My dog (a black Labrador bitch) has been having trouble with fleas for some time. I have started using Bob Martin's flea collars, which appear to be killing some. However, she still seems to have fleas. Is there anything more I can do?

Vets sell Frontline which you just drop onto the back of their necks. It has the benefit of making all the fleas sterile so that they can't reproduce. One pipette will last for three months or, if you want to protect from ticks as well, use monthly

Thanks. She is due to go for her annual visit to the Vet soon. So I can buy some Frontline from him.

Frontline is available in both spray and spot-on. Personally I prefer the spray. I have recently tried the spot-on after saying for years that i'm not happy with this method and have to say that I don't believe it is as effective as the spray.

Regards, John

I have only ever used the spot on and have yet to find a flea on the dogs, can't GET much more effective than that can you? ;) :D Each to his or her own though :)

I used it and did find a flea, a week after using it. I have never had problems using the spray, cannot GET much more effective than that can you? As you say, each to his own Melodysk.

Oh grief ...its back to being *Melodysk* now is it?

LOLOL

I prefer the spray too. It may be totally illogical, but I don't like the idea of having enough chemical to affect the whole animal concentrated in one tiny area.
:)

As I said, tis a personal thing JG ...I guess whatever you start with you tend to carry on with :) Whatever works for you eh?  :D

Yep, it works for me. I've not had a flea for ages! ;) And neither have the dogs! :D :D

*Giggles* ...how are you for ticks though JG? ;)

:D

I use the spot on frontline, not only because it is effective, but because my dogs would go ballistic if i used a spray on them. I use the new frontline combo spot ons because they stop the eggs from hatching too. I have also never had a tick on any of my dogs in 2 1/2 years. (so never really)! Sherwood - if you have a flea problem, it is always a good idea to treat bedding and carpets too as they can keep reoccuring. You vets can also sell a really good carpet spray called acclaim. YOu spray it onto the carpets, leave the room for  1/2 an hour and then ventilate the room. It is said to last up to 12 months.

yes i have used acclaim for 3 years now, it is very good, i buy it from boots, not all boots sell it though.

Same here, and also each dose is cheaper in the spray and last for up to 3 months, whereas it says two months for the spot on.

It`s been 3yrs now since I`ve had to use toxic chemicals on my dogs to prevent infestation of fleas. Yes they have odd 1 or 2 but I`ve managed to maitain a flea infestation in my dogs/home & kennels by feeding them a raw meat/food diet supplemented with a clove of crushed garlic daily & also daily grooming.
I`ve found this a lot more effective & a lot less cheaper ;) than frontline or stronghold, which I previously used to use.

Christine, Spain.

I thought it was *programme* tablets that sterilised the fleas Mel, didn`t know frontline did that as well??

Christine Spain.

Hi I give Luna my lab 2 garlic tabs and 2 brewers yeast tabs everyday. My friend's semilonghaired GSD and Luna are both "Frontlined". Bella the GSD had fleas about 3 weeks ago, Luna didn't, so I believe the garlic works.

Bella is now gettig garlic too. My home is cleaned from floor to ceiling. The dogs got another pipette of Frontline and combined with the garlic it worked... No more fleas.

I'm trying to change to garlic powder (for horses) as Luna and Bella have started spitting the tabs out, even if hidden!

Jeanette

Most dogs like fresh garlic; mine get a crushed clove each day mixed in with their food; i believe a lot of garlic's other medecinal qualities are lost through processing.

I do not however give brewers yeast as I do not want to feed any fungus to my dogs! :D

I have just administered Frontline Combo to my dog. How quickly does it work?

Should tell you on the instructions

24-48 hrs for adult fleas, but you really should treat the house as well.

Frontline combo is a new product that claims to treat environment too - but only through making eggs sterile!  Therefore I would say the first time you use it to treat the house also, then use Frontline combi, because of course previous eggs, larvae and pupae would still be alive and this time of year may sneakily lay dormant until the central heating goes on in a few months time :rolleyes: and after your application has worn off.
It claims to kill fleas within 24 hours and lice and ticks within 48 hours.
Anything bought in a pet shop or supermarket is c**p, if it don't need a prescription it aint any good IMHO!!
Sarah

*Anything bought in a pet shop or supermarket is c**p, if it don't need a prescription it aint any good IMHO!!
*

Oh my what a diverse lot we are on here

I`m extremely wary of anything the vet wants to give me on prescription, although I always listen to his suggestions/advice & then say let me try my what ever I think first & then if that doesn`t work I`ll get back to the vet, in fact most of the time now I only need him to confirm by appropriate blood/fecal testing what I already know & thats my dogs & pups are/were worm/flea/tick/parasite free & are extremely healthy & normal :D :D
But I always get a diagnosis for anything I`m unsure of from my vet first before I`d treat any of my dogs :) I`ts important to have a good relationship with your vet, where by you both have respect & a willigness to listen & learn for each others different knowledge of dogs/animals :)

Christine, Spain.

