I like using Frontline Plus, but as you're probably aware it is so very expensive, especially having a dog and 3 cats. I've just discovered online and on ebay these frontline "kits" you can buy for a whole LOT cheaper than the standard packages at the vet. It is supposed to be the same exact medicine, except you're buying it in "bulk" for the largest size dog available and then breaking it down into smaller doses according to your pets' size and weight. The kit typically comes with 3 or 6 of the green vials for an xtra lg. dog, a small glass storage bottle, a measuring dosing syringe,and a dosage chart. It says it is safe for both dogs and cats, as it's the same medicine, the only difference being the methoprene dosage for dogs being slightly smaller than what they market for cats. Has anyone ever used Frontline this way before? The savings seem significant enough to be worth it, but not if it will endanger my pets. Is this a great way to save money or too good to be true?
I'd be afraid of the dosage. it is medicine.
We've used tea tree oil. And placed cedar bedding and eucalyptus plant around the dog houses.
Personally, Frontline has never done the job for my INDOOR ONLY cats. I use Advantage, and my cats haven't had a flea in over a year. In the last 5 years, they've been hit with fleas 3 times, mostly because we moved into new living quarters that had been treated, but not fully treated. The first time, we moved into an apartment that was fogged before we moved in, but not re-fogged when eggs had time to hatch. My treatment involved fogging with Adams Flea & Tick fogger, treat cats with 1 dose each of Advantage, and voila! no more fleas, EVER. When we moved a little over a year later, I fogged with Adams BEFORE we moved, no fleas, until I brought them home after visiting with the dog of someone I didn't know very well. Did the Adams/Advantage thing again, no fleas for 3 years until we moved again, and I didn't fog the whole house, only the room with the carpet, but there were apparently some in other places, so I repeated my process and haven't seen a flea since.
Now, I would think it is harder to control fleas on all the animals in the house when some of them are indoor/outdoor (like dogs), but I absolutely swear by the Advantage over the Frontline
I don't get a good vibe from the "kits" :-\
Never used Frontline. I use Revolution (anti flea/tick with a heart worm preventive combo).
I do worry about using flea medication on the dogs, but the natural route just doesn't work
on them.
I use a product called.........BioSpot.........for the dog and cats. It runs about $18.00 for a 3 pack and seems to work fairly well.
Also look for a flea trap. It plugs in a wall socket, light attracts the buggers and they get stuck on the sticky pad. :o
Our house is over 200 years old, (1804) with a dirt cellar and we get 'sand' fleas. The trap gets them before they can move upstairs. ;D
I have used Bio spot before with some sucess. I used it till winter and then quit. Come spring I had one tube left and used it on the dog that always get fleas and scratches like crazy. The other dog hardly ever get any bites. He did that year we we went to the vet. The vet said other brands are inferior use advantage cause that what they carry. So we have that till we run out.
I use sulfur or diatomaceous earth.
Great Grandma Huffmeister used sulfur cakes to smoke out all the vermin in the house, she cleaned, scrubbed, and removed anything not nailed down, then lit the cakes and left the house, sort of like the bombs/smokers now days.
Draw backs, (like the bombs/smokers now days) clean and scrub anything that could not be taken out of the house. The sulfur fumes suffocates any living thing and leaves a film over everything (Do not leave aquariums).
Sulfur can be found at your local CO-OP.
Or ask you vet.
Diatomaceous earth can be used indoors or out. Sprinkle over carpets, let set, and vacuum.
Wikipedia [edit] Pest control
Diatomite is also used as an insecticide, due to its physico-sorptive properties. The fine powder absorbs lipids from the waxy outer layer of insects' exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate. Arthropods die as a result of the water pressure deficiency, based on Fick's law of diffusion. This also works against gastropods and is commonly employed in gardening to defeat slugs. However, since slugs inhabit humid environments, efficacy is very low. It is sometimes mixed with an attractant or other additives to increase its effectiveness. Medical-grade diatomite is sometimes used to de-worm both animals and humans. It is most commonly used in lieu of boric acid, and can be used to help control and eventually eliminate a cockroach infestation. This material has wide application for insect control in grain storage.
I'm a Vet Tech :) the vet I worked for untill Nov. uses the large size Advantage and breaks it up for smaller animals.
Dosing:
Under 10lbs dogs 0.4mls
11-20lbs 1.0cc
21-55lbs 2.5cc
55lbs and over 4.0cc
Cats
under 9lbs 0.4cc
over 9lbs 0.8cc
it's the same as the amount you get buying the predosed packages.
All 8 of my dogs are over 50lbs and three are over 70 lbs
I bathe them alot and I keep the floor swept and the carpets vaccumed. We had a influx of fleas this week because of a neighbors dog hanging around and all 8 dogs had flea baths and dips on Sunday night. My back still hurts! will have to repeat it on Thursday to nip the flea problem in the bud. :)
Quote from: irish on August 24, 2009, 10:27:36 PM
I use a product called.........BioSpot.........for the dog and cats. It runs about $18.00 for a 3 pack and seems to work fairly well.
Also look for a flea trap. It plugs in a wall socket, light attracts the buggers and they get stuck on the sticky pad. :o
Our house is over 200 years old, (1804) with a dirt cellar and we get 'sand' fleas. The trap gets them before they can move upstairs. ;D
I second the use of BioSpot. Honestly it works just as well as Frontline and it's a lot less expensive. Plus you don't have to get it from a vet - you can get it at PetSmart, Tractor Supply, etc.
Thankfully I only had to use it once this year however I used k-9 advantix for my largest dog 55lbs and split between he and 3 Italian Greyhounds 18-21 lbs. This year, Gio the one in my avatar had an allergic reaction so I washed it off of him that night. So then I went to 1/2 water 1/2 skin so soft bath oil and that has worked just fine.
I have done the same thing with the Frontline Plus, it's actually easier with that one 'cause you can see through the tube.
Quote from: Lady Mikayla of Phoenicia on August 27, 2009, 04:22:33 PM
Thankfully I only had to use it once this year however I used k-9 advantix for my largest dog 55lbs and split between he and 3 Italian Greyhounds 18-21 lbs. This year, Gio the one in my avatar had an allergic reaction so I washed it off of him that night. So then I went to 1/2 water 1/2 skin so soft bath oil and that has worked just fine.
I have done the same thing with the Frontline Plus, it's actually easier with that one 'cause you can see through the tube.
Advantix has a pyrethan (sp) in it and it can make animals very ill, it almost killed one of my little dogs, I use plain ol Advantage or Frontline. I also mix up my own flea shampoo with tea tree oil (small amount) and it seems to work really well and soothes the bites.
Took my dog, a Black Lab/Newfoundland mix, to the Vet last week. She said the Bio-Spot was just as good and to give him Benadryl (sic) for itching. (Check with your Vet first)