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lilly316

Fleas again

Lily316
12 years ago

And they were all dosed June 21..four cats and two dogs. And worse, my grey Russian blue type, (she's from a feral colony) is allergic. Too early to dose again. I vacuum, and comb but what to do? This happens every summer for awhile, then disappears till the next summer. What about that lookalike med that's sold at Walmart which is supposed to have the same properties that frontline does? Any one try it? Name may be Armour something and available only at W-MART. I usually get stuff online form Canada but this batch was from Petsmart. .

Comments (22)

  • mazer415
    12 years ago

    You really need to stick with the higher quality and more expensive flea treatments like Advantage and Frontline. Im hoping you are not purchasing knock offs if you are buying from an on line supplier - there are thousands of places to purchase products and they have labels just like the real stuff but in fact are worthless.
    As long as you are continuing to treat as per the instructions, you might see fleas but they are not reproducing off of your animals. I suggest you have a pest control company treat the outside of your residence, it sounds like the culprit may be outside.

  • Lily316
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    What I give them and always have is Frontline plus. I order mostly online because it's much cheaper in Canada, but this last time I bought the Frontline from Petsmart so it's not a knock off. It's too soon to dose again and the dogs who are out all the time don't have any..just the cats who never go out. Go figure.

  • mazer415
    12 years ago

    Ahhh, you just solved the mystery. Your dogs, who are outside all the time, probably have fleas, The fleas can jump on you everytime you go outside. Fleas are feeding off of your dogs and laying eggs in the soil where your dogs are. You are the carrier from outside to inside your home, fleas are laying eggs inside your home and feeding on your cats - althoughonce bitten that flea will die. Treat the dogs and the problem goes away

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    12 years ago

    She said she dosed the dogs too Mazer.
    I occasionally see a flea on my dogs but they don't "have fleas" I see ticks occasionally but they are not attached. They will die, of course, but if I see them I pick them off- so they don't get on me!

    Do you have a flea problem or are you just seeing a few fleas?

  • Lily316
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I dose all the animals with Frontline plus the same day. The cats have never been out side in their lives, and the dogs live inside most of the time, but in the summer go for long walks in the woods and play in the yard. I would be concerned that I got a knock off Frontline but I got it at Petsmart. It's very hot and humid here and to get worse next week. Give me winter any day.

  • mazer415
    12 years ago

    ok, I missed that part, you may be be picking up fleas from critters who live in the woods. There is a difference tho between seeing a couple of fleas and having a flea problem. As long as you are dosing your dogs monthly you should not be seeing more than a couple of fleas, which will die soon after biting any of your pets.
    Good luck. I know this weather does not help.

  • calliope
    12 years ago

    Vets will occasionally switch their treatment of choice for flea and tick control simply to change the chemicals, because fleas can and do get resistant if you don't change occasionally. I agree, you may just be seeing opportunisitic fleas who will die after biting your animals, but you also might want to consider changing the formula on the cats if you've been using frontline for a long time. I put my cat on revolution.......it also controls ear mites.

  • Lily316
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    At Barnes and Noble tonight, I read in Consumer Reports that the patent for Frontline ran out in the spring , so Walmart and another company have their own brand now using similar chemicals. It's half the price of Frontline and called Pet Armour. It's the generic version of Frontline. I'm half scared to try it, but with six pets, it would be a savings.

  • Melenie5
    12 years ago

    I used both Frontline and Advantage last year with poor success. Now I'm using the pills and it is working better. I can get the dogs and one of the cats to eat them, but have to do the "poke, clamp and tickle" method on the other cats.

    They are all expensive, especially if you have several pets!

  • Lily316
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    My dogs get Sentinel pills as well as the Frontline. But trying to get pills down my cats....forget it. Giving 21 pound Henry takes two of us pinning him down just to apply Frontline.

  • murraysmom Zone 6a OH
    12 years ago

    Lily, a couple of years ago I bought Frontline from Complete Petmart - they are a large chain. It turned out to be counterfeit and I ended up with a terrible flea problem. I kept waiting for it to work and things only got worse. So don't assume that because you got it from PetSmart, it isn't counterfeit.

