# Frontline Plus vs. K9 Advantix



## doggone6 (Sep 7, 2007)

Pros and cons, please. We've been using Frontline Plus but with flea/tick season upon us again we're wondering which is really better. TIA.


----------



## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

If you have cats who have ANY contact with the dogs, do not use K9 Advantix. It's really toxic to cats, and some people have reported cat fatalities, even though it was only applied to the dog in the home. If you don't have cats, either one should work. Since I do have cats, I have never used Advantix, so I can't say if it's any better than Frontline.


----------



## FilleBelle (Aug 1, 2007)

I use Frontline and have never had a problem with any creepy crawlies.


----------



## aero4ever (Jan 18, 2007)

I had been using K9 Advantix on all 3 of my dogs for over a year with no problems. Loved it. Never found a tick or flea on them. Then one day came home from taking the dogs out, fed them and went about my business. A couple hours later I noticed that one of my dogs wasn't acting right. You didn't need to be a vet to know that there was something nuerological going on (his movements were weird and he was really jumpy, skittish and lathargic), so I took him to the emergency room (it was on a Sunday). The vet said that he was having an allergic reaction to the K9 Advantix. They had to give him several doses of atrapin and keep him overnight. It really scarred me. I've done some searching on the web and found that this seems to be more common than I thought. 

I've since switched my dogs to Frontline Plus and so far, no problem with fleas, but I have found several ticks. K9 worked a lot better but it's not worth the risk.


----------



## rosesmom (Apr 4, 2008)

I use frontline also.

Pat


----------



## Maggie&Noah (Dec 18, 2007)

I used K9 Advantix for months and no ticks/fleas at all, then with the last couple of applications, it didn't seem to work as well. I kept finding a few ticks/fleas on mine, so decided to switch to Frontline Plus. That was worse. It was like they had nothing on them...fleas/ticks everywhere. I talked to my vet and he suggested the relatively new ProMeris. So far, there have been a few, but they seem to die fairly quickly. I did have to pull a couple out of my males ears though. It doesn't seem to keep ticks from attaching inside the ears. I hate those suckers!!! We live in a very warm climate and they play along a canal bank behind where we live. Other than keeping them indoors, I'm afraid we're in for a long summer of tick pulling. Which is best might depend on how heavy the tick/flea problem is, because a lot of people have had good luck with Frontline, but not me. I'm hoping to find a better way to keep them off that isn't chemical, but not sure how successful that will be given our location.


----------



## Lorina (Jul 1, 2006)

Locally, Advantix seems to work better. The success rate of the different products seems to be regional.


----------



## Shelbs041099 (Mar 15, 2008)

When we got our puppies back in Aug/Sept - the vet only had Frontline for them, due to their size. It worked well for fleas, never saw any. But we did consistently find ticks on them for months. We switched to K9 Advantix when we could. BIG difference, we haven't seen any ticks. I swear by K9 Advantix, and will never go back to Frontline.

Hope this helps!


----------



## kenRC51 (Mar 7, 2008)

Shelbs041099 said:


> When we got our puppies back in Aug/Sept - the vet only had Frontline for them, due to their size. It worked well for fleas, never saw any. But we did consistently find ticks on them for months. We switched to K9 Advantix when we could. BIG difference, we haven't seen any ticks. I swear by K9 Advantix, and will never go back to Frontline.
> 
> Hope this helps!


you said you used frontline. Frontline makes two line, frontline and frontline plus. I think the plus kill fleas and misquetos. I have been using frontline plus and it works fine for my dogs. But i read up on the k9 advantix and it seems to be a little better. I might give that a try when i run out of frontline.

What is the difference in Frontline, k9 advantix then those other cheaer product? I notice that the cheaper product you cant use them on your dog till their like 6 months. Frontlien and k9 advantix is 8 weeks. Im a big believer in what you pay for is what you get.


----------



## borzoimom (May 21, 2007)

Frontline is safer in my vets opinion. The active and inate ingredients desolve quicker and less of a stress on the immune system.


----------



## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

The only thing different in Frontline Plus is an IGR, which keeps the fleas from reproducing just in case they lay eggs before they die. It does not kill or repel mosquitoes. Any product that kills or repels mosquitoes is going to be very toxic to cats, so only use with all due caution. I'm tired of hearing of so many cats dying from kidney failure because their owners didn't read all the warnings on the box. 

