Commercial Treatments for Fleas

Fleas abound during the summer months, which is their breeding season, and all dog owners will probably have to resort to chemical flea treatments at some stage. These commercial products can greatly help in fighting heavy flea infestation and are definitely needed where severe invasion occurs. However, it is always best to consult with your veterinarian as the choice of flea control will greatly depend on your life style. 

Different commercially available products with chemical contents:

• Advantage. Active ingredient is imidacloprid. This is a flea poison, from Bayer. It is in a liquid form and applied to the skin, on the back of the dog, and works for about a month. It works by upsetting fleas' nervous system when they come in contact with the liquid. Advantage is fast acting and is not absorbed into the internal organs and bloodstream of the dog. 

Studies indicate that this product is highly toxic to fleas and other insects as well. A dog will be free from fleas in just a couple of days. 

Ingredients are: imidacloprid -- a chloronicotinyl nitroguanidine integrated from the nitromethylene class of a compound. This joins the nicotinyl receptor sites of insects, thus upsetting normal nerve transmission which causes death.

• Frontline. This product is very similar to Advantage, but is not water soluble, so alcohol is needed to wash it off. Frontline can safely be used in pups, dogs, cats and kittens.

Efficiency in repelling lasts up to four months. 

Active ingredients include:  Fipronil 5-amino -1- (2, 6-dichloro-4 [trifluoromethyl]phenyl) -4- (1,R,S)- (trifluoromethyl0sulfinyl) -1H-pryazole-3-carbonitrile 0.29% inert ingredients 99.71%.

Fipronil works as a  nervous transmission interruptor, which causes quick death to fleas and ticks. It is proven to kills 96% of fleas for the first two hours and 100% within 24 hours. Ticks die sooner than they attach themselves to the host.  Fipronil is from the new phenylpyrazole class.

Very effective and can be considered safe, so long as dogs are not allergic to fipronil.

• Knockout. Performs like Frontline and is as effective, but can only be used in dogs. Active ingredients: Pyriproxyfen: 21[1-methyl-2-(phenoxyphenoxy)ethyoxy] pyridine....0.05% cyclopropanecarboxylate 2.00% inert ingredients 97.95% Also has NYLAR, which is flea growth regulator.

• Biospot.  This is for topical application and kills up to 75 percent of fleas, eggs, and ticks. It also is a good repellant of mosquitoes and  works for about a month. Temporarily, at times, it turns white hair to yellow. This can not be used in cats and contains permethrins and IGR.

• Proban (cythioate) and Prospot (Fenthion). This is absorbed by the bloodstream and fleas die due to the poison that is present in the blood.  For it to work, it requires fleas to bite. There are certain conditions to be considered though: you are injecting a small dose of poison into your dog’s body and side effects are not known. This also does not help if a dog has flea allergy, and can not risk being bitten.