Why Does Frontline and Advantage Not Work For Fleas Now?

ivesm said:

 
First I need someone to please give me a tip on responding to anyone ...I am new and took me forever to get to this point...so I do not know if the person asking will get this info... ...if you do PLEASE let me know!

 petshed.com has REVOLUTION with great reduction in price (that is considering my vet pricing, of course....) BUT..they are in australia and takes about twelve working days to get.. .so must order timely.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, it's very helpful. Advantage Multi is also sold in Australia as "Advocate" without prescription. In the US they won't sell either without vet approval, which always makes it hard when I recommend it to someone and they are desperate and ask if I know of anything cheaper that works without running to a vet just for flea products, which I understand seems a little ridiculous, especially since I've heard much worse things with side-effects of Hartz products-and their flea drops are said to be very uneffective, yet those can be bought anywhere, it makes no sense. I had yet to find anywhere to get Revolution without buying it through our vet. 

LunarIris said:

 I had yet to find anywhere to get Revolution without buying it through our vet. 

Click to expand...

you can buy it online but they'll need a prescription from your vet faxed in.

LunarIris, that is excellent advice.  I will wee if one of the Moderators can make this a 'sticky'. 

Hi guys- Well it is now July 2014 in Northwest. I moved form Fl about  a year ago , my cat was indoors only x 6 years- never any fleas. I started to let her go on the patio here- big mistake. Fleas for several weeks and are biting me like crazy (* I'm allergic"  Done 2 Advantage 11 treatments. Washing everything in Borax, vacuuming w/my Roomba every other day. Today fleas in my car biting me and even worse I see them back on my cat. I guess it is the vet on Monday- Hope Revolution will do it - am desperate.

She will never be allowed out again. MY house is all thick carpet and ground level.

I have sprayed Ortho pest control around perimeter of house and even some places inside.; I do not want to poison myself ad the cat.

I have heard that microwaving clothing can help ?

GrammyR said:

 
Hi guys- Well it is now July 2014 in Northwest. I moved form Fl about  a year ago , my cat was indoors only x 6 years- never any fleas. I started to let her go on the patio here- big mistake. Fleas for several weeks and are biting me like crazy (* I'm allergic"  Done 2 Advantage 11 treatments. Washing everything in Borax, vacuuming w/my Roomba every other day. Today fleas in my car biting me and even worse I see them back on my cat. I guess it is the vet on Monday- Hope Revolution will do it - am desperate.

She will never be allowed out again. MY house is all thick carpet and ground level.

I have sprayed Ortho pest control around perimeter of house and even some places inside.; I do not want to poison myself ad the cat.

I have heard that microwaving clothing can help ?

Click to expand...

I suppose it would work as it would not only dry out any critters that hide in your clothes but since microwaves heat from the inside I would think they would explode like a hotdog does when you leave it in too long. By all means ask your vet for a solution, good luck.

catspaw66 said:

Welcome to TCS. I totally agree that she is risking her cats lives. However, if you will look closely, the poster made her original post last July and has never posted again. So, the problem was either solved or the cats have died since then.

Click to expand...

http://www.healthandenvironment.org/brain_cancer

LunarIris said:

 
Thanks for the link, it's very helpful. Advantage Multi is also sold in Australia as "Advocate" without prescription. In the US they won't sell either without vet approval, which always makes it hard when I recommend it to someone and they are desperate and ask if I know of anything cheaper that works without running to a vet just for flea products, which I understand seems a little ridiculous, especially since I've heard much worse things with side-effects of Hartz products-and their flea drops are said to be very uneffective, yet those can be bought anywhere, it makes no sense. I had yet to find anywhere to get Revolution without buying it through our vet. 

Click to expand...

Please don't use Hartz products.  I did that once and I didn't think my cat was going to make it. I also had her dipped and than was another mistake I had made, so be careful. Here is a sight that you can get products and don't need a prescription.  www.joespetmeds.com. And they do have the Revolution you are looking for. Good Luck.

