Frontline Waterproof????? it depends

[Bobsk8]

I took Smokey to the vet today because she was having some hairloss and itching episodes and I wanted to make sure she was having an episode of Mange which she had at the rescue shelter when they first brought her in. The vet did a skin scrapping which came up negative. As she was doing the scraping, she said.. " Oh look, Smokey has fleas". What!!!!! I just gave her a dose of Frontline 2 weeks ago, and it is my understanding that their shouldn't be a flea within 10 miles of her now . Since she is Black, fleas are hard to see on her, but to be honest, I havent even been looking figuring that the Frontline would kill them all. The vet then said, "Did you give her a bath within either 2 days before or 2 days after the application of the Frontline?" I said, "Now that you mention it, I think I did, but it was my understanding that Frontline is waterproof". She then told me that basically Frontline needs a couple of days to set up in the oil on the dogs fur or skin, and bathing right before or after the application messes that up.

 

[elegy]

yep, you shouldn't bathe the dog within 48 hours before or after. i thought it said that on the packaging but i just went and looked on the box and on the insert of the pack i have and i don't see it anywhere. how lame!

 

[Mordy]

The reason for this is that the Frontline disperses on the skin and into the hair follicles. The process is more efficent with the protective skin oils intact.

However, there is no guarantee that either Frontline or Advantage will work for every dog 100% of the time and successfully protect them against fleas.

Where I live it's flea season all year round and I use Advantage on an "as needed" basis on my dog and cats. At some point I tried Frontline instead, since I wanted the added tick protection. It did not work out well at all, the fleas were basically laughing at us, so I went back to Advantage and things are fine.

A friend of mine in Florida had the exact opposite experience - she wanted to switch from Frontline to Advantage but the Advantage wasn't effective for her dogs at all, so she kept using the Frontline.

Whatever you use, it's critical to monitor your dog and make sure the product works.

 

[Bobsk8]

yep, you shouldn't bathe the dog within 48 hours before or after. i thought it said that on the packaging but i just went and looked on the box and on the insert of the pack i have and i don't see it anywhere. how lame!

You are absolutely right, and it is lame that they do not tell you this in the directions. I am going to contact the company tomorrow and complain about their poor documentation.

 

[Ashlea]

I like to follow up in between doses of frontline with a bath in tick and flea shampoo. That way you are backing up the protection. I hardly use frontline on Lilly, only if I notice a flea on her. Which has been twice!

 

[micro202]

what about just swimming? (i.e. no shampoo). do the same rules apply as far as 2 days before and after the application of the flea treatment?

 

[Bobsk8]

Well I called Frontline today and the tech on the phone said that 24 hours is the max you have to keep the animal dry after application rather than 48... I guess my vet is being more conservative.

 

[bubbatd]

I've never had a flea with K9 Advantix .....And I never use any other flea shampoo etc.

 

[Jaimie L]

I've never had a flea with K9 Advantix .....And I never use any other flea shampoo etc.

Frontline does not repel fleas, as I once believed. Only Advantix does as far as my research has found. The way frontline works is that after the flea bites a frontline dog it dies. If you have fleas living in your carpet, grass, or in your neighbors' or park's grass, fleas will jump on your dog without hesitation. The should die within 24 hours of biting. Not the case with Advantix (not sure about Advantage); fleas will avoid your dog. It was a problem I saw quite often in the salon. The only thing I can say is to make sure you've treated your yard and your home the best you can and if the problem is very bad, get your neighbors involved, too.

Want to check to see if you have fleas in your house? lay down a white sheet of paper, or better yet, a freshly worn white sock on the carpet for five minutes. When you come back you'll see the buggers hunting around on the fabric.

Flea test for dark or thick-haired dogs? Part the hair at the base of the tail/ hip region of your dog (try to get all the way to where you can see the skin). If you see little black dots on the skin that resemble black sand or coffee grounds, it could be flea dirt. Pick off a few pieces if you can and rub the grains between wet fingers. If it turns red-reddish brown you've got fleas.

 

[Bobsk8]

In researching this further and according to what the Frontline tech said to me on the phone today, it is correct that Frontline Kills the fleas "after" they bite your animal. I am a bit disappointed in this, because I would have preferred something that keeps the fleas from biting my dog in the first place. I think when the 4 doses I have are gone, I am going to switch to Advantix.

 

[Zephyrpower]

SO how long does it take to get a dog who is flea-free after you've applied Frontline? I applied it last night (so it has not been 24 hours yet) and since then he played with our other family dog, so I'm hoping that didn't affect it. Anyways, it's basically been about 14 hours and I still see fleas on him. I took the bedding out of his cage but there could still be some on the plastic area beneath it. I'm going to shampoo the carpet in my whole house tommorow and see if that helps eliminate them

 

[Bobsk8]

SO how long does it take to get a dog who is flea-free after you've applied Frontline? I applied it last night (so it has not been 24 hours yet) and since then he played with our other family dog, so I'm hoping that didn't affect it. Anyways, it's basically been about 14 hours and I still see fleas on him. I took the bedding out of his cage but there could still be some on the plastic area beneath it. I'm going to shampoo the carpet in my whole house tommorow and see if that helps eliminate them

Says 24 hours on their web site....

http://frontline.us.merial.com/products/products_flplus.asp

 

[misticaleclipse]

Wow, I'm surprised they do not have this on the packaging. I use revolution and I believe it says its on the package not to bathe them for a day or two after (not sure about before)

 

[Julie]

I am 100% satisfied with Frontline plus. I haven't seen a flea in a long long time. I also only use it about every two months and just thru the summer months. Not the every month directions........
A consideration to Advantix is it does contain pyrethrins. I do not like putting that on my dogs.... simply due to the amount of bad reactions others have had. Also if you have cats that are in close quarters to the dogs it can effect their health and have severe side effects and even death for them.
My first choice through much research and considering effectiveness and safety for the dog is frontline.

 

[Zephyrpower]

Well, it's been a bit more than 24 hours and I still seem him itching a bit here and there, but it could be more fleas getting on him since I haven't cleaned the carpet yet. I hope this works as good as most people claim it does. The one thing I may have done wrong is I took him outside today and it was raining so he got a little wet (not soaked, it was pretty much drizzling lightly

 

[mwood322]

Also on Advantix if you have a cat don't use it on your dog. Advantix is VERY bad for cats. I'd be kind of leery anyway of anything that says it repels mosquitos for a month, what the heck does it do to the dog...

I've been happy with Frontline Plus. Though it's tick killing leaves something to be desired. At some point Toka picked up Lyme Disease with it on... but I never see fleas.

--Mia

 

[Bobsk8]

Well I had Smokey to the vet today, about 27 days after her last Frontline Application and the vet found a flea running across her abdomen:yikes: This time she only had one bath a couple of days ago since her last application of Frontline 27 days ago. So I said to the vet, " Hey, this Frontline doesn't seem to be doing what it is supposed to do". She told me that nothing is 100% against fleas and something about Smokey must be appealing to the fleas... I think I might try Advantix thie time and see if I have better luck with it..