Pets Discussions

I had been using Frontline until my vet quit selling it. They now have VECTRA 3D for dogs. I have been using it for about four months on my 2 Jack Russells. VECTRA does have one for Cats.

The VECTRA 3D for dogs is deadly to cats. If you have a dog and cat, and will/are using VECTRA 3D I would keep your cat out of the same room as the dog when applying it. The vet told me cats sometimes will lick the medicine on the dogs neck.

My youngest Jack Russell did just that last month. He licked the medicine off my oldest Jack Russell. This scared the fool out of me. Of course, it happened when the vet was closed. I called the vet on call, he took forever to call me back. Anyway, my vet said it would not hurt my dog, but he may have a dry mouth for awhile. Next month, I will be applying the medicine on the dog's in separate rooms.

VECTRA 3D works well on my dogs. I have not seen a flea at all. It repels and kills ticks and mosquitoes too.  

I too, use Frontline Plus and have never had a problem with it.  I am very happy with the results.

Frontline and K9 Advantix are the two i recommend. Frontline Plus while efficent with dogs have been pointed out by many vets as *too strong* for some of the smaller cats so just be a good judge when choosing your product.

Fleas collars are a waste of money FYI

Frontline for us.  Both our vet and our groomer recommend it.  Many other products are really dangerous.  When our cat was young, we used flea collars until... the back of her neck became bald from one of them.  The hair never grew back, a testament to the powerful (poisonous) effects of the collar.

We never used anything on our cats as they never went outside.  But when we took in a tiny kitten last fall she was infested big time and the other 3 cats soon were as well.  Our vet suggested Frontline Plus so we ordered some of that and have been using it since October.  It seems like it's working quite well.  She also gave all cats a single does of some sort of oral medication but i don't recall its name.

We're pretty happy with Frontline Plus.  After our nightmare experience with BioSpot, we're pretty hesitant to switch to something new.  Vectra D contains Permethrin (same as BioSpot), so that's completely out.

We have a lab who is a service dog , a chihuahua and an indoor cat.  All live indoors but go out for play, walks, BR breaks,etc.  We have always used The Program and have never seen a flea.  It does not kill adult fleas but we haven't seen any and they get bathes regularly so  the program works great for us.

NO carpet, no upholstered furniture in my house. When I treated for fleas last, I pulled out all carpet, threw the couch and loveseat to the curb, re-floored my house, and got leather furniture. Seems to have done the trick, they hate when they have nothing to hide in!!

Never again will I have carpet. Leather furniture is durable, looks nice, and easy to keep clean and odor free!

You are probably not going to believe this but I use the Hartz flea collars that are like $5 and I have never once had a flea or tick on any of my 3 dogs in the entire 4 years that I've had them. They also live outside and I let them in the house maybe once a week.  I've never tried anything more expensive because this has always worked for me.

I think frontline works well. My dogs are all indoors but we walk everyday. I have more of a problem with ticks. I tried biospot and it made my little guy so sick, I washed him off and he recovered, but never again!    

RudiXeno said…
We're pretty happy with Frontline Plus.  After our nightmare experience with BioSpot, we're pretty hesitant to switch to something new.  Vectra D contains Permethrin (same as BioSpot), so that's completely out.

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We had this same nightmare.  Never EVER use a product that has this ingredient at least on a small dog or on cats, especially cats.  We found this out too late and this past fall ended up having to put our 13 year old cat down because he got so sick and  he was pretty much healthy before that.

lilsquibb said…

RudiXeno said…
We're pretty happy with Frontline Plus.  After our nightmare experience with BioSpot, we're pretty hesitant to switch to something new.  Vectra D contains Permethrin (same as BioSpot), so that's completely out.

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We had this same nightmare.  Never EVER use a product that has this ingredient at least on a small dog or on cats, especially cats.  We found this out too late and this past fall ended up having to put our 13 year old cat down because he got so sick and  he was pretty much healthy before that.

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K9 Advantix is another Permethrin-based flea remedy.  Not good.  A good rule of thumb is "if it's deadly to cats, it probably isn't too healthy for dogs either.

lilsquibb said…

RudiXeno said…
We're pretty happy with Frontline Plus.  After our nightmare experience with BioSpot, we're pretty hesitant to switch to something new.  Vectra D contains Permethrin (same as BioSpot), so that's completely out.

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We had this same nightmare.  Never EVER use a product that has this ingredient at least on a small dog or on cats, especially cats.  We found this out too late and this past fall ended up having to put our 13 year old cat down because he got so sick and  he was pretty much healthy before that.

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K9 Advantix is another Permethrin-based flea remedy.  Not good.  A good rule of thumb is "if it's deadly to cats, it probably isn't too healthy for dogs either.

If a DOG,puppy,CAT,kitten has fleas use the correct dose! kittens and pups don't get same RX as dogs and cats! front-line works fine. If major flea infestation use capstar also (vet office) PLEASE REMEMBER!!! fleas cause WORMS!!!! don't let animal go untreated!!

WARM weather mosquito's!!!! these cause HEARTWORM in dogs AND cats. PLEASE if outside protect them with heart-guard!!!!

