# Advantix vs Advantix II and children



## cte1sttime (Jul 4, 2011)

Hi, Our Wheaten puppy, Indy, will be 10 weeks on Monday. Our breeder wants us to start using Advantix on Indy. However, all the pet stores carry only Advantix II. Our breeder is unfamiliar with Advantix II. 

1. Can someone tell me what are the differences between Advantix and Advantix II? How safe is Advantix? 
2. I am concerned about putting pesticide on Indy. How safe it is for dogs?
3. My 13 year old loves to kiss and hug Indy. Once I put Advantix on, will it be save for her to continue to kiss and hug Indy? I don't want her ingesting pesticide.


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## Charis (Jul 12, 2009)

You will find many opinions here about topical pesticides - it usually ends up being a personal choice as some swear by certain products, others won't use anything and others use natural products (supplements, herbal, etc). None are wrong - it depends on what you want to use, what you are comfortable using, your dog and your dog's reaction to what you use. I'm not really familiar with Advantix (I've heard of Advantage) - I use Advantix II. It repels and kills more and we have tons of pests here. I have heard of (and I think some of the members here have experienced) negative side effects. Most are neurological side effects - usually you see them or you don't. My dogs have never had any side effects and I weight the benefits and risk of using the product vs. not. The ticks abound here (as well as excessive mosquitoes) and some fleas (not as bad as ticks). The risk of tick borne illness and tick bites are greater than the risk of using the product to me (again you will find multiple opinions about product usage). I use the smallest amount effective.
As for the harm to your daughter - Advantix II does repel pests. I have not heard of any human harm being done by a treated dog. I have never had any problems with handling my dogs and any side effects. 
Also beware if you have cats - freshly applied Advantix II until at least dry (if not a bit longer) is dangerous to cats however after that point it is okay for cats to be around the treated dog without problems so if the harmfulness to cats goes away I would think that the pesticide cannot be transferred readily and so would not be harmful to a human either (just gathering info off the label). 
I would research different products and methods for controlling pests and pick the one that best suits your needs and family.


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## cte1sttime (Jul 4, 2011)

Thanks for the info.


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

I'd highly recommend avoiding either. This is a quote from another site:



> Serious Side Effects and Death from Advantix
> May 18th, 2003, by Teresa Schliker
> 
> 
> ...


Many people's animals seem to have had allergic (and sometimes deadly) reactions to Advantix. I'd suggest Frontline, as it has many more positive reviews.


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## Candydb (Jul 16, 2011)

We have use Sentinel(MILBEMYCIN OXIME- LUFENURON). It is one pill a month and while yes is a systemic pesticide I dont feel like it rubs off on my daughter (8years old and I once caught her sucking on the kittens paws) the way the drops do-- ALso my husband breaks out into a rash when we tried out topical once years ago (dont remember which drops )-- it is a combo heartworm preventative and while it does not kill adult fleas it breaks the life cycle where they cannot reproduce so you will never have more fleas also worms your dog of hookworm, roundworm and whipworm-- we have 2 dogs and a cat (he is on Program a similar kind of pill for cats) and it works for us- we used it on both our Boxers (they both made it to age 12 and did not have problems with it) and have it on our 2 year old Schnauzer-- so far so good. We do live in 3rd floor condo but here our climate(almost) never freezes so there are always fleas outside, but our home is pest free!
But I have to say when we go camping, I do use Frontline once a year for that 2 week period (for me the risk of ticks is too much-- they are not a problem in San Francisco!)...


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## HerdersForMe (Jul 26, 2011)

Candydb said:


> We have use Sentinel(MILBEMYCIN OXIME- LUFENURON). It is one pill a month and while yes is a systemic pesticide I dont feel like it rubs off on my daughter (8years old and I once caught her sucking on the kittens paws) the way the drops do-- ALso my husband breaks out into a rash when we tried out topical once years ago (dont remember which drops )-- it is a combo heartworm preventative and while it does not kill adult fleas it breaks the life cycle where they cannot reproduce so you will never have more fleas also worms your dog of hookworm, roundworm and whipworm-- we have 2 dogs and a cat (he is on Program a similar kind of pill for cats) and it works for us- we used it on both our Boxers (they both made it to age 12 and did not have problems with it) and have it on our 2 year old Schnauzer-- so far so good. We do live in 3rd floor condo but here our climate(almost) never freezes so there are always fleas outside, but our home is pest free!
> But I have to say when we go camping, I do use Frontline once a year for that 2 week period (for me the risk of ticks is too much-- they are not a problem in San Francisco!)...


