If Frontline was applied incorrectly on my dog, what do I do?

Question

It's been about 2 days since it was applied and my dog still has fleas. It might have been applied mainly to the hair and not to the skin.

Answer 1

Yep, when it gets on to the fur that's pretty much the only circumstances under which Frontline does not work. I haven't read the other answers to this question because if anyone's saying Frontline doesn't work, or suggesting a pet shop or 'home remedy', I'll scream and cry.

Anyway! Frontline is difficult to overdose on. It does not have systemic action - it stays on the skin and does not affect the animal internally. Even if they lick it it just makes them salivate a bit. Therefore it should be quite safe to reapply - perhaps in a slightly different area to the previous stuff. Part the dogs fur so it gets on the skin, maybe put it in 3-4 different places - if it's put all in the same place I find it does tend to flood over the fur a bit, it's not as soaky-in as Stronghold/Revolution. It'll be quite safe to reapply after 2 days, and when it's put on properly all the fleas on the dog will be dead within 24 hours.

HOWEVER it sounds like you need to treat the environment too. Once fleas are present on an animal, they will be present in the environment too. Once the dog is treated, any fleas that bite him will die, but you need to break the lifecycle to rid yourself of fleas completely. Get a housepray from the vets. After you've treated your house, including sofas and pet bedding, use Frontline Combo/Plus - this is drops for your dog the same as regular Frontline, but it kills the flea eggs too, keeping the environment flea free.

Chalice

'Maggie' has got her facts seriously scrambled! She's confusing Frontline for other products, and completely confusing the lifecycle of the flea and tapeworm - and recommending Dawn Dishwasher on top of it...tch....

Also - why are people saying Frontline doesn't kill fleas??!? Yes it does! It's a treatment AND preventative!

Answer 2

I would first make sure that the frontline is the right weight range for your dog. Then if it is the right weight range, reapply the frontline to the dog again but do it correctly. Frontline is very safe. You can put multiple doses on and the dog shouldn't get sick (i wouldn't recommend putting multiple doses on monthy but you can).You can call Merial (the manufacturers of frontline) @ 1-800-660-1842 if you want to check with them. They can help you with any of your questions regarding frontline and they are very friendly and knowledgeable. I also would recommend flea bombing your house, washing all bedding and blankets in the house with hot water and making sure all other animals in the house are protected from fleas. If you have a bad flea infestation they could be reinfesting your dog. Good luck!

Answer 3

I dont know, I use Advantage... works every time within 24 hrs too. Even if you accidently get most of it on the fur.

EDIT in response to the poster above... Tapeworms are NOT the second lifecycle of a flea.... flea larvae ingest tapeworm eggs shed from an infected animals feces(thats those rice like tapeworm segments you see in their poo, which dry up and break open to release eggs)..which then live inside the flea until it is an adult, the flea is then eaten by a dog and when it is digested the tapeworm larvae is released into the dogs intestine where it begins its own lifecycle. Fleas dont "become" tapeworms they are an entirely different species.. the flea is just the transmission vector for the tapeworm.

Answer 4

Don't do it again yet. Go to the vet or a feedstore and buy a capstar. They are VERY cheap, around 3$ and will kill the fleas in a matter of a day or so.
In a week I would apply the frontline. You dont want to over apply incase you did it correctly the first time b/c it could poison the dog and make it ill.

Answer 5

WAIT --- don't PLEASE DON'T put more on the dog without talking to your vet first... TO MUCH FRONTLINE COULD KILL YOUR DOG OR CAUSE PERMANT NEUROLOGICAL PROBLEMS

Prior to this application, what else had been done to treat fleas & how recently.... if your dog still has fleas it is possible that the dog had a pretty bad infestation.

If you decided on using a flea killer without taking your dog to the vet.. then you still need to go to the vet because tapeworms also exist where there are fleas. When a dog bites to get the flea off or to scratch & accidently ingests a flea, then that flea becomes a tapeworm (this is the 2nd lifecycle of a flea)

If your dog hasn't had fleas before & has had regular flea treatments and vet care.. then it would be less likely that the dog has tapeworms.

In any case.... I would bath the dog in a heavy foamy soap (Dawn Dishwashing is good for this) and get them really soapy & foamy all over & let that sit for at least 3 minutes as the fleas can't breath with the heavy soap & bubbles from the soap. Then rinse.. and I mean rinse, rinse, rinse and when you think you have gotten all of the soap off, then rinse 3 more times. After you have gotten 100% of the soap & soap residue off the dog, then rinse with a solution of 1 part apple cider vinegar to 10 parts water... this will help ward off new fleas. ... Wait 7 days & repeat this process to kill the newly hatched fleas that had been nits previously

If it is Frontline you used, then water & bathing & so forth won't even affect the product. If you used something like Bio-Spot, then it is possible that any product you used that didn't get absorbed will wash out. In either case, simply apply the next dose as you would've without this concern.

Also, to help your dog with the flea problem... add garlic to his food.... also add some eggs as they have trace amounts of sulpher. Both of these things will help rid your dog of fleas of the dog will no longer taste attractive... this will also help boost your heartworm preventative as the dog won't be so tasty to mosquitos either

next, treat your house to kill fleas & make sure you apply a soapy solution of Dish Soap on your yard as well to kill the fleas in your yard

Answer 6

Frontline is to help keep your dog from getting fleas, not to get rid of existing fleas.

You do need to apply the medicine according to the directions on the package. Go get the proper dog medicine and try again.

Sometimes it can take repeated efforts to get rid of fleas, because it may kill the adults but not the eggs.

Answer 7

Sometimes those flea drops do not work especially in different breeds . And also the concept of the drops are ....the flea will still get on the dog but when it bites the dog it will die . So you may still see fleas on your dog but they do not live long


If you have already applied front line do NOT apply again you will over medicate him and kill him !!

Answer 8

Frontline is a preventive medicine for dogs, not a cure! You need to get rid of the fleas first and then use Frontline on a monthly basis to prevent fleas.

Answer 9

you have to get rid of the fleas first before you use
frontline. the dog should have had a bath with flea
shampoo and then you can put frontline on. you cant just
put frontline on. also you need to bomb your house
with a flea bomb make sure you take your dog out of the
house. you also need to clean everything like sheets and
blankets etc the fleas get in your house and then he can
get them back again and so could you.

Answer 10

If you don't pull the fur back and apply it directly to the skin it doesn't work as well. Wait half the recommended time and re-apply...in a couple of weeks.