Pet Lovers

[gardenman]

Fighting fleas can be a big challenge. I've tried the natural stuff and pretty much everything else and the only two products that really work on our local flea population for my cats are Advantage II and it's generic form Advecta II. My cats have had no reaction to those meds and they wipe out the fles for six to eight weeks at a time before you start to see the occasional flea returning. 

We never really had a serious flea problem until a visting nurse for my mom was here one day complaining about the fleas at her house and apparently she brought some along to share with us. For almost three years I threw everything at the fleas only to see them laugh it off.

I was combing fleas from the cats and putting them in old medicine bottles with various pesticides to see which was effective. Sad to say the fleas considered it a spa day. Other than bathing the fleas, the pesticides I tried had no real effect on them. Eventually the fleas in the bottles would die of starvation, but I don't think the pesticide even dinged them. Any other insect (ants/flies) put in the bottle would die almost instantly, but not the fleas.

I used borax everywhere, (even tried it in the pill bottles, but the fleas just burrowed through it like ants in an ant farm) vacummed endlessly, set up lighted flea traps, combed the cats several times a day and it was hopeless. My vet recommended several products none of which worked. My flea traps would catch twenty plus fleas a night. I'd comb twenty or thirty off each cat each time I'd comb them. I'd gone through pretty much every commercial product but Advantage II when I finally gave that a try and it was like a miracle. Within a few days the traps and combing were coming up empty. The fleas were gone. The Advecta II is a cheaper ($5 a dose through some retailers) generic version of the Advantage II and it seems to work just fine.

If you can control the fleas through other means then fine, but if, like me, you find you're fighting a losing battle, I'd highly recommend the Advecta II. It's cheap, effective and my cats have been using it for a while now with no side effects.

[NickNack]

I've read many stories about dogs dying from Bravecto.  I would never use it.

[apple1964]

I have five rescue dogs. I give them frontline but, only the summer months.

[pattypeep]

I'm glad to read this post, but also sad because I've given both of my dogs Bravecto. Two or three times last year. So far they are well, but I will look for another remedy. Scary stuff that they put this on the market when it's obviously not been thoroughly tested. We had always used Frontline, but my terrier had an allergic reaction to fleas and the Frontline wasn't working. )<:

[gardenman]

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@pattypeep wrote:

I'm glad to read this post, but also sad because I've given both of my dogs Bravecto. Two or three times last year. So far they are well, but I will look for another remedy. Scary stuff that they put this on the market when it's obviously not been thoroughly tested. We had always used Frontline, but my terrier had an allergic reaction to fleas and the Frontline wasn't working. )<:

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Bravecto uses Fluralaner as the flea killer. Frontline uses Fipronil, while Advantage II uses imidacloprid. When one of those treatments fails (Frontline in your and my cases) you need to find a solution that uses a different compound. The imidacloprid in Advantage II and Advecta II is about all that works on our local fleas. You don't find a lot of negative reports on Advantage II or Advecta II. They seem to be relatively safe when used properly. The imidacloprid remains on the outside of the pet and kills fleas that come into contact with it. Fleas don't have to bite your pet to get killed. It's arguably safer than a systemic insecticide that you give in pill form that circulates throughout your pet's body and works when the pet is bitten.

[goldensrbest]

I so dislike using these products, i know that at times you must ,but i just never felt good about it.