Do capstar tablets for fleas work and are they safe?

Answer 1

They say they are safe.. One has to wonder how safe a product could be that once given.. everything alive on the dog drops dead and falls off with in 24 hours. You are poisoning the blood of your dog so that fleas will bite the dog and die from consuming the poisoned blood. Hmmmmm I am not sure I want to poison my dog to kill a flea. There has to be a better way and a safer alternative.
The safety data sheet says
"Harmful if swallowed. Skin, eye and respiratory irritant. Toxicology not fully investigated. "
http://www.physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/NI/nitenpyram.html

It works the same way as 'PROGRAM'
Read this article.. http://www.naturalrearing.com/articles/MarinaZacharias/Fleas.htm

People who see nothing wrong with poisoning their pets blood will give a thumbs down just because the information you can find on the product says it is safe. Just because it works.. Just because they like it and have not had any ill effects or seen any. I will tell you that long term studies have not been perforned. The drug makers say so themselves.

Q. How does Capstar differ from the topical treatments?
A.Capstar is a tablet that kills fleas rapidly. When a pet swallows Capstar, the active component (nitenpyram) is absorbed into the bloodstream quickly, so when fleas bite your pet, they get a toxic dose of the chemical with their blood meal and die. Fleas start to die within 15-30 minutes of ingesting the chemical. All fleas will be killed by 24 hours. However, this does not protect pets for a month. It is excreted from the pet's body within 48 hours.

DID YOU READ THAT?
"so when fleas bite your pet, they get a toxic dose of the chemical with their blood meal and die. Fleas start to die within 15-30 minutes of ingesting the chemical. "

Answer 2

Yes they work, all fleas will die very quickly. I don't actually know about how safe they are, but I've never heard anyone report adverse affects.

The thing to remember is that Capstar is not a preventative, so unless you want to be using one every day (not advisable), get something like Frontline, which kills and prevents fleas for at least a month.

Chalice

Answer 3

When I had fleas I took the Capstar tablets and the seemed safe enough

Answer 4

Capstar Msds

Answer 5

Yes, capstar tablets do work. However, they are designed only to give a quick kill of adult fleas, they are not for long-term control (from memory, I think the drug lasts about 8 hours after you give the tablet).

If your pet needs ongoing flea control (usually only if you're seeing large numbers of fleas, or the animal has a flea allergy), you need to be using something like Frontline Plus, or one of the heartworm/gastrointestinal worm/flea monthly tablets or spot-ons (e.g. Sentinel or Revolution).

Hope that helps.

Answer 6

I have used them on my dogs, the capstar pill seem to work fine. Fleas came off in about 24 hrs. I then used the Frontline monthly flea treatment to keep them off.
They seemed safe for my dogs.

Answer 7

Capstar works and is safe - use the proper dosage. We use it at our kennel.

If your pet has fleas, your house may have them too. Treat the house now, and again in 2 weeks when any remaining eggs might hatch.

Answer 8

They immediately kill the fleas alive on the dog. That is all they do. Five minutes later a flea could and will jump on the dog to start another infestation. I like Fronline best. If you start using it in April and use it each month to Nov, you will never have fleas.