Sentinel

[Diana]

Hi I have a owner who comes with her dog for grooming about every 2 month. 2 months ago I found a couple of flea bites and informed the owner later on. She insists she is using preventative.

Yesterday she was back again and this time I found a flea walking along on dogs belly and again told the owner. She was absolutley taken aback as she is using treatment and the dog is also an inside dog. I then asked what she uses and it is Sentinel. Can someone tell me how this product works as to me it doesn't seem to do the flea job.

I myself use at odd times......can't even remember the name, yes Advantage, just for as a preventative flea treatment. Touch wood, I have not had any flea outbreak ever in my breeding time.

Some thought on this would be appreciated

This is a cross post from Breeders Forum. It was suggested I go here instead as this forum would be more appropriate.

[Crisovar]

Just because you find one flea on a dog does not mean that their prevention is not working.

Sentinel works as form of birth control for fleas to break the flea breeding cycle in your dogs environment, it is not a fast knock down flea killer or preventative. If the dog picks up new fleas somewhere they will be effectively prevented from reproducing.

For fast knockdown if you are concerned maybe suggest capstar after walks etc.

[dee lee]

For some reason I have found some flea treatments work on some dogs and others on other dogs.

I had my dog on Revolution last summer and she ended up becoming infested with fleas! However I have a friend who uses Revolution and swears by it. I had to use capstar once a week along with it until recently when I switched to Advocate. Now we have no fleas.

I don't know why this is the case, but perhaps suggest your client switches to another brand?

[greypaws]

What Crisovar said.

Sentinel Spectrum is an IGR - Insect Growth Regulator - that essentially renders adult fleas sterile therefore stopping the life cycle, but will not kill them. Adult fleas hopping on her dog will not die from Sentinel itself.

Suggest Capstar for adult flea observations, or one of the spot ons, (Advantage, Frontline Revolution etc) or even a flea bath will kill the adults and Sentinel should do the rest. The adults aren't alive for terribly long and not being able to reproduce, a flea population allegedly should come under control fairly soon

And yes, people often say different products have different effects. Different active constituents.

[witheverythingiam]

Sentinel won't kill fleas, it'll just render the ones that bite them infertile.

If she wants to kill the fleas currently there, a Capstar every 2nd day for 2 weeks would be a good start. Having said that, if she takes it for walks, or to friends place that has fleas regularly, then it's going to pick up more fleas. If this is the case, she should give a capstar every time she does this about 1/2hr before she's due to come home.

Either this, or use Advantage etc instaid of Sentinel for flea coverage, as well as changing from Sentinel to Interceptor Spectrum, or Milbemax wormer (both by the same makers of Sentinel - Novartis), so she's still covering worms & heartworm.

-WithEverythingIAm