Frontline, advantage which one is the best?

What is the best flea medcine? I buy fronline but I see something at the store called Bio- Spot for much less. Has anyone used it? I'm very afraid to put anything not name brand on my dog, I have heard that some can get sick.

 

DO NOT USE BIOSPOT! My dogs reacted very badly to it and I have heard others whose dogs did too! I don't trust stuff from the store either.

I prefer frontine myself if I am going to treat them for fleas cuz that will get ticks too. But my Mom uses revolution on her poms. It's a smaller dose and it dries faster.

 

ive heard that advantage doesnt sink into the fat layers, it just stays on top of the skin. so im always more inclined to use advantage over frontline because of that. can anyone confirm that?

 

Frontline does fleas and ticks.
Advantage only does fleas.

The over the counter stuff tends to use an insecticide called "permethrin". This is not an animal pesticide, it is actually applied to crops to kill insects. Hartz, Biospot, and K-9 Advantix all use this (that I know of, I'm sure others do too) and many dogs and cats have very bad reactions to it. A vet-tech group I belong to (although I'm not a tech) simply calls permethrin problems "Hartz Poisoning". They had so many problems with these products, that they were forced to pull the flea and tick drops for cats easlier this year.

 

Frontline....Its been used for years, the active ingredient is Fipronol which ahs been used in Europe since WW 2 to kill head lice in kids. The only side effect Ive ever seen in using it on pets for over 20 something years is if thee pet can get to it to lick at it they sometimes hypersalivate (more common in cats than dogs).

Ive worked with qute a few dogs that have reacted badly to OTC products anything from hives to seizures and a tiny tea cup Poodle that died on one occasion as a direct result of 'a' store bought product. Frontline is ONLY sold through veterinarians, there are fakes around that you can buy on line, often they are shipped into US from Canada. The packageing looks the same but there are differences although the worst Ive heard about problems with this frontline is that it doesnt work.

 

I've used Frontline for at least 8 yrs and no bad reactions so I'm sticking to it. It works great.

delauk - you can buy frontline here at some pet stores, not just at the vet. It's the same stuff.

 

According to the manufacturers of Frontline and Advantage, both products collect in the sebaceous glands. They then redistribute by wicking action up the individual hairs. If you want it to work properly, the products must be applied directly to the skin, not on the hair. And the skin must be absolutely dry.

I've seen some minor skin irritation, hair loss or coat changes at the application site with both products, but it seems to be more common with Advantage.

In some areas, one product will appear to work better than others, probably due to the local flea population building up a resistance to one product. However, many times the failure can be attributed to improper application

 

Maybe things have changed since last year then, this report is from last year and had always been my belief, according to distributors, reps and seminars Ive attended that Meriel only sells its products to licensed vets, same as Pfizer (Avantage).

If there is any documentation of it now being sold by Meriel through other outlets could you give me a link, not disagreeing with you at all, I have looked but havent been able to find anything..... thanks

http://frontline.us.merial.com/news/news_030404.asp

Merial Assisting with US EPA Actions Announced Against Counterfeit FRONTLINE Packaging

2. Who will this announcement affect?
Since Merial only sells it products to veterinarians with veterinarian/client/patient relationships, consumers who purchased FRONTLINE products from such veterinarians should not be concerned about the authenticity of the product.

 

I have only used Frontline for my dog and used it for my cat as well and I can buy it at the vet or save two dollars and buy it from petsmart. Once I'm sad to admit that I used Hartz on my cat.............I woke up in the middle of the night scared becuse I thought someone was brakeing into my apartment......my cat was having seizures, and banging agaist the kitchen floor. 600 dollars later luckily my cats life was saved, but the vet told me that she see 4-8 cats a month posined becuse of Hartz, theirs actully an ingrediant that is toxic to cats, and alot of them end up dieing. Even since then I have been scared about using anything cheap on my animales.

 

This infuriates me.

I know vets are very busy people, but for the love of God, why aren't they screaming for this product to be taken off the market?!
Surely the first month of "4-8 cats" would have been enough for it to have been put on hold whilst it was investigated?

There's something very wrong here, the reality is Hartz are/were lawfully killing animals, in a disgustingly painful way.

Maybe the $600 they get every time for getting our pets back to full health has something to do with it...

Rant over

I use Frontline. I didn't want to so for 4 months at the beginning of last summer I used a very expensive garlic based herbal remedy. It didn't do anything so 4 months in, 1 cat with fleas and Floob scratching (I never found any on him) I went to the vet and he gave me Frontline. No problems, all healthy and flea free so I'll stick with it.

 

Hey Just to let you know my vet (which is why I go to her) has actully held protests, at the near by stores trying to get them to pull Hartz of their shelfs. Her office is right next to three grocey stores and she holds protests all the time......the stores still sale Hartz but they have allowed her to put her flyer next to the Hartz explaining the dangers. As for Hartz the company the vet actully gave me their phone number I called and complained, I sent them my vet bill, a letter from the vet, and the packageing for the flea medcine and Hartz repaid me for everything. My vet has done everything to bring attention to the problem shes even been interviewed on the news. I dont blame her but Hartz becuse they know that they are killing cats, theirs even an FDA investgation but they still wont stop saleing their product. An ineresting side note, when I called the Hartz company their was the usual computer vocie telling you to press 1 for this, literly one of the options was press this number if your cat is having seziures!!!!!!! It literly happens that often.

