Comfortis - Long Term Use

[Jerry Kandel]

From doing a search I know that many are using Comfortis.  Our vet has suggested that we begin using it on Bailey (now five months old and 16 Lbs). He did a sample at the beginning of February and seemed tom tolerate it fine.  I am nor sure if it is really needed because I am not sure how prevalent fleas and ticks are on the California Central Coast; however, my question is for those using Comfortis over a period of time - do you give it each month (as recommended) and have you noticed anything over the long-term use of it?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I've been using Frontline Plus forever, and I've never had a problem with it. There is also one called "Advantage" that Jack's specialist recommends as being safer than some of the others. And Jack absolutely cannot get fleas, it could be lethal for him.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Advantage doesn't take care of the ticks and ticks are a huge, huge problem in TN. Frontline plus doesn't keep fleas off my dogs.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

No, it won't keep them off, but it kills them and prevents them from reproducing, which is the big problem with fleas. It doesn't repel them, they have to bite the dog to die.

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

If your dog has any medical issues I would carefully investigate any new medication. We beleive that Frontline Plus and/or Heartgard Plus lowers Mariner's seizure threshhold.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I definitely agree. It is always a case of weighing the benefits versus the risks. In Jack's case, a flea infestation would be life-threatening, so his specialist recommends the products that have the best track record in terms of side-effects.

[Kirsy & Jasper]

Our Jasper is epileptic and we are very cautious, what we give him. As the monthly dosage of REVOLUTION didn't seem to protect him from flees for more the 2 weeks, our Vet suggested COMFORTIS. Being an ORGANIC INSECTICIDE we gave it a try. It works wonderful and had NO SIDE EFFECTS on Jasper. No we don't give it every month, only when he actually got fleas - twice so far. TIP: Buy it over the Net, much cheaper then the Vet!

[Sally, Echo and Emmi]

Hi! May I ask what you mean by an organic insecticide? Thanks!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Here is information on the active ingredient in Comfortis:
The active ingredient in Comfortis® is spinosad. When ingested by fleas, spinosad targets the flea’s nervous system, causing the flea to show involuntary muscle contraction and tremors. Spinosad-induced excitation leads to flea paralysis and rapid death.Spinosad is a member of the class of antiparasitics, the spinosyns, which are novel members of a chemical class of tetracyclic macrolides. The spinosyns were identified as products of the naturally occurring bacterium Saccharopolyspora spinosa, an aerobic, non-antibiotic actinomycete.

[Kirsy & Jasper]

Spinosad, the active ingredient in COMFORTIS, is a broad-spectrum, organic insecticide. The term "broad-spectrum" means that it is toxic to a wide variety of insects but, surprisingly, spinosad is relatively non-toxic to mammals. Even though it is toxic to most insects, it is relatively safe to use around beneficial and non-target species because it is only toxic if ingested or if a treated surface is contacted while wet.
www.livingwithbugs.com/spinosad

[Sally, Echo and Emmi]

Thank you so much for this info and the link! I am struggling with what to use for fleas for my doodle as we live in Florida so something is needed! I really hate the liquid ones but my vet is now recommending vectra 3d as it is supposed to be much improved over frontline plus (I have my doubts about that). The issue is also now ticks as they are becoming much more of a problem down here. Do you know if the Comfortis works on ticks also or is it just fleas?

[Kirsy & Jasper]

Unfortunately Comfortis only works on fleas.
We have paralysing ticks here in Australia, who can kill dogs very fast. To avoid them, we are trying to stay away from bushy and high grass areas, only walking Jasper at the beach (no ticks there) and always checking him, as we don't want to start with strong tick medication on top of everything else!

[Natasha]

If it helps, we use Interceptor for heartworm and Frontline Plus for fleas and ticks.

We regularly walk in our local preserve and Rouser always picks up a tick and a few fleas. We always take a moment to find the tick that he has undoubtedly found, but they are always on his coat - he has never had one attach - so I don't know if the Frontline is effective from that perspective. We've never had a flea problem, so I know that it's working on the fleas.

Rouser hasn't had a problem with the Frontline - for instance, he doesn't notice that we have put it on and he's not a scratcher so he doesn't appear to have a problem with it.

One important note, I read an article (wish I could find the link) that said that reports that people were finding Frontline ineffective were being linked back to people who were buying them from indirect sources (ebay and petmeds were listed and the petmeds thing surprised me, although I have never bought anything from them). Just a thought - you might want to verify the "sell by" date and that the meds are coming direct from the manufacturer to the party from which you are buying them.