Fleas and frustration!

[kaida714]

We are seeing a huge influx of flea cases this month! I know the fleas are just getting worse and worse each year, but I swear they are coming later and later each year too. At first, I assumed that people were still under the impression that they can stop topical treatments in the fall, but when I ask, the dog is still on frontline or advantix, but has gotten fleas anyway. Frontline has seemed to be fairly ineffective the past 2 years from my observation, but I had never seen a flea problem with a dog on advantix or advantage until now. What the heck?! I find myself constantly reminding customers to use a preventative even through the colder months, reminding them to apply it to the skin not just allowing it to get on the hair, make sure they treat the yard and/or house... Just to be told client after client that they are infact doing everything properly but nothing is working. I feel bad because as the professional, my advice doesn't seem to be enough. Ugh!

[HoneyandChewiespal]

Don't know how true the following statement is but some vets have been intimating that fro going is not as effective since multiple generations of fleas have essentially become immune to it. That's the general gist of the information if not the correct phrasing.
Was also taughty that flea eggs can lay dormant for up to 9 months. That's why the condo snowbirds can return to an uninhabited condo after 6 months and 'fluffy' has a flea infestation within a week.

[lamancha]

What state are you in? I'm in Oregon, and topicals haven't worked here for 2-3 years. The two things that seem to work great are Comfortis (a pill), and Seresto (a collar). I figure in a couple years those won't work and maybe the topicals will again. It's just like rotating wormers in livestock. The parasites build up an immunity to the drugs after a while.

[kaida714]

I am in Michigan, and yes I have also been told fleas have become immune to frontline. I will look more into the pill flea treatments, thanks

[Bluedog]

Frontline does not work. Advantage less effective as well. Here in CA people have switched to Comfortis or other oral flea treatments.

[Moses]

Although there are a few dogs that cannot handle the pill preventive, they work very well. The clients that have their pet taking them have either no fleas or I see maybe 1 that is taking a short ride. I do my best to treat topically w pesticide free alternative but that isnt always the way that works.

[stacie-gotg]

I tell my clients to switch products every other month. Confuse the fleas.

[blue]

Starting about a year ago I began to see lots of dogs coming in with Seresto collars. Paying close attention, I haven't seen a flea or tick on any of these dogs. So I started my own on Seresto and although I can't yet attest to how long they last (the manufacturer says 8 months) I have not seen any critters on mine either. Something I cannot say when they were on the drops (and we tried them all) - we were constantly pulling off embedded ticks. So far, I'm sold.

[kaida714]

I like the idea of switching every few months, makes total sense to me. I do wonder though how receptive clients are because I know a lot of customers find something they "like" and stick with it. These are the clients that tend to have the problems blow up though. I am disappointed that advantix is doing the same thing frontline did, becoming less and less effective. It was always my go-to answer! Seresto collars and vet for pill it is!

[kaida714]

Also, can anyone chime in on how true it is that most vets are "sponsored" by companies like frontline so they push more for them because they get something out of the sales? I have heard this a lot about frontline and science diet in particular, but have never really been sure if it is true. When I started telling people switch off of frontline, an all to common response was "but that is what my vet recommends." Don't the vets know it isn't working?

[Naturally Furry]

Starting about a year ago I began to see lots of dogs coming in with Seresto collars. Paying close attention, I haven't seen a flea or tick on any of these dogs. So I started my own on Seresto and although I can't yet attest to how long they last (the manufacturer says 8 months) I have not seen any critters on mine either. Something I cannot say when they were on the drops (and we tried them all) - we were constantly pulling off embedded ticks. So far, I'm sold.

I recently spoke to a college who's a vet tech and groomer. One of the big problems we are seeing with the seresto collars if customers are not putting them on tight enough for the medicine to get to the skin thus rendering it ineffective. I groomed a dog just the other day that was wearing one that was only a couple of months old and was LOADED with fleas and flea dirt. The other problem is Bayer states that the dog can swim and be bathed in the collar due to it being water proof. This is true put the part that is missed is depending on how much water exposure the collar is getting it can shorten it's life span from 8 months to 5 months.

[Naturally Furry]

Also, can anyone chime in on how true it is that most vets are "sponsored" by companies like frontline so they push more for them because they get something out of the sales? I have heard this a lot about frontline and science diet in particular, but have never really been sure if it is true. When I started telling people switch off of frontline, an all too common response was "but that is what my vet recommends." Don't the vets know it isn't working?

I have no for sure proof ans to the kickbacks vets get from companies but I have always heard it and IMO believe it. I think you have to find a vet or even a doctor that's not just a pill pusher and is actually interested in figuring the actual problem and coming up with a treatment instead of justsaying, "I can give you a prescription for the symptom." My dog was recently diagnosed with Anaplasmosis. The only reason I would have even known is because i have him tested every year. He was showing no signs of problems and his blood work and liver and kidney function came back beautiful. Lucky for me my vet recommended monitoring him and only offering treatment if it's necessary. 6+ months later his blood work and everything is still fine with no symptoms. We are starting to think we may have got a false positive and will retest. What if we just went straight to meds though and found out we did get a false positive and he ended up getting a secondary problem due to the heavy dose of antibiotics? Sometimes i think we just need to let our bodies do their jobs.

[cockerlvr]

Also, can anyone chime in on how true it is that most vets are "sponsored" by companies like frontline so they push more for them because they get something out of the sales? I have heard this a lot about frontline and science diet in particular, but have never really been sure if it is true. When I started telling people switch off of frontline, an all to common response was "but that is what my vet recommends." Don't the vets know it isn't working?

Worked for vets for sixteen years, mostly as a tech, sometimes practice manager and can unequivocally say NO. There are no kickbacks, unless you consider pens and sticky pads and maybe some free lids for canned food kickbacks. Nothing has changed either, my best friends husband is a vet and their newly graduated from vet school son, both concur. Still no kickbacks.

[blue]

I recently spoke to a college who's a vet tech and groomer. One of the big problems we are seeing with the seresto collars if customers are not putting them on tight enough for the medicine to get to the skin thus rendering it ineffective. I groomed a dog just the other day that was wearing one that was only a couple of months old and was LOADED with fleas and flea dirt. The other problem is Bayer states that the dog can swim and be bathed in the collar due to it being water proof. This is true put the part that is missed is depending on how much water exposure the collar is getting it can shorten it's life span from 8 months to 5 months.

Sure, the same is true for the drops: is the owner parting the skin and getting the stuff all the way down there? I also see lots of too-loose collars, but even on those dogs have not yet seen any fleas or ticks. And the waterproof thing, to me it's common sense: take it off when bathing or swimming.