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Oral flea medications


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Hi guys,I have some questions about flea control products.We've never really had a problem with fleas until this fall and now I am trying to find out what is the most effective treatment and preventative.We've been treating with Advantage Spot On with generally good success but recently I've noticed that it is not proving to be totally effective and my Vet is reccomending an oral product called Comfortis Is anyone familiar with this product? Any and all suggestions are appreciated.I want to nip this in the bud before it REALLY becomes a problem so I don't want to waste time with ineffective remedies.

Thanks

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I am beginning to believe that flea medications have local areas. My vet pushes Frontline but it doesn't control fleas on my animals. My theory is that since our flea issues usually happen when my In-Laws are visiting from Florida with their cat, and since Frontline doesn't work for them but Advantage does, that I have Florida, resistant to Frontline fleas. Advantage works well on my cats, I also use Revolution for those with sensitive skin, and I use Advantix on the dogs. I would ask for flea control advice from people you trust locally. This is just my weird theory.

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I've used Comfortis, but only because it was donated to me. I guess it worked, but I don't really have a flea problem. I've heard from several other folks who use Comfortis regularly and they say it is the only product that has worked.

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I used comfortis on both my dogs with excellent results for about a year. I can still use it on Jody (my border collie) but had to quit using it on Bella (golden retriever). Bella's stomach became very sensitive to the medicine and she would vomit. It became more severe each time. I quit giving the comfortis to her the third time it happened and her vomiting lasted for 24 hours.

 

I would still be using it for both dogs if it hadn't made Bella so sick. It worked great.

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I have used Comfortis for about 3 months now. I was using Frontline before and still seeing fleas on Maddie. I live in Alabama... flea heaven!! Since starting with the Comfortis I have not seen any fleas. I do have to use a tick collar, since Comfortis doesn't do anything for ticks. Although it's supposed to be chewable, Maddie doesn't eat it like the heartworm meds, so I have to put something extra tasty in her bowl when I give it to her. They said to make sure that she takes it with a meal, as it could make a dog sick.

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Capstar is a short-lived, instant-acting flea treatment. I was told that it works within 30 minutes and is out of their system in a couple of hours (making it safe to give daily for a while, if necessary).

 

Comfortis is a long-acting flea preventative. They aren't quite the same.

 

Frontline Plus still works in the upper midwest, thankfully, so I continue to use that. I have not yet made myself comfortable with the idea of an oral flea preventative, although the chemical ones aren't really that much better in the "natural/holistic" sense of things!

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I have used Comfortis for about 3 months now. I was using Frontline before and still seeing fleas on Maddie. I live in Alabama... flea heaven!! Since starting with the Comfortis I have not seen any fleas. I do have to use a tick collar, since Comfortis doesn't do anything for ticks. Although it's supposed to be chewable, Maddie doesn't eat it like the heartworm meds, so I have to put something extra tasty in her bowl when I give it to her. They said to make sure that she takes it with a meal, as it could make a dog sick.

 

Comfortis is to be given with a full meal because it is poorly absorbed & giving with a meal enhances absorption & enables it last for an entire month. We ususally recommend canned food.

 

If a dog vomits Comfortis I would be inclined to discontinue it because the side effects seem to get worse with continued use (in the dogs I have seen with an issue). It can also cause problems (seizures) when given to dogs on HIGH dose ivermectin (I doubt any border collies are on this). At this time they haven't pinpointed the reason for the reactions.

 

Another good point is it does have some knock down effect on ticks. It will kill ticks that are on the dogs at the time of administration but has no residual effect.

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I should have noted that Capstar is not a long term preventative.

We used it on Tasha since she had fleas from the pound and we did not want to bring her into our house with them.

We have (thankfully) been virtually flea free at our home for almost 20 years and only use preventatives on the rare instance we find a flea on any one of the dogs. So far this year I think we have found 2 or 3 so we have had to break out the Frontline a couple times but with the weather no getting colder, I hope we are done for the year.

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