# Frontline isn't working?



## perlita (Jan 6, 2012)

I give my doggy frontline every month but this month I forgot until 2 weeks late. I put it on her 2 weeks ago and she still has tons of fleas. Not just a few. Tons. Today I gave her a bath with anti-flea shampoo, and although I got rid of a lot of fleas, there's still lots. I want to give her another dose of the frontline, but I know I need to wait 2 days or so to do it.

What do you think is causing the problem? Could it be that the dose I'm giving her is for dogs lighter than her? Maybe I should buy a dose for heavier dogs? Any other "home remedies" that I could use?

Thanks!


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## juliemule (Dec 10, 2011)

How much does she weigh? Personally I would switch to something else, and not repeat frontline. Comfortis works well.
I had trouble with frontline, seeing fleas after two weeks of treating.


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## JulieK1967 (May 29, 2011)

I read recently that Frontline is basically now useless b/c the fleas have become immune to it.


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## perlita (Jan 6, 2012)

ugh bummer. Problem is here in Costa Rica we only have Frontline...

And the first time I had her weighed 6 months ago she was 12 kilos. But I'm sure she's grown. I'm still using the one for 12 kilos because I'm not 100% sure how much she weighs.


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## luv mi pets (Feb 5, 2012)

contact frontline frontline has a guarantee; http://www.completekiller.com/frontlineplus/ hopes this helps


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

Yup, fleas are evolving resistance to Frontline because it's so popular. Try something with a different active ingredient. I like Program/Capstar.


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## perlita (Jan 6, 2012)

luv mi pets said:


> contact frontline frontline has a guarantee; http://www.completekiller.com/frontlineplus/ hopes this helps


That'd be sweet, but I highly doubt they'd travel down to Costa Rica to inspect my apartment.

I guess I'm going to try some "natural" remedies as well as the front line. I've read lemon/water spray and also Vodka can help kill or repel fleas. Just washed Perlita's bed AGAIN, this time using my expensive anti-dust mite detergent I usually just use for my sheets. Hope I can keep these fleas gone!


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Add a little garlic to her food. Google garlic used for fleas. Its natural, cheap and safer than the topical chemical treatments.


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## Bellasmum (Mar 19, 2012)

Capstar is brilliant for ridding the dog of fleas, but only lasts a couple of days. (Gives you a chance to give them a good bath). Personally I use Revolution. I have three dogs and used to have a real problem with fleas. I tried one or two different treatments, but have now been using Revolution for 2 or 3 years, and haven't seen a flea or a tick (I'm not an affiliate by the way!). Maybe you could get online from another country if you can't get it in Costa Rica - bit of a pain I know, but looking on the bright side, it's usually cheaper when you buy 6 or even 12 month's supply.


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

If you're not using the appropriate dose of the product it certainly could be part of the problem. Are you also treating your house? When you have a flea infestation you need to vacuum everything daily - including hardwood and furniture, and then toss the bag away outside immediately, or if it's bagless, empty the canister into a bag outside immediately (fleas can hop out of vacuums). All bedding needs to be washed in hot water a few times a week too. If the fleas are in the environment, they'll keep jumping back on the dog, and can then die from the frontline but it isn't instantaneous, so it might give them impression that the fleas aren't dying even though they are.


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## JulieK1967 (May 29, 2011)

I wanted to get away from the chemical spot-on treatments, so I just picked up an all natural product called Pet Naturals Flea + Tick. So far, so good. Molly isn't thrilled about getting sprayed but she's small so it goes quickly. The ingredients are: 4% Lemongrass Oil, 1% cinnamon oil, 1% sesame oil, .5% castor oil & 93.5% purified water. It smells nice & the smell fades pretty fast & doesn't leave a smell on Molly's coat. It's probably something that could be made at home.


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## perlita (Jan 6, 2012)

Graco22 said:


> Add a little garlic to her food. Google garlic used for fleas. Its natural, cheap and safer than the topical chemical treatments.


I thought garlic was bad for dogs?



Bellasmum said:


> Capstar is brilliant for ridding the dog of fleas, but only lasts a couple of days. (Gives you a chance to give them a good bath). Personally I use Revolution. I have three dogs and used to have a real problem with fleas. I tried one or two different treatments, but have now been using Revolution for 2 or 3 years, and haven't seen a flea or a tick (I'm not an affiliate by the way!). Maybe you could get online from another country if you can't get it in Costa Rica - bit of a pain I know, but looking on the bright side, it's usually cheaper when you buy 6 or even 12 month's supply.


