With the technology now available there is no need for our pets to suffer with fleas. We now have two choices for once a month flea control products. We have once a month flea drops and, new to the scene, we now have a once a month flea pill. Both are exceptionally safe and provide excellent flea control for most households. The “flea drops” are Frontline Top Spot or Advantage. The new once a month flea pill is Comfortis. The drops must be applied to the skin, not the hair, and you must wait at least 48 hours before bathing to avoid removing the product. The flea pill needs to be given with food for maximum absorption. Any member of our staff will be happy to teach you the correct method for applying the flea drops and remember to give Comfortis with food. To give you some idea of our confidence in this product, every veterinarian on our staff uses one of these products on their own, personal pets. They are simply the safest, most effective flea products available.
If your pet is most itchy on the area above his/her tail, the most likely cause is flea allergy. Controlling the disease of flea allergy requires a much more thorough flea control effort. Our goal is now flea ERADICATION. In order to accomplish this you must treat every dog or cat in the household and you must treat both the house and the yard. Since 98% of the flea population is in the form of flea eggs, we must treat all areas with this in mind. To kill both adult fleas and flea eggs in the house we stock Synerkyl IGR. This spray will kill adult fleas quickly and will provide 150 days of flea egg control. Read the directions carefully and concentrate on the areas where your pet sleeps such as carpet, rugs and bedding. For the yard, we are currently recommending Bayer Total Insect Control. This insecticide is available from Lowe’s or Home Depot. While this product does not kill flea eggs, as a granule it is released slowly and will kill adult fleas as they hatch. Read the directions carefully and reapply as directed. Remember, a single flea bite on our flea allergic patients will result in many days of intense itch. That statement is worth repeating: a single flea bite on a flea allergic pet will result in several days of intense itching especially around the lower back area.
Since most of our flea allergy patients scratch and chew themselves, it is not unusual to not see adult fleas since the pet scratches and bites thereby removing the flea. If your pet is scratching their lower back area you can be sure your pet has been recently bitten even if you cannot find the flea. Again, to completely control fleas you must treat every pet in your household, you must treat your house and you must treat your yard. I’m sure you agree our pets are much more comfortable in a flea free environment. If you have any questions regarding flea control please call us at 228-832-6360.
Since Comfortis is new to our practice, I would like to provide a bit more information about the product. Firstly, Comfortis is a true FDA prescription medication. This means the drug had to be thoroughly tested like all prescription medicines and has scientifically proven to be both safe and effective. The active ingredient in Comfortis, spinosid, impacts an enzyme only used by insects. Mammals do not have this enzyme in their bodies hence the tremendous safety factor for us and our pets. As a matter of fact, spinosid is the only chemical organic vegetable farmers are allowed to use to control insects on their crops. As you may know, we have an existing once a month flea pill which is basically birth control for fleas. That is, the previous once a month flea pill did not kill adult fleas it killed flea eggs only. The new once a month flea pill (Comfortis) is a true adulticide. It will kill every flea on your pet; usually within 4 hours! It will continue killing fleas for an entire month. Unlike the flea drops, you do not have to worry about whether you applied it correctly as long as you give it with food. Please note, Comfortis is not approved for use in cats. In actuality, this product has been on the market for awhile but as usual, I prefer to allow new products to develop a track record before recommending it to myself and to my clients. The product is safe, effective and comparable in price to previous flea products.
