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xteacher
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Jul 13, 2013

Arrrgggghhhh - Fleas!! New Flea Medicine Failed...

Let me start by saying that I've used flea protection on my dogs forever with no problems (Frontline Plus). My vet stopped carrying Frontline Plus b/c they said they'd had too many complaints about it not working. They replaced it with the newest generation from Frontline: Frontline Tritak, which we switched to a few months ago. We discovered a flea infestation this past week! Our poor poodle in particular, was crawling with them. I guess his dense fur was a good hiding place for them. The other two dogs each had a few fleas on them, but not to the extent of poor Potsie.

Needless to say, I called the vet's office to complain, and we switched the dogs over to Comfortis, which got rid of the fleas on the dogs. We'll eventually switch over to Trifexis, I think (it won't kill fleas, but repels them once the problem is resolved, preventing them from infesting the dogs again).

We also called our pest control company and they came and sprayed our yard and house yesterday ($250!!). We had to leave the house for 4 hours, getting everything off the carpets we could (carpet only in the bedrooms and bonus room, thank God!). We boarded the dogs overnight - even though our pest company uses "green" products, because the poison factor makes me very nervous. We'll pick them up today.

I pointed out all this expense to my vet, reminding her that she had recommended the Tritak in the first place. She was very surprised that it had failed, but didn't doubt my story at all. She then told me that the company had a guarantee on the new product with a compensation clause if it didn't work as promised. So...she's having her office manager contact the company and see if they'll cover the cost of our home/yard flea treatment. Please keep fingers crossed that the company keeps its word. I'm not holding my breath, and I hope I'm pleasantly surprised when I hear back next week.


Has anyone else had a failure with Frontline Tritak? I've heard that the fleas are ridiculous this year, but WOW!!
  • There is another product for controlling fleas in the house. It doesn't kill the fleas it kills the eggs It's call Precor. It is safe to use and really works. The only problem is that it takes about 3 weeks to break the cycle.
    We had fleas so bad in the house one time. They would jump on you and you could feel them. We used an insecticide and then followed up with the Precor treatment and after 3 weeks gone completely gone. It will keep on working for about 7months.

    Here is a link to some of the products
    http://www.epestsolutions.com/precor-flea-control-products&view_perpage=all.html

    Fair Winds
    Dave
  • Frontline from my readings does not have any tick protection either. Switched to Advantage. It prevents fleas, and ticks plus repels biting flys. Do some research on the different ointments online and buy one that you feel is the best for your situation. 1800petmeds.com is a good starting place.
  • 1. If you have been using Frontline Plus successfully "forever" why would you consider a change? I am of the opinion that some vet practices are more about money and selling than good medicine.
    2. Frontline Plus is widely available from many sources.
    3. The fleas do not live on the animals. They are only on the animals to feed, so there is a flea friendly habitat the animals have accessed and brought the fleas back home.