Thanks for the idea, but I would never in my life have anything shipped here! Costa Rica has the worst postal system ever. Okay, maybe the Congo is worse...



Hambonez said:


> If you're not using the appropriate dose of the product it certainly could be part of the problem. Are you also treating your house? When you have a flea infestation you need to vacuum everything daily - including hardwood and furniture, and then toss the bag away outside immediately, or if it's bagless, empty the canister into a bag outside immediately (fleas can hop out of vacuums). All bedding needs to be washed in hot water a few times a week too. If the fleas are in the environment, they'll keep jumping back on the dog, and can then die from the frontline but it isn't instantaneous, so it might give them impression that the fleas aren't dying even though they are.


We have ceramic floors, no carpets. I wash her bed in my special anti-dust mite detergent. I feel if it kills/repels dust mites, it should also kill/repel fleas. That's wishful thinking though.

Thanks so much for the advice! I might try to make up a little spray, but I don't think I could find all of those oils down here. Maybe something similar.

Thanks again!!


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## Kaiju (Mar 26, 2012)

Frontline works mediocre for us.. we're in a rural area with woods out back. It works better than some of the generic store brands, but only somewhat. For us, K9 Advantix worked really well. I think it sometimes depends on your area and what medications the bugs in your area have built up an immunity to.

You could try to order some on-line and see if it arrives ok... worth a shot!


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

perlita said:


> We have ceramic floors, no carpets. I wash her bed in my special anti-dust mite detergent. I feel if it kills/repels dust mites, it should also kill/repel fleas. That's wishful thinking though.


You should still vacuum hard floors because flea eggs can get down into crevices in the floor. They're nasty buggers.


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## bshadow (Feb 12, 2012)

My Shih-tzu is highly allergic to fleas and Frontline had also quit working for him. The vet changed him over to Comfortis and I couldn't believe how fast it works. Within hours the fleas were leaving and by the third day they were gone. It's a pill though and it must be really nasty cause he won't even take it when burried in a hotdog. I have to poke it down his throat and then hold his mouth shut till he swallows.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Small amounts of garlic are safe, and I know tons of people that swear by it. There is a ton of info online both for and against, so you can make your own decision. If you can get food grade diatamaceous earth, it is also a natural flea deterant and killer. You can safely use it sprinkled anywhere, and feed it to your dog as well. 
http://killingdogfleas.com/articles/home-remedies-for-killing-dog-fleas-part-one/


http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp

Personally, I never have, and never will use any topical or pill flea treatment on my pets, anymore than I would put those chemicals on my child to soak into her bloodstream..they can say its "safe" all they want. No way do I believe that. It is a chemical, that absorbs thru the skin into the bloodstream to kill a flea when it bites for 30 DAYS!? There are so many better, safer options out there.


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## perlita (Jan 6, 2012)

Hambonez said:


> You should still vacuum hard floors because flea eggs can get down into crevices in the floor. They're nasty buggers.


I actually don't think I could get a vacuum down here. I'm sure you could buy one _somewhere_, but they're probably way out of my price range. All houses here are built with concrete/ceramic/brick/etc floors. I've never seen carpet.



Graco22 said:


> Small amounts of garlic are safe, and I know tons of people that swear by it. There is a ton of info online both for and against, so you can make your own decision. If you can get food grade diatamaceous earth, it is also a natural flea deterant and killer. You can safely use it sprinkled anywhere, and feed it to your dog as well.
> http://killingdogfleas.com/articles/home-remedies-for-killing-dog-fleas-part-one/
> 
> 
> ...


I'd love to try the all natural stuff. I know when I ate garlic for a mosquito repellent it worked well when in combination with the "all natural" mosquito spray. I'll try adding a bit of garlic to her food and spray her down with lemon (which I read somewhere works as a repellent).

Thanks again!


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## alilyinthefield (Oct 20, 2011)

there is an essential oil that you can dab on the collar that helps a little bit too. I use comfortis because the frontline wasn't working anymore for us either. I don't even have to use comfortis year round anymore it works so great! 

Anyway, for those moments when I can't get to the vet in time or I'm letting it slide for winter, I dab their collars with EO, but I CANNOT for the life of me ever remember which one it is (I have a ton of Essential oils I always have to look up which one to use :/ ) Anyway if you google Essential oil for fleas you'll find it...I wanna say it was Lavender but I am probably wrong so don't go by what I'm saying, it could have been citronella or heck...just google it, I'm sure you'll find tons of info on it. Caution, I just put it on the top of the collar and in a small drop, EO's are concentrated and do not need much at all a drop or two only. Some EO's are harsh on the skin in pure form and others are harsh on the liver of animals, some just need to be diluted before use...it's a harder way to go about things but if that's all you have available it might be worth looking into, but don't just take my word, do your research on it.

