Why I will no longer be using Frontline on my dogs...

[L.M.]

I had to share this.  I put Frontline on Seamus the other day.  He was sleepy so after I applied it, he lay down on my hard wood floors.  As he did so I remember thinking to myself, I hope it doesn't stain my walls (he tends to lean a bit on my walls when he lays).  Well, today, I noticed some kind of weird stain on my hard wood floor (luckily they are not new) in exactly the same spot where Seamus was sleeping the other day.  The Frontline ate entirely through the varnish on my hard wood floors!!!! ENTIRELY!  It stripped it down to the wood....I'm not exaggerating.  

Soooo I will be saving myself some money and will not be putting this chemical on my dogs anymore...if it does that to wood, what does it do to them?!  

Do people nowadays just not use these flea/tick preventatives?? I never used them on my pug years ago and she was fine.  My dogs get the Lyme vaccine and their hair is kept short, so I'm not super worried about fleas.....What are your thoughts on not using this stuff?  Especially after hearing this?  

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Frankly it freaks me out but fleas freak me out too! Oh what to do!

[Jennifer and Jack]

I find it humorous that there is a Front Line ad along side of your post. It is an ad from Doctors Foster and Smith. I use K9 advantix on Jack but I do not apply it monthly, I am up to applying it every three months and so far so good.

 

When he goes to daycare, since it is so hot, I just give him a Capstar pill to knock anything off of him.

 

I live in an area where fleas could be an issue it is the deep south and hot is heck here. Pine straw beddings etc. I am watching Jack very closely and if I see evidence of any fleas.  I will start him on Program or some other pill.

 

I am trying to go as chemical free as possible, which coming from someone who takes just about every known antibiotic and other pill under the sun sounds dumb.. I repeatedly ask people who have dogs who are 16,17 and 18 years old what they have fed their dogs, as well as what chemicals and shots they use.

 

It KILLS me when they say they have not really thought about it, they feed "Pedigree" and have not had any shots since they were a puppy.  One lady I met the other day had an 18 year old  dog, small end of medium size. She has never once used a heart guard medication or flea medicine and has only given her dog rabies shot. Could be good luck?? Most likely.

 

I am not willing to go that far with Jack but I am going to give him every shot known to man either. I try to find balance

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

That's so funny.  I got the Terminix ad....just in case of a flea infestation.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

I got Frigidaire- guess I could freeze the fleas...

[Kate C Pappas]

I don't use any flea/tick product on my girls because I don't want toxic chemicals going into their bloodstream & we have never had a problem with fleas. I did notice one flea that jumped OFF Yarra's head once. I checked her over for fleas or flea dirt and found nothing. Same thing happened with Yindi. I'm allergic to flea bites and if they're around, I'll get bitten! However, on two occasions when I traveled to where I knew fleas and ticks were a problem, I did use Frontline Plus. Thankfully there were no bad reactions at all.

This is very scary to read of the strength of that stuff eating through varnish!!! But thank G-d it didn't hurt Seamus.

You can try treating Seamus and your house/property with Diatomaceous Earth HUMAN GRADE. Not the stuff for swimming pools.

http://www.earthworkshealth.com/

Go check it out. I have some and often broadcast it over our yard. There is also a product called "Cedar Side" which I've heard is great and I plan to order some today.

http://www.cedarcidestore.com/catalog/item/3580888/5365154.htm

This flea and tick stuff is a tough one because if you have them, you have to make some kind of decision. One thing I like is not having carpeting anywhere so that is one place I can check off my list for fleas to live if they decide to visit.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

This is what I have been using. I have not used any of those spot-ons for three summers, now. I love the Cedarcide and use it even on myself. Some people don't like the smell, but I don't mind it and the dogs don't mind it. A few years ago I put the Advantix on my dog and she behaved like I put a hot poker on her skin. I got her right in the shower and started researching those things. Now, I titer every year for Lyme's and I have had two dogs come back positive, 2 years ago and I do a round of antibiotics and they're good.

 

Like you said, if it can strip paint, is it worth it to put in on  your dogs skin? 

[F, Calla & Luca]

But antibiotics do not always get to Lyme's before the damage is done. That is a worry.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

That's why I test every year. Since I have had it and my son has had it, we test the humans, too. But we're not given the option to put whatever is in those spot-ons on our skin. I am willing to take the chance the damage caused by them is worse than the Lymes caught early enough.

[Jennifer and Jack]

I have Jack titered every six months, and I still use some sort of treatment... If you give your dog the Lyme's vaccine though the titer is always going to come back positive, unless you do a very expensive ELISA test to test specifically. I think it is the ELISA test, been a long time since I did Micro!!!

 

Lyme's disease is not something you want your dogs to get, and yes, they do respond pretty well with antibiotics but you have to catch it before it does damage.... In some cases, a dog can get Lyme's and according to the vets at Cornell " it is self limiting" and does not cause any damage to the dog. They have actually found that the Lyme's shot can cause the same antibody reaction and cause damage to the kidneys just like getting Lyme's disease can, It is still an ongoing study since they just changed the vaccine recently.. Preventing the ticks from embedding is really important.

My half of penny's worth.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I have noticed Frontline can "erase" marker ink. I need to look int the solvent they use for it.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Here are the ingredients in FrontlinePlus.

Frontline Top Spot
Merial Limited, Iselin, NJ
[phone] or frontline.com
Active ingred: 9.7% fipronil
Inert ingred: 90.3% (not disclosed)
(MSDS indicates inerts include ethanol
7.7%, polyvinlpyrrolidone 6.9%,
butylhydroxytoluene 0.3%,
butlyhydroxanisole 0.3%, and carbitol
[diethylene glycol monoethyl ether])
(Note: Frontline Plus is essentially the same
as Frontline Top Spot, but with the addition
of 8.8% methoprene, an IGR.)

I think the toluene must be the culprit here and for sure it is not something good. I really don't know what the good options are. Lyme disease is awful too. The vaccinations not 100% effective. Apparently the oily substances in the Frontline go into hair follicles and the hair is recoated through the month from there. But what about the absorption into the dog?

We need to keep looking and thinking.

[Adina P]

Two or three applications ago I swear a tiny drop squirted onto my lip as I opened the twist top of my frontline vial.  It really freaked me out but I consoled myself with the fact that whatever amount got on my lip it was an extremely small dose and I washed the outside of my mouth thoroughly afterward.   In any case, although it took the varnish off the wood, it doesn't seem to burn dog skin or we'd see physical results of that.