Frontline,Advantage & Cap Star

[Gina Heitz <brier@oregonsbest.com>]

HI All,

As promised I talked to Dr. Doug about flea control and he tells me that he 
is seeing that both Advantage and Frontline are starting to have some 
failure.  The fleas are building an immunity, and applications are not 
lasting as long.  2 to 3 weeks for Advantage and Frontline, not much 
better.  The protocol he likes is to use Program or Sentinel and Capstar if 
needed on an as need basis.  Here are links that will tell you more about 
each product:

Capstar: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=0&cat=1463&articleid=1448
Capstar is like a flea dip in a pill, no residual affect.  Available only 
though a Veterinarian.

Program: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=0&articleid=1471
Program does not kill fleas it sterilizes them so they can not reproduce, 
"birth control for fleas".  They can still bite and for dogs that have flea 
allergy this can be a concern.   Available only though a Veterinarian.

Sentinel: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&articleid=1443
Sentinel is heart worm protection with added Program, flea birth 
control.  Available only though a Veterinarian and dogs over 6 months of 
age must be heart worm tested before they are put on this product.

Ingredients in flea products and safety concerns:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&cat=1623&articleid=598

In a nut shell, protocol calls for treating each dog monthly with Sentinel, 
which is heart worm protection with flea control added in the form of 
Program, chemical name for Program: Lufenuron.  If you find a flea between 
doses use Capstar for a fast kill.  Basically what Capstar does is it acts 
like a flea bath or dip, but it is a pill.  It has no residual affect only 
kills what is on the animal at the time.  Doug said weekly use would be 
safe but I can't imagine that anyone would need to use a weekly dosing if 
they are treating all their animals and does not have an infestation in the 
environment.

Which brings up cats, cats who go out and roam are more likely to be 
carriers/hosts for transport so keeping the cats flea free is as well a 
must, house cats too. For cats, you should be able to use Program brand 
drops or pills (pills if your brave) drops if you are not.  While on cats, 
I am not your best resource I did turn up this info as a side note, cats 
can get heart worms too and you might want to read these articles on that:

http://www.peteducation.com/search_action.cfm?cls=1


Here is some important information on the over the counter drops, marketed 
under names such as Biospot etc, found in many supply stores:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=0&cat=1463&articleid=1475

  I personally do not recommend this or similar products as they are 
nothing more than old products we use to use in grooming shops made into a 
concentrated formula that does not spread it's self like Frontline which 
goes systemic and Advantage that does not go systemic but is formulated to 
spread though the hair follicles.  All Biospot does is stay in a pool in 
the area it's applied.  It is also very highly toxic to cats.  A cat that 
rubs up against a dog that has just been treated can literally die and I 
have herd reports of this happening.  In years gone by when I use to dip 
animals using the "top quality" dips it was not uncommon to find live fleas 
on the final brush out as the dog left the shop, so with that too straight 
from the groomer what do you think of dip products?  I don't think much of 
them.


Here is another good link for general information on flea stuff:

http://www.peteducation.com/search_action.cfm?cls=1

So there you have a good start let me know what you all come up with.  Here 
we are not having flea problems, might have a flea or two now and again but 
no infestations, and we are still using Frontline.

Best Gina