Pheebs Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Now I should count my blessings that in my entire life of pet ownership I've never had to deal with fleas. Until the girls came home from Doggie Daycare on Wednesday with the little blighters I intestinally wormed them last week, so other than Capstar which I'll be using to kill the adults and flea bombing both the living areas and the car, is there a flea treatment anyone can recommend? I'm obviously wanting to prevent fleas from living in the environment. I like the look of Sentinel Spectrum but I'm concerned if I treat now, alongside Capstar i'll be doubling-up on the worming component. Any ideas please? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DBT Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Comfortis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
best4koda Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 I have been told before that you can use such products as sentinel with capstar. I was told that the sentinel would not kill the adults so capstar would do that. Someone on here should be able to confirm it. If in doubt you should be able to just ring the local vet to get a quick answer....fingers crossed, we have always been lucky too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pheebs Posted August 15, 2011 Author Share Posted August 15, 2011 Thanks guys, I've pretty much decided to use the Sentinel in future as it covers all bases, but was concerned about using it now as I've already given them intestinal worming to cover the next three months... Hmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pheebs Posted August 16, 2011 Author Share Posted August 16, 2011 *bump* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elise+Hudson Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Comfortis is amazing for flea control! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-B-C Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 As a complete side note... crazy that you have fleas at this time of year Pheebs. Hope you can get on top of them before the warmer months come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 If they are going regularly to daycare, Sentinel *may* be a waste of money for you, you may be better off just treating with an adulticide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotdashdot Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I agree that using Sentinel could be a waste of time if doggy daycare is a regular occurance. Capstar isn't that cheap (well not in my town) and using it every time you see an adult flea could be money-consuming. I use Interceptor (heartworm and intestinal worm components) with an adulticide - Advantix is my choice. This is the most cost effective method I found. Comfortis is also an awesome product, but expensive when you consider it is only doing fleas, for more $$ than advantix. I really only recommend Comfortis to those customers (I work in a pet store) who have had absolutely no luck with spot ons or don't worry about ticks (My personal opinion, im sure my boss would rather I recommend the exxy products more) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 (edited) Interceptor with Comfortis. Heard a rumour that the company that makes Comfortis is bringing out a new product which is something we don't currently have on the market. Did some research and it appears they make a flea treatment/intestinal worming/heartworm all in one chew, so we're thinking it's going to be this!!! eta I don't find the cost of Comfortis all that different from the price of Advantage??? In fact for us, the smaller one (that goes up to 4.5kg) was a few dollars cheaper than Advantage 4-10kg. You can't really compare it to Advantix because that does fleas, ticks and other bities, so should compare it with Advantage. Edited August 17, 2011 by stormie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elise+Hudson Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I have actually found in my clinic - Comfortis is cheaper than Frontline anyway... So I try and encourage people to go with it instead. I have never had much luck with Sentinal, and as far as I remember it is also quite expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotdashdot Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Haha Stormie, maybe its just my work that has Comfortis more expensive than Advantage? I've memorised the prices of Frontline and Advantix currently because that's what we've been selling the most of (at the moment), they are both mostly cheaper than Comfortis here, but even up when you get to the big dogs. Can't exactly remember Advantage $'s, really not a big seller here for dogs. We're in regional NSW btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayly Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Regularly vaccuming, and even better, steam cleaning, your carpet can be more effective than flea bombs. The chemicals from flea bombs often don't get down far enough into the carpet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elise+Hudson Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Vaccuming can actually make it worse though, as it can stir up the pupae into hatching (they hatch with movement and/or heat) but Lyndsay is right, flea bombs only sit on top of the carpet, when the eggs and pupae are usually down low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayly Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Vaccuming can actually make it worse though, as it can stir up the pupae into hatching (they hatch with movement