| Many effective flea control products have made their way onto the market over the past few decades, and veterinarians as well as pet owners are often confused as to which ones are the most effective. It seems that every few years a new topical flea medication is coming out touting superiority over another. However, at the same time many clients may also complain that some of the older products don’t work as well as they used to. There is plenty of supporting data published by leading parasitologists that indicate that most, if not all of the products are still quite effective. |  |
The biggest problems we’re seeing when flea control fails, lies with veterinarians who are not educating clients on the multipronged approach needed for effective flea control. These steps include not only treating your pet, but also the environment and yard, as well as following product label or veterinarian instructions. The key to effective client compliance is to treat all of the cats and dogs that come in contact with your own. It is also important to recognize the complex and long life cycle of the flea, which includes multiple stages from the very resistant eggs, larvae, pupae, and adult stages.
It’s important for clients to realize the importance of continuing flea treatment, especially in severe flea infestations, which may sometimes take up to several months to have the flea infestation under the control. Pet owners should be aware that there are always potentially new sources of fleas, including stray cats or dogs, and various wildlife that can deposit eggs into the outdoor or inside environment.
Some of the more effective topical flea treatments in my experience include the same topical products that have been around the longest, such as Frontline Plus, Frontline Topspot, Advantage, and K9 Advantix. Many of these and other modern flea medications kill adult fleas and/or prevent maturation of the eggs into larvae on the pet, or sterilize adult fleas from producing tremendous amount of eggs (such as the oral Program flea medicine). However, if the environment is not treated, flea eggs can still hatch and develop into larvae and adults. That’s why it is important to treat the home with excellent flea control products like Virbac Knockout Fogger, or even having your home professionally exterminated. Virbac Yard Spray is also a wonderful product that is often effective against various life stages of the flea in the yard.
For those clients who prefer a more natural approach to flea control, this will indeed require more diligent and persistent efforts. This method can range from adding fresh garlic or brewers yeast to your pets’ diets, or using various essential oil products now available. In addition, more natural flea control products like Be Flea Free Shampoo and Fleabusters products can be used while under the guidance of a veterinarian who is familiar and trained in their use.
With heavily infested animals, I often start my clients with a dose of oral Capstar, which will kill adult fleas within a few hours. Capstar can be repeated up to once daily until the topical or oral products have a chance to take effect. And for pet owners with puppies or kittens, Capstar is especially beneficial for these animals because they can quickly become anemic from a severe flea infestation.
No matter which approach is taken, it’s important to address a flea problem from a multifaceted stance and to remember to be consistent by giving all animals within your home flea medication each month.
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2 Comments
I have a 4 yr old cat who has been treated for fleas with frontline plus but the dose for Sept was give late on week 6 instead of week 4. Oct was given on time. The problem I am having is that my cat Cutie Pie has flea bites that are now “scabbing” I am going to give her next fronting plus on time the 4th week of November. In the meantime is there anything more that I can do for her. She is still scratching?
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Cats and dogs can suffer from multiple causes of itching, which in most cases is due to one of three or combination of either flea bite allergies, inhalant/contact allergies and/or food allergies. All itchy cats like this should be on some sort of flea control regimen, as well as making sure if there is a flea problem on the animals to make sure the home is treated as well with products like knock out or siphotrol house treatment, or even having home professionally exterminated, as much of flea life cycle occurs in the environment, and I honestly dont think any of the current products truly get rid of all of the flea eggs on the animal that end up in the environment. To help with symptomatic treatment of your pet, you could try an antihistamine such as chlorphenirimine at a dose of 2 mg twice daily, as well as adding fatty acids to the diet like Missing link for cats or nordic naturals pet cod liver oil. I have also find the very palatabe DMG liquid also helpful in easing allergic symptoms when used in conjunction with other products like this. If itching persists and fleas are under total control , than a full veterinary allergy workup should be done including a 6-8 week low allergy dietary trial to rule out food allergies as contributing to itching, as well as even stronger medications your vet can give such as oral prednisone or occasional injections of a longer acting steroid known as depomedrol.
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great information you write it very clean. I am very lucky to get this tips from you.
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
June 13th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
You are very welcome. Please pass this information and blogs on to your family and friends.
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