Frontline is notoriously unreliable in killing ticks, but I've had pretty good success with it killing the fleas. If your fleas become immune to Frontline, you can switch back and forth with Advantage. Promeris looks promising, but I'm not going to use it until it's been on the market for at least a year, so I can see if it's safe enough. If you need really good tick prevention, a Preventic collar works well, and is reasonably safe. Spot-ons just don't do a really good job of killing ticks, usually.


----------



## PappyMom (Jun 5, 2009)

We're a Frontline house, and we're flea free. I found a tick on Giz a few months ago, but nothing came of that..haven't seen any since. I get Frontline pretty cheap, too.. (ex-employee discount...$21 for 3 month supply.) But, I have been toying with the idea of switching to Revolution. I believe..if I remember everything the vet was telling me that day, Revolution also prevents heartworm.

Also with Giz (Roxy is too young and small.), we give him a small amount (obviously not too much, lol, too much of anything with dogs can be dangerous..) of garlic in his food, once a week, to act as a natural flea repellent.


----------



## canteloupe (Apr 30, 2009)

K9 Advantix's main ingredient is permethrin, which is also the main ingredient in Bio Spot. If you didn't already know this, Bio Spot is notorious for killing cats and dogs.

If you want the crap scared out of you, read this:
http://www.safe2use.com/poisons-pesticides/pesticides/permethrin/cox-report/cox.htm

It includes the sentences: 
- "In mammals, permethrin has complex effects on the nervous system. As in insects, it causes repetitive nerve impulses. It also inhibits a variety of nervous system enzymes..." (When people write about their pets dying after using products containing pyrethroids, they often mention strange neurotic behaviors and seizures.)
- "Permethrin was mutagenic (damaging to genetic material) in three tests with human cell cultures..."
- "According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), permethrin is a possible human carcinogen (chemical that causes cancer). EPA found that permethrin increased the frequency of lung tumors in female mice, and increased the frequency of liver tumors in male and female mice. The World Health Organization reports that permethrin increased the frequency of lung tumors in females in two out of the three mouse studies it reviewed."
- "It binds to receptors for androgen, a male sex hormone, in skin cells from human males, causing researchers to “advise protection from any form of contact or ingestion of the pyrethroids.""
- "Based on tests with laboratory animals, it appears children may be more sensitive to permethrin than adults. Permethrin is almost 5 times more acutely toxic to 8-day-old rats than it is to adult rats."

Anyway, pyrethroids are scary. But, then again, so are phthalates -- which doesn't stop people from buying things with the word "fragrance" on the ingredients list (a hiding spot for phthalates).

Frontline isn't a picnic either, but it's the lesser of the evils. I use all-natural (albeit more labor-intensive) methods of flea deterence, and then when we occasionally get fleas I use frontline.


----------



## Lolas_Dad (Apr 28, 2008)

canteloupe said:


> K9 Advantix's main ingredient is permethrin, which is also the main ingredient in Bio Spot. If you didn't already know this, Bio Spot is notorious for killing cats and dogs.



The same main ingredient that Advantix is using is also the same main ingredient in Raid Max bug spray. I do not think I would want to use Advantix on my dog or any dog if Raid Max is used to kill large bugs.



PappyMom said:


> We're a Frontline house, and we're flea free. I found a tick on Giz a few months ago, but nothing came of that..haven't seen any since. I get Frontline pretty cheap, too.. (ex-employee discount...$21 for 3 month supply.) But, I have been toying with the idea of switching to Revolution. I believe..if I remember everything the vet was telling me that day, Revolution also prevents heartworm.


When I first adopted Lola I was given Revolution which she was already on. She had fleas with revolution. I now use Frontline Plus and no fleas. For heatworm preventive I use Interceptor. My theory about heartworm meds applied to the skin is it takes a while to get into the blood stream as opposed to a pill given orally and my vet believes a heartworm pill is better as opposed to a topical solution.


----------



## Jaylie (Mar 5, 2007)

The vet department at Guide Dogs of America only allows us to use Frontline Plus on our puppies, and especially warns against the use of Advantix. (They used to also allow Advantage and made special care to make sure no one got that confused with AdvantIX) I've never been curious enough to ask the reasoning behind that, but GDA has a GREAT vet and I'll always listen to what they say. To the point where, when I get my own dog, I will be using Frontline...to be safe. 

I've never had a problem with fleas with Frontline either.


----------

