Flea Control for pets

[kexon]

Hi, i would be interested to know if any pet owners living full time in spain have used herbal flea sprays as an alternative to those sold by the vets,as we have to use these sprays more often here due to warmer weather am a little concerned by the ingredients,i.e. organo-phosphates etc.I do know of a company which sells them,but do not know if they are any good?

[El Cid]

We use Frontline which is not a spray. A few drops are applied to the back of the animals neck. It is perfectly safe as millions of people use it on their animals.

If you use herbal products they may well act as a deterrent but, unlike Frontline, they are less likely to prevent the fleas breeding which is the real problem. Also they will need to be used frequently whereas Frontine lasts for at least a month.

Sid

[keddyboy]

Use Frontline and flea collers for results. We have 5 Siamese cats and they all have the above without a flea between them. Friskies do a good flea coller [black in colour] and lasts for 5 months.

[kexon]

Many thanks for your replies,at present we use the frontline spray,which works well,and all my dogs wear scalibor collars for prevention of leichmans etc.However may try the alternative frontline,rather than the spray,as we have a particularly heavy,long haired german shepard and it takes ages to get the spray rubbed in!! I would have preferred to use the herbal but sounds like it would be waste of time and money.

[Troglodyfae]

Does anyone find frontline to be very expensive? I have 3 dogs 1 huge one and two little ones. Little guys their frontline is not so bad but Big guy's is horribly expensive. It is a necessity however a bit on the steep side and I have not yet found a better alternative.

[kexon]

Yes, I totally agree about the cost of frontline, as i have 2 large dogs amongst my five,the cost does add up.There is a cheaper alternative, a product named Supona,which is for fleas and ticks, cost me 6.50euros for a can of 250ml,it does the job well, but is a concentrate,so you have to dilute,carefully, it really stinks! We purchased ours from the vet,and it lasts ages! Last year was really bad for ticks and fleas and i found the frontline suits some of my dogs,but not my ratenera,so we used supona instead to which she had no side effects.Hope this helps.

[yellerbelly2002]

We also have a GSD and have used Bob Marton's Spot-On, which seems to have the same active ingredient as Frontline. Three capsule pack costs around 6 GBP and they had them in Morrisons in Gibraltar, although I generally pick them up in the UK. With a flea collar this has been highly effective.

[JJ]

We use Frontline spray for our 2 dogs and 1 cat. The amount used depends on the weight of the animal. The spray lasts for ages so is economical.

JJ

[MrsP]

Has anyone been able to get Program flea treatment ?
It's a monthly tablet that makes fleas sterile so they can't breed.

[Trooperman]

I´m interested in yellerbelly´s suggestion about Bob Martin´s & it´s availability in Morrisons in Gib. I´ll have alook next time for the active ingredient. Meantime, I continue to use Pfizer´s products ordered from Australia. Believe it or not, it works out cheaper to send it halfway around the world than get it from Spanish vets and certaily cheaper than UK vets (not that they´ll let me have any without seeing the animal - a bit difficult when the cats are all here in Spain!).

It might not be easy to make a direct cost comparison for everyone because the weights of the animals are critical to the size of the SpotOn pipette, but it works for my cats. It also deals with ear mites as well as the usual stuff. It´s called Resolution.

[MrsP]

Soke to my vet, he can get Program - 6 tablets for €31
Can't buy it on the net.

[Trooperman]

Can´t remember which Aussie site I last used, but have alook at this one:

http://www.thevetshed.com.au/index.php/cPath/2_35

[Trooperman]

....and YES MrsP....they do Program as well.

[MrsP]

Didn't look at postage but how much is it compared with €30

Program Medium Dog (6.7 - 20kg)
Program is a once a month flea control tablet. Program works by sterilizing the female flea. When the flea lays eggs, they will not hatch, breaking the cycle of fleas where they start. IT IS UNLAWFUL ... $53.95AUD inc GST

[Trooperman]

54 AUD is 33.32 Euros

[MrsP]

Thanks, will stick with getting them from my vet then