    I went to my vet and told her about the Frontline not working. She thought I had gotten it from her and they could have replaced it for me. I ended up buying it from the vet instead and it worked immediately. It wasn't worth the small difference in price to take the chance on getting something fake.

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    12 years ago

    I have used Frontline Plus for 11 years with not a single problem, (except the two times I went over the 30 days too much) but I have always bought it from the vet.

    The prices at vets vary considerably too but I found a cheap (excellent) one.

  • moonie_57 (8 NC)
    12 years ago

    murraysmom - How did Petmart obtain a counterfeit product? And how did you find out that it was counterfeit?

    Walmart is carrying the PetArmor for $28. What a savings! My local walmart does not carry it for cats. Does anyone know if they do, or will?

  • murraysmom Zone 6a OH
    12 years ago

    Moonie - I had to assume it was counterfeit because it was Frontline and didn't work in the least. It did seem different in the look of it and there was no smell, but I wasn't thinking anything about it. It was amazing how over a short time (while I was waiting for it to work) how quickly the fleas multiplied. I don't think Complete Petmark knew they had counterfeit stuff, at least I would hope they weren't trying to do that.

    Frontline is a well known effective product. If it wasn't working at all, it couldn't have been the real thing.

    I don't know about Walmart's products. All I know is once I tried Hartz that I got at Kroger's for my outside cat. I put it on her and she started foaming at the mouth. So now I just stick with what I get at the vet. I have a lot more faith in them.

  • Lily316
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Moonie..So did you try the Pet Armour at Walmart ? And had no bad effects?.I have not bought a Hartz product for years because they KILL animals..At Petsmart I paid $58 for three doses for my cats. I can get 12 doses online for $99 from Canada.

  • SunnyDJ
    12 years ago

    Last year I ordered Advantage on line and I believe it came from New Zealand but when I went to use it, I swear there was nothing but a drop in each vial...Normally, when you put it on the back of the neck of a cat, you can see and feel where you put it, these let no mark or smell.....
    Now I'm really leery about ordering that stuff on line...

  • Lily316
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Same thing happened to me with Frontline. I ordered 12 vials for the cats and 6 for the dogs to save postage money. When I went to use it last month two vials were empty and they wouldn't do anything about it since I bought it last fall but it was good till next summer,'12.

  • piasano
    12 years ago

    This is what we were told: Because the medication in Frontline is used to spray for mosquitoes, fleas living in areas where spraying is necessary have developed immunity. When we were in Florida, the Frontline Plus stopped working. We switched to Advantage and Advantix. They worked instantly. Last year, they stopped working as well. I am not sure what I will use when we go south this Fall. I am hoping someone here will have a suggestion.

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    12 years ago

    That's very interesting, Piasano.

  • Lily316
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I think mine have built up an immunity to the product after using it so many years.

  • _sophiewheeler
    12 years ago

    You need to double check your pet's weight, especially the cats. .5 cc of Frontline is only effective for cats up to 10 pounds. If you've got cats larger than that, then the dose needs to be adjusted upwards in consultation with your vet. It's the same with your dogs. I personaly buy the largest vial of Frontline available (large dogs) and use a syringe to dose it out accurately to each animal. They get exactly the right amount for their weight, and it's MUCH cheaper.

  • anoriginal
    12 years ago

    June adopted me from local animal shelter as a teeny tabby. Took her to vet after 2-3 days for all the normal stuff... ear cleaning, poop checking, flea treatment. She's a totally indoor cat. Was totally floored when fleas EVERYWHERE a few months later?? She didn't have many ON her, but they would jump right on ME!! Vet said... probably on her when I got her and hopped off to comfy carpeting. Recommended something call Siphotrol... a spray. Had to vacuum the HECK out of every soft surface... carpets, furniture, etc... moving as much as possible to cover every inch. Had to tie up and immediately toss vac bags. Not a "bomb" thing. Only had to shut June in bathroom until stuff dried on carpet... made things slightly damp for maybe half hour or so. NO FLEAS since... and that was almost 3 YEARS ago!