and/or heat) but Lyndsay is right, flea bombs only sit on top of the carpet, when the eggs and pupae are usually down low. That's the point though, you stir them up and they hatch, hop out to the surface to attach and are vaccumed up. Better to hatch while the vaccum is there sucking them up than when the dog walks over the carpet next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skruffy n Flea Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 comfortis, in my view, is the best for all-year-round flea protection --- i dose with capstar if i see any intermittent adult fleas on their bodies. capstar is a 'kill em now' drug that can be used in conjunction with comfortis [and other flea products, just check the compatibility first] and i only use it when it's needed on a day by day basis... ... Capstar isn't that cheap (well not in my town) and using it every time you see an adult flea could be money-consuming.i agree that capstar isn't cheap but you wouldn't be using it on a regular basis --- i only use it if and when there's an influx; if i saw a flea or two on one of my dogs i would dose with a capstar tab and that would deal with it then the comfortis would continue working it's magic I use Interceptor (heartworm and intestinal worm components) with an adulticide - Advantix is my choice. This is the most cost effective method I found.just a word of warning: advantix is toxic to cats so if you have cats, or cats that come into contact with your dogs, you'd be best placed to stay away from advantix ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pheebs Posted September 19, 2011 Author Share Posted September 19, 2011 (edited) Hi everyone Unfortunately the sentinel hasn't been as effective as we had hoped. I'm thinking of changing them over to Comfortis, continuing with the 3-monthly intestinal worming tablet and the monthly nu-heart (Ivermectin). I've seen a couple of warnings about the combined use of Comfortis and Ivermectin. Can anyone please advise? Some sources advise not to combine the two, others say this only applies in cases of higher-than-usual doses of ivermectin to combat things such as mange. Is anyone able to advise please? Edited September 19, 2011 by Pheebs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 (edited) Hi everyone Unfortunately the sentinel hasn't been as effective as we had hoped. I'm thinking of changing them over to Comfortis, continuing with the 3-monthly intestinal worming tablet and the monthly nu-heart (Ivermectin). I've seen a couple of warnings about the combined use of Comfortis and Ivermectin. Can anyone please advise? Some sources advise not to combine the two, others say this only applies in cases of higher-than-usual doses of ivermectin to combat things such as mange. Is anyone able to advise please? I heard the issue was the latter. Comfortis is cleared by the liver in 7 days, so leaving 14 days between HW/Flea doses *should* be ok. ETA: Once you have a flea population Sentinel and Capstar combined can take 6-12 months to eliminate your life cycle at home. Insect growth regulators always take longer because of how they work. You won't see much difference in a month. Edited September 19, 2011 by Staff'n'Toller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris the Rebel Wolf Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Comfortis is by far the most effective flea treatment I have come across (I work in a pet shop and have tried literally all the pills and spot ons on my dogs!) and I cannot recommend it enough. The offical line is that is is completely safe to mix with all other medications; I had not heard about Ivermectin dangers when using both - but as nearly all Heartwormers are using either Ivermectin or one of its derivatives, I would feel pretty safe with doing both. There is also Interceptor available if you want to combine your wormer and heartwormer into one dose, which is monthly. I use Interceptor alongside Comfortis and have never had any issues. Can I please clear up the issue with Advantix and cats for any duo owners. Yes, Advantix can be dangerous to cats, BUT the only period in which it is dangerous is when you put it on the dog and it leaves that little wet patch, which takes a couple of hours to dry on most dogs. If the cat licks this wet patch, it can get sick, and friendly cats/dogs should be separated until it is fully dry. After that it is absorbed, and is not dangerous to cats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pheebs Posted September 19, 2011 Author Share Posted September 19, 2011 Thank you all for your advice I think I will take on board Stormie and Chris the Rebel Wolfs advice and go with the comfortis (hey, i've tried pretty much every other product in existence... why not just throw more money up in the air and hope it works ) Thanks Staff'N'Toller - we've had great results with the Capstar but the little blighters just keep on coming back. I'll now know to not be so demanding and will hopefully play the waiting game as the fleas have truly made themselves welcome :angry: I guess I'm just hesitant to keep using the nu-heart (Ivermectin) as my Weimaraner had a neurological "episode" about two days after using it and died two weeks later. Despite my insistence that there may have been an interaction, every vet I spoke with at the time said the episode was unrelated but it still leaves me feeling very, very uneasy. The fact that the Interceptor combines all the worming components is great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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