Advantix II kills and repels ticks. Advantix only kills ticks. 

We use Advantix II mostly for ticks. We live in Wisconsin so they tend to be a problem especially because our sheltie has a thick coat (collie will soon too!). He does have Lyme's disease vaccination but they carry other disease plus it's pretty painful when one bites you. So far it has worked very well and I would recommend it. 

Since it is a topical you need to make sure it is applied somewhere the dog can't lick it off (that goes for other pets too). Make sure your child doesn't touch the spot of application for a day. The problem with children is they will pet the dog then the hand goes to their mouth soon after. That would likely be the main risk.


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## cte1sttime (Jul 4, 2011)

Thank you all for the various advices. I know many have used Advantix/II with no issues. But, there are some horror stories. I am not a herbicide/pesticide person and prefer natural methods to rid of pests. But, if I have to, I have to. However, I was thinking I should try to incorporate Brewer's Yeast and garlic pill into Indy's diet to combat ticks/fleas/mosquitoes. What do you think?


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## Candydb (Jul 16, 2011)

cte1sttime said:


> Thank you all for the various advices. I know many have used Advantix/II with no issues. But, there are some horror stories. I am not a herbicide/pesticide person and prefer natural methods to rid of pests. But, if I have to, I have to. However, I was thinking I should try to incorporate Brewer's Yeast and garlic pill into Indy's diet to combat ticks/fleas/mosquitoes. What do you think?



Well we put off using the pesticides until our child developed severe flea bite dematitis and she was head to toe in a yucky rash....
But, if you do go that route, it won't hurt... And I have a friend who swears by eucalyptus buds -- she made necklaces out of them for the pets.. We live in an area with lots of eucalyptus trees so here it is easy to just go out and collect them when you are out on a walk-- they are a nonnative species but do well here....
Also I think it is important that you consider that the fleas lay lots of eggs and in our experience we ended up with little juveniles popping up all over the couch and biting you whenever you sat down, ditto for the bed etc... SO you will need to think about treating areas where the pests will be laying their eggs as well...


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## HerdersForMe (Jul 26, 2011)

cte1sttime said:


> Thank you all for the various advices. I know many have used Advantix/II with no issues. But, there are some horror stories. I am not a herbicide/pesticide person and prefer natural methods to rid of pests. But, if I have to, I have to. However, I was thinking I should try to incorporate Brewer's Yeast and garlic pill into Indy's diet to combat ticks/fleas/mosquitoes. What do you think?


If that's where you want to draw the line, that's your personal choice. Because of our situation I am far more fearful of tick transmitted diseases than I am of the potential risks of using Advantix. Your situation may be different.


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## cte1sttime (Jul 4, 2011)

Unfortunately, we do have a lot of ticks in our region of NJ. We've found several ticks crawling on the floor and on Indy within 2 days of getting him. No one seems to be selling Advantix any more. We tried ordering on the internet for Advantix. Even though it was advertised as Advantix, they shipped us Advantix II instead. So, we're ended up putting Advantix II on him. However, I am very stressed out over this. Luckily, our next vet visit is in a few days so I can ask the vet about essential oils and the Brewer's Yeast /Garlic pills.


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## HerdersForMe (Jul 26, 2011)

cte1sttime said:


> Unfortunately, we do have a lot of ticks in our region of NJ. We've found several ticks crawling on the floor and on Indy within 2 days of getting him. No one seems to be selling Advantix any more. We tried ordering on the internet for Advantix. Even though it was advertised as Advantix, they shipped us Advantix II instead. So, we're ended up putting Advantix II on him. However, I am very stressed out over this. Luckily, our next vet visit is in a few days so I can ask the vet about essential oils and the Brewer's Yeast /Garlic pills.


It's nothing to get stressed about. Advantix II is better anyways. It will repel ticks. If you dog gets bit by a tick it defeats the purpose since it can still transmit diseases.


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## cte1sttime (Jul 4, 2011)

It is just like getting a new baby


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