 

I saw this on another forum about Advantage/Advantix:

Advantage/Advantix considered unsafe for pets.... Posted on: 08/17/04 at 18:55:26 EST

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The following was copied from other sites. These are just a few of the many I came across , all saying the same thing about Advantage/Advantix:

Advantage Flea product: how safe or how toxic is it?

Used Advantage on my cat and shes sick
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Hi, last week I used the usual Advantage for cats on my Harley, and it was even one third the dose, because I use one vial on 3 cats. She was sick by that evening, wouldn't eat, acted like she was barfing even if she drank water. She soon quit eating at all, and for 3 days it was touch and go. Luckily she is chubby, so she had some fat on her to live off of. I spent 180$ in tests at the vet, and they hydrated her, and sent her home with no answers.

She hadnt pottied or eaten for 3 days. She looked horrible. I managed to find some soft treats by a natural cat food company that she finally ate one a few days ago. On the 5th day she ate a few more. I really think they saved her life. She finally drank a little water on the 6th day and eats a few bites of food here and there. She still is in the same spot, sleeps all day and rarely moves. I can tell she still doesnt feel well. But at least she is eating. Very little pottying at all.

Vet says its very rare if it was the drops. I know it was. She might have licked them to much somehow... I have no idea. Just telling you to be careful She is 9 years old. I have used the drops for years, and always noticed they act so tired for a day or so after I use them. We never know, for sure how safe these things are, but if it kills fleas, it might become harmful if they are too young or too old.
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Mary Ann lost her beloved bearded collie 'Kaimen' as a result of using Advantage Flea Drops. "Advantage flea drops were recomended by my veteranarian to control Kaimens flea problems. The drops were placed on the back of his head in the nape of the neck. After using Advantage for 13 months a growth the size of a golf ball emerged in that very same spot where the Advantage flea drop were placed. The growth was made of a grey colored flesh with a putrid odor. A purulent putrid liquid oozed out of it. Kaimen was taking to the vet, where I learned more about the growth and just how deadly Advantage is to our pets. The pesticide that is used in Advantage is called lmidacloprid and should NOT be absorbed through the skin. I learned that dogs and rats who were used to test this pesticide developped thyroid cancer and it affected their appetite. My dog Kaimen died at the age of two as a resuslt of using Advantage which caused a tumerous cancer to develop in his neck and which metastasized in his brain. I sent Bayer, the maker of Advantage, a letter with a return receipt but they never bothered to reply to my letter."
A friend used Advantage on his dog who got sick from it. He stopped using it and the dog recovered.
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I am posting this message on any/all message boards as I can find. I am trying to spread the word about using K9 Advantix on your dog. My husband and I were given this product from our vet a few months ago. We have a ten month Golden Retriever that weighs 55lbs. The first two doses were fine. On the third dose we noticed that she began breaking out in sores on her face and along her neck. We were switching dog foods at the time and thought this might be the cause (since she had no prior reactions the first two administrations). We brought her to our vet who diagnosed her with a secondary skin infection. She said it could be an allergy to anything- most likely something in her new food. She gave us a round of antibiotics and never even suggested it could be due to the Advantix. One month later we put the Advantix on again. This time it was far worse- as though her body just could not tolerate this again. Within 36 hours we had to bring her to the vet. Our's was on vacation so we called around to others in the area. After describing her symptoms (severe scratching at the ears, leaking of puss behind the ears and swelling along the throat and neck) they asked if we had given her Advantix recently. We said yes and we were old to bring her in immediately. She was having a severe reaction to this and she almost died. They had to sedate her and they shaved around her ears and neck to expose the affected area. We were shocked at what we saw. In addition to her neck being about five times its normal size, her skin was literally burned from the Advantix. You could see where we had administered the Advantix at the base of the skull because there was a burn hole. Then you could see the path that the liquid took down both sides of her face down to her neck and throat. It had literally burned her skin right off. She had a major infection in these areas that had also crept into her ears and her right eye.
The next 24 hours were awful. We stayed up with her all night and were not sure she was going to make it. It has been about a week now and she is almost fully recovered. The company that manufactures this drug will only acknowledge that in rare occasions, some dogs to have a "sensitivity" to this. Although, they gave us little resistance to reimbursing for our vet bills. (We also learned, via a middle of the night phone call to our emergency vet clinic, that there was another dog going through this very experience- they thought we were the same people).
Since then, I have been reading other people's experiences with Advantix on various message boards. It does not appear that these reactions are as "rare" as the company claims them to be. (I also think they have a very distorted version of what a "sensitivity" or "minor reaction" really is).
I am writing this because had we known that this was even a possibility- we never would have put one drop of this on our dog. Our hope, since the company takes no formal responsibility in better communicating the risks associated with Advantix that someone may read this and spare themselves and their dog, the agony of this experience.
If you are reading this and you have experienced similar effects from using Advantix on your dog, PLEASE contact the Environmental Protection Agency. They are required to investigate every complaint against this product. Who knows, if enough cases are documented, they may take this awful poison of the market in the future and spare the health and lives of other dogs.

As for Hartz flea products......??? Anyone willing to start a petition out there. I don't know the steps to doing that . Or passing the word along to other petsites warning others about this? Proheart 6 was routinely given to dogs with an unheard of number of fatalities. Pet lovers passed the word over forums like this one and there was a total recall of the product. That's what can happen when pet lovers unite and pass the word along to others.

 

Just a footnote to the post above...

Advantage and Advantix are two seperate flea medications. Advantage is more akin to Frontline. Advantix is closer to the "Hartz" type medications that you can buy OTC.

 

Hmmm. Makes me glad I use garlic and rely on a healthy immune system to ward off bugs.