If you research any of the commercial flea preventatives, you will see you basically make your pet a walking flea killer.  They are known to shorten the life of your pet (by at least a year)   I have found plain apple cider vinegar (about 1 Tbs. per 2 quarts) in their water does the trick.  My dogs do not have fleas now.  They did before-I had always used Frontline.  NO MORE! Do the research-it may suprise you what we do to our furry friends.You may have to start out with 1 teaspoon, and work your way up (they don't like it at first) but now, my dogs are fine with vinegar. 

I didnt know about the vinegar in the drinking water but was told this past week by a dog breeder to put 1 cup vinegar in 1 gallon water and put on dog after the bath. not to dry them off but to let them drip dry. I am going to try this as soon as I get a bottle of vinegar.

I tried to avoid chemicals by buying Nature's Defender, a natural cedar oil based product that is safe on people, animals, and furniture. It simply wasn't enough for the infestation we had. I have two cats and a dog and one cat and the dog are severely allergic to fleas.

I had to go with Advantage for them all and I am not sorry. They are flea free and healthy again. My vet saw both and agreed that all was well. I have to use it from March through December then give them a break and start over to avoid us all going crazy. They have no side effects.

Bio Spot nearly killed my dog.

I use the Nature's Defender on the rugs and baseboards as well as as for my cat's ex-ear mites (They're gone now.). It works well for those uses and doesn't HURT the animals any. I can use it with the Advantage for extra protection as well as to hydrate their skin but I haven't because it's greasy and they get all mad at me and stuff. So far so good now.

Out of curiousity, has anyone had any allergic reactions when using these on themselves? My daughter informed me that she has a rash, and it is the only thing different in her household.

My son was allergic to Frontline (as was my dog, I think). My son broke out in a rash and itched and then the rash stung.The doctor gave him some kind of cream and instructed him to drink a ton of water to flush out his system in case any of the stuff penetrated through his skin. The rash went away after we washed it all off the dog and my son used the cream. It didn't work for my dog anyway!

I have been a loyal Frontline Plus user since we got our dog 5 years ago.  I know there is something that is heartworm and flea protection together in a pill form, but we have deer around our area and the vet said that pill wouldn't guard against ticks.

i have used Frontline Plus for years and am happy. I used K9 Advantix once and it made my dog's fur all greasy. I had to wash him off right away when i read the box and said it was fatal to cats. My cat licked and groomed that dog all the time.

Permethrin is very strong and dangerous.

  I my self use Revolution on my 5 dogs and it works great. I live in the woods, and my dogs go in and out of the house and we don't have a problem with fleas. It also works on heart worms.

We were using the Biospot, which worked OK, but had to switch to the stronger stuff K9 Advantix Plus.  I ordered it online.  I save the Biospot for our older doggie and the big guy Jack Black gets the K9 Advantix Plus...he was always scratching and the Biospot didn't work on him.  I do love the smell of the Biospot - orange! But with our older pup Annie, who's 15 yrs. 4 months the Biospot does seem to work on her just fine.  I have tried natural powders, eucalyptus, cedar formulas, etc...because I know many of the others are toxic...yet they never really did the trick.  Jack's a happy guy now here in hot 'ol Texas.

We tried Frontline Plus in the past - and they got "immune".  Guess I have to change it up every once in a while.   I have been adding Apple Cider Vinegar also to their water all their lives.

I've read that about Biospot too - how it can make a dog really sick.  I'll rethink what I put on Annie girl - I like the vinegar bath, just let it dry idea.  She's still with us, and I wouldn't want to shorten that with Biospot.

We had such a severe flea infestation and nothing on the market worked.  We had the ground and  premises sprayed by a professional exterminator, used diatomaceous earth, we put down nematodes, and washed the dogs daily and nothing worked until a product called Comfortis came out.  Our vet called us immediately and gave us the product to try.  He said we would be the best test site ever.  Well, within 3 weeks, we saw no more fleas.  I used this product faithfully.  When we moved, we have no fleas here and we have not had to use the product in a year.  It is similar to the effects of Capstar that it kills the fleas within 30 minutes and continues to work for 30 days.  You can only get it from a vet, but it is well worth the money.

if you want to get rid of them fast bath them with blue dawn dish detergent. to keep them off use seven dust its for plants and gardens but its pet friendly and cheap works great

I had a great time going through several so called fool proof methods to get rid of and prevent future infestation. The very best I ever found was easy to purchase and readily available. It worked in about 2 days and my cats had it BAD, plus my house was affected as they nested in blankets and such. Sergeant's Gold Flea and Tick Shampoo for cats was easy overall, I didn't have to keep applying to my animals as it is a monthly application. In addition I used the spray (not the bomb) of Raid Flea Killer in a big purple can. I followed up with the Sergeant's Gold Flea Collars (black ones) and I had no problems in 2 days and my cats are indoor/outdoor cats.

As an additional preventative, I washed all my sheets and bedding and towls etc, adding a bit of the Sergean's Gold Flea & Tick Shampoo to the wash and adios Fleas, flea eggs, larvae and ticks! OH yes...and I bought it all at Target, affordable and effective.