All this hype about Revolution is well and good...but here I am, having had Frontline quit on me a couple years ago, switched to Advantage II, which worked, and then after a discussion with the vet on expense for treating 5 cats, switched to Revolution.  He suggested getting a single large dog vial and administering .4ml per cat  with a syringe.  Big cost saver since I have 5 cats.  Unfortunately, after a couple monthly doses of Revolution per cat last summer (which worked great) and a couple this summer, it appears to have become completely ineffective as well.  So they are either getting exposed to large quantities of fleas somehow (don't think they are in the house as we have seen carpet infestation and hubby's allergic, but not seeing them on us), or they've become resistant to THAT too!! Only a matter of time before they build up resistance to anything I guess.  So back to the house and yard and flea comb and don't know what else to try.  Not inclined to treat more often than three weeks so going to have to figure something out for the next 2-1/2 weeks; seeing suggestions for food-grade Diatomaceous Earth so might try that.  Now wondering if I should just go back to Frontline or Advantage II.  TOTALLY FRUSTRATED, and so are my cats!

Products like Advantage Multi (contains moxidectin) and Revolution (contains selamectin) SHOULD be regulated by vets because these drugs CAN have side effects, particularly in some dogs. Used improperly or in combination with other drugs, they can kill.  It's quite complex and requires some knowledge, so if the animal comes in with what might be a reaction to the avermectin derivative, the vet will have some idea of what might be going on.  These are more than just flea preventatives, they are powerful antihelminics.  I think people take them too lightly.  On the other hand, there are over the counter products like Hartz and Sergeants that kill animals every day, and they are not regulated by vets.  The Vets won't even SELL them!

KSSue said:

 
All this hype about Revolution is well and good...but here I am, having had Frontline quit on me a couple years ago, switched to Advantage II, which worked, and then after a discussion with the vet on expense for treating 5 cats, switched to Revolution.  He suggested getting a single large dog vial and administering .4ml per cat  with a syringe.  Big cost saver since I have 5 cats.  Unfortunately, after a couple monthly doses of Revolution per cat last summer (which worked great) and a couple this summer, it appears to have become completely ineffective as well.  So they are either getting exposed to large quantities of fleas somehow (don't think they are in the house as we have seen carpet infestation and hubby's allergic, but not seeing them on us), or they've become resistant to THAT too!! Only a matter of time before they build up resistance to anything I guess.  So back to the house and yard and flea comb and don't know what else to try.  Not inclined to treat more often than three weeks so going to have to figure something out for the next 2-1/2 weeks; seeing suggestions for food-grade Diatomaceous Earth so might try that.  Now wondering if I should just go back to Frontline or Advantage II.  TOTALLY FRUSTRATED, and so are my cats!

Click to expand...

I think you are ususng too much Revolution. My cats are indoor only and I get terrible big bumps from flea nd mosquito bites so I won't up with that. Revolution should not be used more than every 4 weeks, and you are cutting that time short. I use it once a month and not in the cold months at all and I have not seen a flea or been bitten by one in at least 3 years. My cats all get dosed on the same day so there is no overlapping. I don't know if the dog Revolution is the same as for cats, I'll leave that up to the vet. With 4 cats it is an expense and I get it from 1-800-Petmed, they keep the prescription on file and call the vet when I put in a new order.

The best resolution for fleas in your home / pet bedding / pets - Revolution for the pets, for the house and bedding, use 20 Mule Team Borax.  Sprinkle all over everything and leave for 24 hrs.  Keep pets out.  Vacuum up and go to the next room.  If you have pet beds, sprinkle on the bedding, place in black plastic bag and leave in the sun for 8-10 hours.  Shake it out and done.  When you're done vacuuming, empty bag.  I had the worst infestation ever last year.  I did all this and knock wood, no more fleas.  Good luck

The borax works just like the diotomaceous earth, by getting under their exoskeleton and making leaks so they dry out.  @KSSue, I sent you a PM about affordable Advantage.

