Neither Advantage or Frontline is working any longer for my dog? Any other flea treatment suggestions?

Question

My 1 1/2 year old dog has never had fleas, and has been on Advantage (once a month, like clockwork) since he was ten weeks old. A few months ago he spent two weeks at my boyfriend's parents house, and (I'm assuming because they do not regularly treat thier four house dogs) developed a bad case of fleas. How can this happen, or is prescription flea medication just not that effective?

Our vet switched him to Frontline for the past two months, saying that the fleas may have become immune to the Advantage, but that has not worked. I will never take him of the flea meds, but I still need some other treatment. We also spend about a half each day, flea combing him, and have had our apartment treated by a pest control company. Please help. My dog is miserable.

Answer 1

Advantix is a little expensive but great. Capstar is another good one.
Keep in mind that flea eggs are almost indistructable, so that whatever you are doing to kill them, you have to do a couple of times to get them all. New fleas hatch into your treated house every couple of days. Eggs can go dormant for up to a year and 2 fleas can breed a housefull of babies in just a few days.
Best thing to do is vacumn constantly. 3 times a week for 2 weeks. Vacumn everything, don't leave anywhere for fleas to hide. Furniture, under stuff, beds, (human and pet), even hard floors.
Good luck

Answer 2

I've found some home remedies that work for my indoor & outdoor pets. 1 is putting a little garlic in their food. The other is peppermint extract & water in a spray bottle & spraying them every 3 days. I don't know how or why it works. But we have NO fleas or ticks. I last used Frontline, didn't work at all. Called vet, he didn't care, called company, they blew me off. Frontline sucks

Answer 3

try bathing your dog with dawn dish soap..leave it on the dog for 5 minutes coating his skin witha lot of the soap making sure you wash his face and ears well. have your apt treated again as they like to live in the carpet and it takes a while for the eggs to hatch and keep up treatments with the frontline/advantage. and when you bath the dog afterwards use a hair dryer set on low the fleas cant stand the heat making sure you dry him under his arm/legs and around his face well...also try the drops that go on the neck too

Answer 4

try treating your house with a light dusting of baking powder at least once a week (2 times first week) especially the bedding and places your dog hangs out. Wash with a good flea shampoo when you start and treat your lawn with sevin dust or malathion.
Treat the fleas not your dog

Answer 5

Here's a "Grandma's Cure" that works! You can kill fleas instantly by using Dawn dish washing liquid. Add a few drops to your dog's bath and shampoo the dog thoroughly. Rinse well to avoid skin irritations.

Another trick is to sprinkle garlic powder (not garlic salt) on the dog's food daily. This will help keep the flees away.

Answer 6

Neither of those flea and tick medication prevent fleas, ticks or mosquitos, they just kill them. Get some K9Advantix - it prevents all 3 from occuring, kills them if they're already there, and it's waterproof (unlike the others)!

Answer 7

buy some flea dip. or use equal parts vinegar and water, i would try the flea dip first it doesnt work as long as the frontline but it does work

Answer 8

I have used "Program" on my dogs for years and they've never had fleas.

Answer 9

Ovatrol spray is very effective and can be used as needed, but you would need to discontinue any other prescription stuff you are using. Cannot overlap. Your vet should have it.

Answer 10

maybe they just need to give him a stroger dose...my dog is 85 pounds and we use frontline and never had a problem....
:)