Difference between flea treatments

Millem

Hi guys, I was just looking for opinions on spot on flea treatments. Although none of my dogs have ever have fleas (thank god) I still flea as a preventative measure. I know advocate and stronghold are only available on Prescription and they cover some worms, fleas, mites etc but is there a difference between frontline, advantage, advantix, eppifro, fibrospot, frontline combo which are available with no prescription online? As they all vary in price I was wondering which one is the best as I could alternate? Thanks a mil

planetX

Hi, all I know is that Effipro is just an off-patent version of Frontline. I found it good until last year when it didn't work, so I presume our local fleas have got immunity. Frontline combo has an extra something that kills fleas in the environment as well as on the pet.
You may not need any of these if you live in a city, I never did till we moved to the countryside and my cats started hunting.

evilmonkee

Advocate is prescription only? My girl has been on it since she was in the rescue, so her medical history from the rescue's vet states that she is treated with that, however I did not know it was prescription only in ROI.

I've used it on my girl since I got her, it has done a brilliant job!
I know this as she was in contact with at least one dog who has flea's (over christmas).
I've always gotten it from my vets - approx €30 for 3 tubes (15-25kg dog).

DBB

I think that Advocate and Frontline are the only ones licensed to treat mites too (some of the others might work on them too, they're just not licensed to say they do), and of course, Advocate also worms the dog for some worm species. I would view treatment for mites just as important as treatment for fleas, as the little fellas are very common!
There is also advice to change the brand every so often, or even to alternate the treatments, to prevent resistance, but I haven't gone searching for research into this, so take it as hearsay for now! Perhaps a vet nurse or vet might come on here and let us know.
I don't know if these brands are prescription, as such, but they are only available from the vet.

boomerang

I wouldn't use flea treatments preventatively. For one thing, with repeated use your dog can build up a resistance to the product, so that it becomes less effective over time. (It's in the small print on the product information leaflet.) Also think about the toxicity of these products and how they tax the liver and kidneys while the body processes them. I only use them as needed. (My dogs are eight and nine now, and hand on heart, neither of them have ever had fleas!)

If your dog does pick up a flea, then I'd give a spot-on (which gives a month's cover) while you work on sorting the source of the infestation - it's just as important to hoover the floors and treat all your soft furnishings. Remember that these products don't prevent fleas - they just kill the flea within 24 hours of its biting your dog.

Edited to add: Advocate is available without prescription in many chemists that sell veterinary supplies. And you can walk into any vet and buy them over the counter from the receptionist - no prescription needed. But I'd advise everyone to read the product info and instructions very carefully.

Millem

Boomerang is it common for chemists to sell vet supplies? I tried to get stronghold in a certain vets before (my dogs have never gone there ) as they are cheaper for stronghold than my vetonly 10 € for big size and I was told they can't give it over counter i would need a counsultation! Online they also ask for prescriptions? My friend has foxes in her area which she tells me can spread mange, would you still not bother using spot on as chances of getting it are slim?

boomerang

It's common alright. I'm in Limerick and even a good few of the chemists in the city sell veterinary supplies. Maybe if you put up a separate post with your location, some other posters will be able to let you know of a chemist in your area where you can get Advocate and Frontline.

I'm surprised the vets didn't sell you the spot-on over the counter - I think it was a bit mean! I don't know of a vet in Limerick who wouldn't sell you a flea or worm treatment over the counter. Your own vet should definitely sell you these things without a consult.

Re: the sarcoptic mange, it is mostly spread through direct contact so the risk of your dog getting it is low, unless he has a tussle with a mangy fox, lol. One of my dogs routinely rolls in fox poo so would be rolling on a spot where perhaps a mangy fox has made contact with the ground, yet she's never contracted sarcoptic mange. If your dog ever did get it, Advocate is very effective and works very quickly.

I think the key thing to remember is that these products aren't preventative - they simply work within a short time of the product being applied. So why not wait until your dog has a parasitic infection to apply them? If your dog is given a healthy, wholesome diet and has no other health issues, the chances of him developing a serious parasitic infestation is low. You know, even with ticks I prefer to remove them as soon as I see them rather than wait for Frontline or similar to take effect - it takes a good few hours for the tick to fall off and in the meantime it may be transmitting nasty diseases to your dog.