It's also important to get rid of the fleas in the house AND the yard. Don't spray one today and one next week...take a day or two and zap EVERYTHING all at once. You shouldn't need to wash your dog bed with expensive soaps, any water/soap treatment will do the same. But wash ALL your bedding, dog bed, your sheets, pillows, etc all the same day, vacuum all soft furniture too. They will infest your couch and chairs etc. This all has to be done in the same time period, leaving it a week will only allow them to spread again. Then come back again and again until you have broken the cycle and eliminated them. Also, if you're going to spray then find something with a growth inhibitor, I don't know what you'll have available but there are some nice products online that work well. I know you said you can't really ship anything but that's what I had to do. I had to order the stuff that really worked. I battle more than just fleas, I battle mosquitoes and fire ants and just about every nasty biting bug that is known to man. Fleas are easy compared to skeeters and fire ants.


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## perlita (Jan 6, 2012)

Thanks for the advice, again!

I went to the vet today to try to find something other than Frontline for the doggy. The only thing they had was a flea collar. I've never used one before and never seen one used before. It's chalky and weird and kind of freaks me out. I'm sort of hoping to use it for a few weeks until the fleas are dead and then go back to frontline.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

perlita said:


> Thanks for the advice, again!
> 
> I went to the vet today to try to find something other than Frontline for the doggy. The only thing they had was a flea collar. I've never used one before and never seen one used before. It's chalky and weird and kind of freaks me out. I'm sort of hoping to use it for a few weeks until the fleas are dead and then go back to frontline.


Flea collars are toxic to children, so dont use it if you have kids. They only keep the fleas off their neck anyway. You shouldnt touch it, so if you do use it, be careful petting your dog.


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## perlita (Jan 6, 2012)

Graco22 said:


> Flea collars are toxic to children, so dont use it if you have kids. They only keep the fleas off their neck anyway. You shouldnt touch it, so if you do use it, be careful petting your dog.


Well after about 10 minutes of research on flea collars I cut that nasty thing off her neck and threw it away. I'd rather deal with fleas than have her (and me) breathing in carcinogenic pesticide fumes! Crazy!

Tomorrow I'll buy some lemons and see if a lemon spray helps.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

perlita said:


> Well after about 10 minutes of research on flea collars I cut that nasty thing off her neck and threw it away. I'd rather deal with fleas than have her (and me) breathing in carcinogenic pesticide fumes! Crazy!
> 
> Tomorrow I'll buy some lemons and see if a lemon spray helps.


Good for you. See if you can locate food grade diatamacious earth. Totally safe and natural and you can dust her and bedding, and feed it. It works.


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## perlita (Jan 6, 2012)

Graco22 said:


> Good for you. See if you can locate food grade diatamacious earth. Totally safe and natural and you can dust her and bedding, and feed it. It works.


I think there's no way in the world I'll be able to get that here. I'm going up to the States in May, I could bring some down if it's okay to take through customs.


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## perlita (Jan 6, 2012)

perlita said:


> I think there's no way in the world I'll be able to get that here. I'm going up to the States in May, I could bring some down if it's okay to take through customs.


Well it seems like I was wrong. Evidently it can be found here, I just need to look hard. If I can't find it, I'll bring some from the states in may


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## xTrippx (Mar 31, 2012)

Flea collars don't really work IMO. Frontline/Advantage etc. have becoming pretty resistant towards fleas and doesn't have a high success rate. I've been using Comfortis or one of the other heartworm/flea combo pills and love it.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

perlita said:


> Well it seems like I was wrong. Evidently it can be found here, I just need to look hard. If I can't find it, I'll bring some from the states in may


 Awesome. Its a natural bug killer. Just make sure its food grade.


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## treverbarker (Dec 4, 2012)

Frontline Plus kills the flea eggs as well as the larvae. Give it a shot. It goes further than Frontline as it only kills fleas leaving unseen problems behind. How much did you say your dog weighed? Also a good shampoo is called Ecto-Soothe as it compliments the Frontline Plus. Remember about a day after giving bath you can then safely put Frontline Plus on. (this will allow for oils to disperse on dogs skin allowing Frontline Plus to travel on the body to do its work.) See my website if you have any questions and here is a code for you to save money: Tpsmeds.com > use code epc2012w. Good Luck!


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