Advice re flea treatment

[Rhodri0311]

Hi,

Rhodri is treated monthly with Advocate and we've never had any issues but the last couple of days he's been scratching and biting and to my horror, I've found fleas.

I'm absolutely gutted as we're really regualr with his treatment, groom him regularly and wash his stuff.

I called at the vet this morning and spoke to the receptionist, she sold me some spray for the house and I intend to bath Rhodri when he comes back from his afternoon walk. The only other thing she suggested was making an appointment for next week to speak with the vet.

Any advice please, I'm really horrified and my poor boy is obviously uncomfortable.

Thanks x

[Jaysmumagain]

I think bathing him in a shampoo is a first, then of course the spray....I wonder if maybe Rhodri has become resistant to this flea treatment, sounds an off the grid idea ....but with children with head lice they do rotate the type ot treatment(ie main chemical) as the treatment can stop preventing the infestation.

My main concern is unless you do use a flea treatment you will not be combating the situation, the bathing will wash some away but eggs will still be there and spraying the area will be a waste, I would try another make ie Frontline Plus  which has  Fipronil  in - something without the active ingredient that Advacote and Advantage contains which is Imidacloprid.  Advocate covers alot things that the over treatments may not put the others will cover fleas.

If your nearing the end of the month I would get one from Pets at Home asap, I cant understand why the vets receptionist didn't mention a different treatment, or maybe the shampoo has something in it like Permethrin which would help till you discuss with the vet.

Don't blame yourself - he has picked them up from somewhere bless him and fleas and lice love a clean fresh place.

Do hope this helps

[Archie bean]

It’s always tough when they pick up the little blighters. Archie got infested when we visited a house full of cats. He suffers from flea allergy dermatitis so it was a nightmare.

I used Indorex to spray the whole house plus all his bedding (which I washed beforehand) and the car. It’s expensive spray but lasts a whole year and really works. I also recommend this to kill the adult fleas that you can see fast.

https://www.johnsons-vet.com/catsdogs_4fleas.php

The tablets kill all fleas within 15 mins and can be used at the same time as other preventative treatment. Your Vet may recommend Bravecto but there have been some worrying reports about it. My Vet suggested it to me but I wasn’t keen so she suggested Simparica which is similar but doesn’t last for 3 months so if there is a reaction, it isn’t in the system for so long. I used it (with no issues) until I was sure Archie was totally flea free. After that I went back to my normal regime which is a natural deterrent - Billy No Mates. Many people prefer not to use any man made chemicals at all but I felt that I needed to get the problem knocked on the head as quickly as possible so I was happy to resort to them until I was sure everything was under control.

[David Morgan]

Our lot picked up fleas last year. Our first attempt to treat the outbreak didn't work so we went for Advantage 250, room foggers and Indorex spray for under furniture. We threw their bedding in the wash, sprayed, applied the Advantage, detonated the foggers and took the dogs out. Thankfully, that worked. Lesson learnt? Go for overkill.

[lynnemcneil]

What a nightmare. [emoji30] I give my Archie Bravecto as it covers ticks as well and he’s always in the water or needing a bath so I was never convinced the Advocate would absorb properly. My Vet didn’t say anything about any adverse effects though, what concerns do they have about it’s use??

I hope you manage to get rid of the unwanted guests asap. 

L


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[bizzylizzy]

What a nightmare. [emoji30] I give my Archie Bravecto as it covers ticks as well and he’s always in the water or needing a bath so I was never convinced the Advocate would absorb properly. My Vet didn’t say anything about any adverse effects though, what concerns do they have about it’s use??

I hope you manage to get rid of the unwanted guests asap. 

L


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bravecto‘s generally had very poor publicity in the media both here in Europe and in the US with reports of bad side effects including fits and death. Its very hard these days to know what to believe however as there always seem to be so many parties covering up, exposing, playing down or vastly exaggerating benefits and/or ill effects of all sorts of things especially in the competitive and lucrative pet industry. My vet gets really wound up about „the rubbish people read on the internet“ and was maybe right, who knows  ,when  I questioned Bravecto but  then some vets don’t appreciate being questioned either, so its a tough call. There‘s been lots of discussions on COL about flea, worm and tick treatment with lots of strong and valid although conflicting opinions. I don‘t think there‘s a „one treatment suits all answer“  our situations vary vastly, some dogs have lots of contact with other pets, cats etc., others like mine are more likely to pick up something from wild life so the risks, prevention and treatment are all very personal. Thousands use Bravecto with no ill effects at all, I haven‘t tried it but I know quite a few people who have,  so although there are always some risks  with most treatments, I think we have to keep things in perspektive, weigh up the real individual risks and then treat accordingly.