These products are expensive, cause unpleasant side-effects and tax the dog's system. So I'd rather use them as sparingly as possible - particularly as they lose their effectiveness with repeated use.

sellerbarry

Advocate is not prescription only. Just go to your local vet and they will sell it to you.

Sorry. Didn't see this posted above

boomerang

It is prescription only. It'll have the acronym "POM-V" on the packaging. ("Prescription-only medicine - veterinary"). But in Ireland at least, this is really not enforced by chemists or vet practices. It has stopped the sale of Advocate in petshops though.

callmekenneth

flea collar did the job lovely for me

planetX

I buy frontline in a pharmacy, my vet only stocks frontline combo which i don't like.
Just looked up fibrospot - it's fipronil as well, so that's frontline, effipro and fibrospot all identical. I agree about not using them as prevention, unless you find your dog getting fleas regularly. Save them so they'll work when you really need them...

Millem

My vet always tells me to flea every 4 weeks and with three labs it can be expensive! Can't believe I have wasted soooo much money as I was contstantly doing it but switching brands!! One of my dogs has to go to Ucd once a month for a whole day or overnight, should I still flea her just in case or leave it till I see a creepy crawly?

home from home pets

personally I would use frontline and a separate wormer. While stronghold and the like also cover some types of worms they do not cover all types. So while you think you might be doing the best thing for your dog, you may not be covering all basis. Having worked in a Vets I can't tell you the number of upset owners who's dog has worms, despite using stronghold. Just a thought.:)

boomerang

Millem, I wouldn't put a spot-on her just because she's going into the vet hospital at UCD. Firstly, because the kind of owner that has their dog or cat referred to UCD are going to be just as meticulous as you. It's unlikely other dogs or cats there will have fleas. Second of all, the animals in a vets are never mixed and their accommodation is kept disinfected and spotlessly clean. So I wouldn't flea-treat her just for that.

Millem

Boomerang would you believe she caught kennel cough there during the summer on one of her overnights , she is vaccinated against it so it was only mild! Ever since that I am OTT about her going in and always flea her before she goes in!

Millem

planetX wrote: »

I buy frontline in a pharmacy, my vet only stocks frontline combo which i don't like.
Just looked up fibrospot - it's fipronil as well, so that's frontline, effipro and fibrospot all identical. I agree about not using them as prevention, unless you find your dog getting fleas regularly. Save them so they'll work when you really need them...

Thanks for that PlanetX , do you know anything about advantage? As this is the cheapest? And also why is frontline combo more expensive than frontline?

planetX

Millem wrote: »

Thanks for that PlanetX , do you know anything about advantage? As this is the cheapest? And also why is frontline combo more expensive than frontline?

Ticks are the reason why I've always used frontline - as far as I know advantage doesn't kill them, but I'm sure it's equally good for fleas. It uses a different pesticide so i might give it a try this year since we now have superfleas - it's the cats bringing the fleas back though, it's much less likely that your dog will pick them up.
Frontline combo is more expensive cos it has an extra component that kills fleas in the environment around the animal.
I'm not surprised to hear that your dog picked up kennel cough - it's transmitted through airborne particles and so is super contagious. The vaccination isn't 100% as there are so many different strains.
The reason people are saying to wait till your dog actually gets fleas is that these products use insecticides which are quite toxic, not something you want to expose yourself to unnecessarily.

sweetiepie

Advantage-fleas only

Advocate-fleas, mites, roundworms

Advantix-fleas and ticks

Effipro-fleas and ticks

Dalkeybabe

Hi
I have been using Beaphar cat flea spot on (from Maxizoo petstore) but I used to use one from the vets, advantage I think. I want to switch to Vapet flea stoppa, as it's natural.
Does anyone know how this would compare to Beaphar?
Not sure if Beaphar is as effective & long lasting as Advantage has anyone out there switched from Advantage to Beaphar & had issues?
Many thanks

Fiona_242

I went to the vet the other day and she charged me €20 for two Advantage flea treatments for my two cats, if you ask me this is a rip off, I am now looking at buying from UK. Vets here are a rip off and even though my two cats are not out they are still starching the odd time dipite the price of the treatment.

Qualitymark

Any neonicotinoid poisons are going to be banned soon because they're killing bees all over the world.