete. Same with ticks.

Later,
Dan

 

[N80]

Totally off topic here, but tell me about your floors. My whole downstairs is really nice reclaimed hardwood, except for the den which is on a concrete slab and has grungy wall-to-wall carpet that needs to go. Don't really want to re-install carpet but it is one of the cheapest options. Tell me about the finished concrete floors. Can they be added on top of a typical slab like mine? What do they look like? Do they have a brick or stone pattern in them? Color? What about cost?

 

[jinjimbob]

What kind of frontline are you using? Is it the monthly pill or oil packet?

We use a pill from another company (Sentinel), it doesn't actually kill the fleas, it makes them sterile, stops them reproducing, stops their egg production.

Dog and cat fleas are different species, they do not cross over to the other animals. You need to apply the frontline oil and let the dog go around to its normal places, allow the fleas to jump back to its host.

 

[Redbug]

Only other thing about Frontline and other drugs, (as you probably know), maybe it could possibly be counterfeit? That's big business in the Vet industry.

(Back to floors)...

 

[N80]

What kind of frontline are you using? Is it the monthly pill or oil packet?

We use the oil. Apply it every month....for seven years.

Redbug, we usually buy from the vet, but we have bought a number of times from PetMeds on the internet. So counterfeit is certainly a possibility. We've ordered from them before with no problems, but it does make me wonder. The thing is, in the last seven years he's had virtually no fleas. Now, not only does he have fleas, he's got lots of fleas. So its not that it isn't working as well as it used to, its not working at all. Nada.

 

[MarkV]

N80 we had same problem last year as you are having now. We used the Frontline oil once a month year round for two dogs with great results for years. It just wasn't doing the job starting mid summer last year and the vet had us change to Comfortis. It is a new treatment with similar promises as Frontline but it is pill form. Our vet felt like he was getting better flea control from it. So far so good for us. You may want to read up on it or ask your vet what he thinks.

Interesting thought that fleas may be building an immunity to Frontline. I know it has happened with other species and insecticides.

MarkV

 

[jinman]

My wife just started using a very expensive product called Revolution from Pfizer. We have five cats and one of them seems to have an allergy to the product (hair loss around the neck after use). All the other cats have tolerated the product very well and it seems to work for them. Here's a link.

Revolution for Dogs

Oh yes! One other thing that works for fleas in the house. Set a small bowl of soapy water under a nighlight in a hallway or open area. You'll be surprised how that attracts fleas and you'll collect lots of them in your "drowning pool."

 

[20 20]

seven dust

 

[CavinMan]

My wife and I also used Frontline for years with success, then a stray cat had a litter under our house. When the kittens became mobile and mama started taking them out into the world, we trapped them (with a cat carrier on the porch and a fishing line tied to the door of the carrier that ran through the front door into the foyer! Cats went into the carrier for food and we'd slam the door shut on them). We kept one of the kittens, who had the thickest fur I've ever seen on a cat. We frontlined her, just as we did our other two cats. She scratched a lot for a year, but we never saw any fleas despite several searches, but she seemed to have a lot of flea dirt. We finally saw a couple, and gave her a flea batch and many dead fleas appeared. A month later we repeated the bath and got more fleas. Finally, a trip to the vet revealed the info that many areas are reporting that Frontline is losing effectiveness, as some populations of fleas have developed resistance. They recommeded we try Revolution. So we did. It's identical in use to frontline, a monthly application between the shoulder blades. Within two days, every time our cat would get up, there would be several dead fleas in the spot where she had been lying. She stopped scratching. We've been using Revolution ever since and none of the cats have fleas. It seems here in eastern Kentucky, the fleas have indeed become resistant to Frontline.