As we're warming up here in the US we're starting to see "flea season emerge". So this brings up a good time to talk about flea prevention again. I thought to bring this up after a reader in Chile commented on an older post about Frontline, believing resitance to be taking place in his area. But before addressing that, I want to remind everyone of previous discussions on flea control. Go back and read these if you haven't before, as I don't plan on repeating the same information.
Bugged By Fleas?
Winter Prevention?
That Flea Medicine Isn't Working!
eBay Flea Prevention
Follow-up On Fleas & Frontline
Yes, You Really Are Doing It Wrong
Even Yet More Flea Problems
Best Heartworm/Flea Preventatives?
Here's the bottom line...Advantage/Advantix, Vectra/FirstShield, Frontline, and Comfortis are all very effective. Study after study has shown this. Bayer looks at resistance to their Advantage products every year with samples of fleas from around the world and has never documented any resistance to their products. Dr. Mike Dryden, a world-renowned parasitology specialist, investigated cases on suspected Frontline resistance at homes in Florida where "it wasn't working", and in 100% of those cases found that the product worked great but the client had unrealistic expectations or there was some other problem in flea control in the household; in NONE of the 30+ cases did he find any resitance or failure of Frontline.
So seriously, folks. There is no documented resitance of fleas to these products that I've listed. There is resistance noted to many over-the-counter flea preventions, so it can happen. And the fact that there is no resistance now doesn't mean that there won't be in the future. In 99+% of these products appearing to "fail" there is another problem besides the product itself: overbathing, failure to treat all pets in the household, failure to treat the house and yard, large numbers of wild animals and/or strays carrying fleas into the environment, inconsistent use, expecting complete control in 1-2 months, etc. The more I've looked into this over the years, the more I've heard the specialists discuss, and the more articles that I read the more I am convinced that any problems are NOT in the flea products (again, at least the ones I've listed and am familiar with).
Okay, I think I've just about exhausted the possible discussions on flea prevention. Obviously, this is a very bothersome and frustrating issue to people, but there's also only so much to say. Since I've talked about it numerous times over the last 2 1/2 years I probably won't say anything else unless new information comes out. Hope there is enough information here for everyone!