I don't use flea collar,frontline or any other flea killer that's toxic.3 years ago I discovered that plain ole mule team borax will kill fleas dead.We had a flea infestation that came from our neighbors dogs.Looking for a home remedy we discovered borax.We sprinkled it on the floor and the yard and killed them with 2 applications.We mixed a salution of mix borax and water and washed our pets and it took care of the fleas on them.Its an all natural substance so no harm will be done to your pet.

segelkatt said:

 
I think you are ususng too much Revolution. My cats are indoor only and I get terrible big bumps from flea nd mosquito bites so I won't up with that. Revolution should not be used more than every 4 weeks, and you are cutting that time short. I use it once a month and not in the cold months at all and I have not seen a flea or been bitten by one in at least 3 years. My cats all get dosed on the same day so there is no overlapping. I don't know if the dog Revolution is the same as for cats, I'll leave that up to the vet. With 4 cats it is an expense and I get it from 1-800-Petmed, they keep the prescription on file and call the vet when I put in a new order.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your concern. Actually I only use topical flea control when the fleas reappear on my cats, NOT every 4 weeks year round as all the manufacturers suggest.  Typically  for my five cats that means once or twice a year during the summer.  Most products I have used worked fine for much longer than a month...for awhile.  I guess what I was trying to say is that if Revolution isn't working and the fleas here are indeed becoming resistant to it, I can't try anything else for another four weeks minimum since I put something on them within the last week.  The last dose of Revolution for all five cats was 8 weeks ago.  Four of the five seemed to be relatively flea-free and again no sign of fleas in the house, but my one longhair cat still had a lot more fleas than the other four a good two weeks after that dose (she spends more time indoors since she has a seizure disorder but ALL of them are inside/outside).  So the vet gave me a sample of Vectra to try on her, but still had to wait the four-week period from the last dose of Revolution before putting it on her at the end of July.  Vectra knocked them right out but fleas returned after four weeks again, and three days into treating her with Revolution once more (because I couldn't afford to buy both Vectra and Revolution, which was still working on the others, so decided to try one more time), still a LOT of live fleas.  However, today (three days later) starting to see a few dead fleas so they may just be taking awhile to bite and die.  So suspecting it could be a combination of the cats are just getting into some infested spot outside due to the wet and humid KS summer it's been, and because we have several unapproachable feral cats hanging around, those are probably keeping the flea cycle going too, and rodents may be another source since I have avid hunters that bring gifts.

Dog Revolution is the same chemical; however large dog has double the concentration of Selemectin in cat Revolution so the actual dosage once you do the math should be about .375 ml  for cats 5-15lb.  I went with the recommended .4ml per cat dosage given by my vet for my cats. Might be different for someone else so yes go by your vet's recommendation. But my experience with 1800 Pet Meds is they are a lot more expensive for flea control products than some other online pet med sources. But still probably less than the vet's.

I am having the same problem with Advantage multi, it used to work but this year my cats are covered in fleas and my house is getting infested. I have heard that 20 mule team borax works well on wood floors - you sprinkle it around and work it into the floor with a broom. It creates a dry environment which kills the fleas. Has anyone used pyrethrin? It is supposed to be a relatively safe pesticide.

I am having a similar problem with my indoor cats. I feel compelled to say that your boyfriend should still be treating the fleas on his indoor/cat. When any of these newer meds (Frontline, Advantage, Program, etc.), they do a good job of keeping an outdoor cat relatively flea-free. What fleas they might get will be eradicated w/in a day or two. This keeps them safer from all of the blend fleas cause. Not treating them shortens a cat's life.

You have to alternate using them, otherwise the fleas will gradually build up resistance to them. I switch between ZoGuard (good Frontline generic) and Advantage, although I have had to use food grade diatomaceous earth on occasion. Use one of those, occasionally dust (with the DE) then vacuum your cats sleeping places and you should be fine.

Does any one have any suggestions for homes that do not have carpeting. I removed the carpeting in my house years ago. We use a spray on the house and treat my cats and dogs. The cats do not go outside but the Dogs do.

Switch to Revolution, my cats have not had fleas in at least 3 years.