The flea collars I bought from the supermarket did not work adequately.

The Frontline the Vet prescribed appears to be working.

What is annoying is that if the supermarket had not been selling products that do not work, I would have been to the Vet much earlier.

I feel there may be an element of: 'if you need to see the vet to get a prescription, you will be told whether it's the appropriate treatment' rather than inexperienced owners self-diagnosing and potentially harming their animals. If you have a good relationship and trust your vet, then the prescription charge is the way of paying for his expertise, advice and diagnostic skills.
:)

I paid £26.80 for 3 months supply of Frontline Combo. I administered it to my dog on Wednesday night. It appears to be working well. I suspect that many people would not expect to go to a Vet for flea treatment.

I am referring to flea treatment here!  If it is a decent insecticide ie:strong stuff then you have to go through the vet, plain and simple - obviously you dont have to make an appointment but you need to go to the surgery to get the stuff.  Cant sell frontline in Sainsbury's - too strong!!!

My dogs were plagued with fleas recently and  I couldnt get rid of them no matter what I tried, in the end I tried Johnsons 4 fleas tablets and they worked like a miricle, the fleas were all dead within 12 hours and you could actually see them drop off, I have kept my dogs on a 6 week course which is one tablet every week for 6 weeks and they are fine now. No need to spray or anything.

I would always go to the vet for flea and worming treatment.
I will use this analogy and maybe that will help you.
I have a licence to spray hebicides and insectesides gardens etc.
I use Round up. Yep, you can get round-up in alot of shops. And you donnot nead a licence.
Heres the relavent bit -
The Round-up you buy from the local DIY store/supermarket etc is 10 times WEAKER than the same product I buy and have to be licenced for.
Yes the roundup you buy does work, just, but is not as affective as the concentrate I use.
Now, the way I look at it, it is the same with medicines/chemicals. Petshops can sell worming and flea treatments, but if they were as powerful as the stuff vets sell, they would have to have the relevant training to be able to administer it, which, to the best of my knowledge the dont.
So the vets get my custom every 3 months for wormers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lea :)

Melodysk,

Thank you for your prompt advice. I have used Frontline and the fleas have gone now.

Excellent :) I think that with Frontline, you use it every two months to keep fleas away but if you want to use it to repel ticks as well, reapply once a month

:)

"Excellent  I think that with Frontline, you use it every two months to keep fleas away but if you want to use it to repel ticks as well, reapply once a month"

Sorry, new to the board and not sure how to reply with quotes.  The above is absolutely right.

I hope it's ok to add my opinion.  Every person whose posts I have read on this board seem to be caring, intelligent and well-informed owners, and as such would have no problems diagnosing and treating problems such as fleas, worms, anal glands etc without any help from a vet or nurse.  Sadly, not all pet owners are as responsible so we have to cater to those who get animals and don't bother to learn how to look after them properly.  We had a case recently where a client had had an Akita, which they rehomed as he was completely out of control.  They replaced him with a 6 week old kitten and instead of asking our advice decided to save some money by de-fleaing the kitten with a pipette of 40-60kg dog Frontline that they had left over.  The insecticide level was so high that it proved fatal.  It's because of owners like these that we (in my practice anyway) are very stringent about things that seem trivial to most owners.

I use Frontline on my 2 cats and whippet, as obviously because of my job they are at quite a high risk of picking up fleas (I actually saw one hop off me and onto the pup the other day :-).  It's my personal opinion that supermarket brands are not as effective, but I think if a product works then stick to it.  Some animals never seem to pick up any parasites, despite never being treated, whereas others get them all the time.  I suppose it depends on how much exercise an animal gets, where it's walked, etc.  I do, however, think that flea collars are a real waste of money, and can sometimes cause hair loss around the neck.

Sorry to jump on the bandwagon, just thought it might be helpful.

Mary-Caroline