Use of Frontline Plus

I have just purchased Frontiline Plus for Jato, who is now 4 1/2 months old. After reading the directions, I am a bit scared to use this product. It sounds like the poison goes into their skin and lasts for 3 months, but they tell you to apply it every month- why? This is our first dog, so I have no idea if we have fleas in the yard or not. We don't live near any woods, so I doubt we have ticks. Do you think I really need to use this on him? Does it make him oily and smelly? I enjoy rolling around with him and kissing him and don't want this stuff on me either. Please let me know your thoughts, as I know many of you use this product.

I know what you mean. It kind of worries me when I first put it on Daisy every month. I usually put it on her at night right before she goes into her crate, to minimize our exposure to it when it's at its wettest. That way, too, she's not laying on the couch and getting it on things. I especially try to have the kids not pet her on her back for the next day or two after I've put it on Daisy. I read somewhere that it is not good to expose kids to it during the first 2 hours after application, so I figure if I put it on her right before bed, it'll be at least 8 hours before the kids are around her.

I've had to move up to the 22+ pound size for her now and it seems like a lot of product. I usually give her a bath as soon as it's allowable after putting it on her (2 days). After about the 2nd day the oily spot is all spread out and after brushing her, it's not noticeable at all, even before she's had a bath. And once she's had a bath, there's absolutely no sign of it any more.

Although I'm not 100% comfortable with it, I really feel like I have no choice. We live in Tennessee and fleas and ticks are rampant because it doesn't get that cold for very long in the winter, so I would worry about fleas all year if I didn't use it. I'm hoping if I always use it on her, I'll never have fleas in the house, and if I'm lucky, not even in our yard. So far, so good. The only fleas she's ever gotten were when we took her on trips with us. And the Frontline Plus seemed to handle them after about a day.

So, to answer your question -- I don't really like it that much, but I do think it's been effective for us, so I plan to continue using it. I know Illinois is starting to have lots of Lyme disease now from deer ticks, so I would worry that she might bring ticks in the house. The reason I am familiar with Lyme disease and Illinois is because when my daughter was about 9 months old, we were traveling from Ohio to Iowa, so of course we went right through Illinois on I-80. We stopped at a rest stop and I put a blanket down and was holding my daughter on my lap while my husband played with our 2 year old son on the swings. I looked down and saw these tiny reddish bugs all over my daughter! I freaked out and took all her clothes off and wiped her down with baby wipes, trying desperately to get them all off of her. I took her to the doctor the next morning and showed them some of the bugs that I had saved in a Ziploc bag with her clothes. Two of them that I had missed had attached to her scalp overnight. The next day, I had the Iowa State University entymology department look at the bugs (I worked at ISU at the time). Sure enough, they were deer tick larvae, and so we treated my daughter for Lyme disease. I had apparently put the blanket right down on top of a huge nest of them! Now I'm even more freaked out by ticks than I was before! So I guess I've decided on what I consider the lesser of 2 evils. But I'm not 100% comfortable with it.

Sure enough, they were deer tick larvae, and so we treated my daughter for Lyme disease. I had apparently put the blanket right down on top of a huge nest of them!

Click to expand...

:yikes Well I can certainly understand freaking out about ticks after an experience like that -- ugh!

On Frontline -- I don't use flea control monthly -- about twice a year I apply something like Frontline, usually if the dogs are going into kennels, but we don't have much problem with fleas or ticks. There are some natural remedies that people try; not sure with what degree of success.

On the advice of a local gardening guru, we put out live beneficial nemetodes last spring... and after a couple weeks, no more fleas. I think they come both live and dead. Not sure what the dead ones wold be good for, but the guru always stresses to get the live ones. Mix them up with water in a sprayer and that's about it. The Hartguard plus topical stuff never worked for us... we always had fleas until the nematodes.

Mom of Jato: The Frontline/flea products in general worry me because of the chemicals, so we've used natural things to ward them off, such as brewer's yeast and garlic added to their food...Also, if we're going into the woods, I have a eucalyptus oil/water mix that I made (I live in Illinois too and bought the oil at Whole Foods) and I spray it on the dogs every hour. As for how effective those methods are, I'm not sure, but (knock on wood!) we've been flea and tick-free for over a year.

Jean: My breeder mentioned the live nemetodes but I forgot to ask her where to get them. Where do you get them and what exactly do you ask for? Thanks!

cy1266 said:

Mom of Jato: The Frontline/flea products in general worry me because of the chemicals, so we've used natural things to ward them off, such as brewer's yeast and garlic added to their food...Also, if we're going into the woods, I have a eucalyptus oil/water mix that I made (I live in Illinois too and bought the oil at Whole Foods) and I spray it on the dogs every hour. As for how effective those methods are, I'm not sure, but (knock on wood!) we've been flea and tick-free for over a year.

Jean: My breeder mentioned the live nemetodes but I forgot to ask her where to get them. Where do you get them and what exactly do you ask for? Thanks!

Click to expand...

I'll chime in here... I am further north, almost in Wisconsin and I haven't had fleas here nor have I used ANYTHING. I have an ancient package of frontline (that I must remember to throw away) that I bought in 2000.

We don't have ticks where I live (a beach city) but we DO have fleas. California weather is so moderate year round that they are really a problem here. We use Advantage which treats for fleas only and works well.

When we start traveling up the coast or to woodsy areas will have to switch to Frontline plus to deal with ticks on walks. ICK! I hate the thought of putting chemical treatments on my dog but hate the thought of critters crawling on and biting her, AND infesting the house if I didn't treat her regularly!

When my first dog was just a puppy, we visited family and came home with fleas! Luckily, I caught it quickly and we don't have much carpet in our house. It was fairly easy to clean the house, the dog bedding, and to apply Frontline Plus. For a few days I was flea combing her and removing the nasty things, live and dead.

After that experience, I can't imagine what it would be like to have all three of my girls with fleas! I use frontline plus during the spring, summer and fall when the girls are outside and fleas and other critters are around.

The chemical goes on their back between their shoulder blades so that they dog can't get to it and lick it. I think each dosage seems like a lot because most of it doesn't reach the skin, even if you carefully apply. The fur blocks a lot. Once you put it on, it takes about a day for it to soak in. Then I comb their fur to work out the fur that has dried and clumped together. After that, there's no sign that they had the treatment.

Obviously, many people do many different things, but there's one thing everyone agrees on, I think. It is really nasty when your dog gets fleas!

I don't have a problem using topical treatments like stronghold or frontline.
I know it's not ideal but when you have a dog who lives with the family in close proximity to children it's better to dose the dog.
By my reckoning,a quarterly dose of stronghold kills fleas and roundworms and twice yearly with drontal plus tabs should keep tapeworms at bay.
Fleas carry tapeworm and if the dog bites or ingests fleas it can create a cycle of infection.
Daisy is a lone dog,but she managed to pick up fleas twice and she's only 16 months.first time was when playing with our neighbour's miniature yorkie.He was very scruffy and unkempt and on closer inspection found he was crawling with fleas.(After that they treated him and clipped him)
Second outbreak was a mystery but it can happen.Maybe she picked them up galloping through the woods.
Sins

Beneficial Nematodes

We get them at a fairly upscale garden center and ask for live beneficial nematodes. They come on a sponge and are refrigerated as the heat will dry them out and kill them. They live underground and eat all kinds of bug larva, including fire ants and fleas. They are inexpensive, easy to apply, and last all year. We are sold on them!
Jean

Thanks Jean! We have an upscale garden center where we live so hopefully they have them there! :thnku:

We use Frontline Plus on Charlie.
There are fleas and ticks almost year round in my area.
-I was bitten by a deer tick last year and developed the Lyme "bullseye" rash on my arm. It's not worth the chance, so Mr. McFarlie get's a regular treatment.

Note: If I remember correctly, we used Frontline when Charlie was a pup and later switched to Frontline +.
You may want to check the warning label and see what age the + can be used.

Thank you for the advice on the nematodes. I am definately going to try and locate a garden center to purchase them. It sounds like a better/safer way to go than using the chemical stuff.

I thought this was interesting, has anyone tried it?

Make Your Own Herbal Flea Collar
Choose an absorbent collar for your dog/cat, such as the widely available heavy-duty woven nylon collars. The collar will absorb essential oils; no additional collar is needed. Essential oils that repel fleas and ticks include citronella, rosemary, and rose geranium. Buy only 100 percent pure essential oils, and using an eyedropper, put just one or two drops on the collar.

Repeat each week. Some animals are very sensitive to the strong smell of essential oils, so start with just one drop and increase to two if they seem to tolerate the smell. If ticks are the biggest problem, use rose geranium; for fleas choose citronella if for a dog, but not for cats.

Caution:
· Pennyroyal shouldn't be used around dog/cats, especially pregnant dog/cats.
· Cats are sensitive to citrus, so avoid citronella.
· Make sure not to get the essential oil in the dog/cat's eyes or directly on their skin.

Anyone else feeling itchy reading this thread?!! :yuk: