Your frontline not working?

[schmism]

So after useing the product for 7 years on my labs, with nary a problem with bugs (aka flees) we noticed flees on the dogs after return trip from my parents.

We scratched our head and said... well perhaps we missed a treatment.... reapplied product at the beginning of sep. Thought that would be the end of it. couple of weeks later while rubbin tummies (my labs love tummy rubs) i notice flees. like not one or 2 but like 10.....

hmmm odd.... then last week again rubbin tummies and FLEES!

ok perhaps the product was old... check the boxes, oh look brand new boxes in the cabinet. ok so its only been like 3 weeks ill hit them again with new product.

today a week later, (you guessed it, more tummy rubs and FLEES!)

so the wife calls the vet, whats the story! wicked flee season? am i seeing new flees every day that they pickup outside?

Vet - really? you to?
me- me to what?
vet - your also having fees while useing frontline!?
me - yes!
vet- intresting, your yet another person that has called recently to report problems with frontline. On the other hand others are reporting no issues but im certianly seen an uptick in people reporting problems with the product.


so next call is to the frontline people.

after wading through the BS of "your not doing it right" (you better have hip waders) i basicly said. look if i was new to the product your "your not doing it right" may hold SOME water, but ive been a user of your product for SEVEN YEARS! and in that time i have NEVER and i mean NEVER had an issue with bugs. And now in the past 2 months ive applyed your product twice with ZERO effect. Its not doing what you say its supposed to do.

ONE TIME customer satisfaction means they will refund the purchase... ONCE. "If you continue to be dissatisfied with the product there is nothing we can do to help you in the future."

I put together the paperwork to send the product back that i have and get a refund. Likely will not continue to use the product.

 

[westbrooklawn]

Frontline is still working for my lab, but my Vet has mentioned that they are seeing some immunity being built up so that frontline is not working for some. They said if I experienced a problem they would recommend another treatment... I think it may have been K9 Advantix, but not sure.

 

[SPIKER]

seemed like NOTHING has worked for us this year, bombed the house 3 or 4o time and it was like the next day and the flees were still here and having a party on us and the dog. front line treatments weekly adams and sergents bug baths and flee spray 4 times in the yard too still flee problems. seems nothing is working on them this year....

mark

 

[Old Retired Cop]

We had same problem about 3 years ago after a trip to Tennessee. Was a difficult and expensive fix. We have gone back to Frontline without problem.

 

[DennisArrow]

With my 2 Border Collies we have had REAL problems with all of the applications......Have fallen back on my ol standby of Sevin powder. I put it in a sock and dust them down once a week and they are flea free.............Wife is telling me that this happens every year as the fleas get immunity or something to the collars and applications..........Seems to be right as every year about this time I get the Sevin out...............

Ticks are another problem altogether. The ONLY thing that has worked on ticks is a collar from the vet that starts with an A something..............Anyway.....God bless us.......and maybe somebody will convince the EPA and Presidential Admin to get rid of the ban on Sevin.........Dennis

 

[jinman]

Ask your vet about Revolution. It is awesome; expensive, but awesome.

 

[schmism]

20 or so free range chickens means no ticks on the property.

The seven powder may be a short term solution for us while we track down something more permanent again.

 

[CurlyDave]

We used Advantix for two months because our usual supplier was out of Frontline.

Rapidly discovered that although the initial greasy spots were smaller, they lasted much longer than with Frontline. Like, 3-4 weeks, as opposed to a few days.

Dogs don't get as much petting as when they are less greasy, so I don't know about effectiveness, but we just ordered Frontline over the internet, and are planning to return to it.

 

[Gary51]

Used Frontline for a couple of years with good results, then just all of a sudden, it doesn't kill a single flea. Called Merial and the lady said there said that there was absolutely no problem with their product. She said I have wildlife coming in my yard and bringing the fleas. I told her that I lived in the middle of large open pasture and with several Catahoula dogs in the yard, I seriously doubted the wildlife theory. She just said the product is fine and hung up on me. Won't be buying anymore of that product.
Went to the vets office and picked up the Comfortis pills ($16 each). Gave each dog one and sprayed the premises again. Haven't seen 2 fleas here in 3 months. I just bought another package of it for when the fleas do come back. I had sprayed, dipped, seven dusted, and Frontlined for months and had not killed a flea. 48 hours after the Comfortis pill, they were gone!

 

[Redgoatea]

Frontline failed me here as well. We've done two applications in the last three months on our five dogs with little to no effect. Taking them all down for a dip in the ocean this weekend. I've heard that's pretty effective but haven't tried it yet.

 

[Travelover]

If you look up Frontline on amazon.com and read the one star reviews, you'll see a lot of people that claim that it quit working. Some seemed to think that the online purchase was counterfeit, others are as puzzled as you. My guess is that fleas develop a resistant strain, just like weeds that can take Roundup, or antibiotic resistant bacteria.

 

[schmism]

Some seemed to think that the online purchase was counterfeit, others are as puzzled as you.

there is a counterfeit issue. we checked our boxes and ours had none of the counterfeit signs.

Counterfeit Pesticide Products for Dogs and Cats | Pesticides | US EPA

 

[Freds]

Interesting. I've not heard this, but then I sell Frontline Plus, which works on ticks, too and 90 days for fleas. I still would have heard through the grapevine though if the regular Frontline product was having a problem.
And there really isn't a "counterfeit" product when it comes to flea control. There are products that were not meant to be sold in the USA and are usually much cheaper. They do not have the EPA approval our country so loves. And I'm pretty sure are not childproof. They work on other countries' fleas, but vets will tell you not to buy them (of course). I buy the USA stuff just to be legal.
It is possible though that the product you purchased was stored incorrectly and has become ineffective. There is no exp date, at least on the Plus. It's also possible that you have an unusually high infestation and you are seeing the live fleas before they have succumbed to the pesticide. If you are seeing dead ones you will know it is working.
And FWIW, you should not be able to see much of a "grease spot", if any, if applied correctly. At least with a typical Lab-like coat. If it's on the hair, it's wasted product. It needs to get into the oil glands of the skin to distribute itself, which is why you don't put it on right before or after a bath, because you need the natural oil on the dog's skin to help it distribute.
And if the flea problem is as bad as you say you're going to need to treat more than the dog. I like Ultracide for in the home.

 

[Car Doc]

We use revolution, frontline didn't work for us either my shop cat has (had) chronic ear mites and for the life of us we couldn't get rid of them permanently.

We did every oil and cleaning treatment known to the vets around here and nothing kept them away.

Now he is fine no problems at all using revolution the last several years. That stuff is expensive especially when you treat 5-6 animals every month but worth it to us and them anyway.

 

[sailorman]

Had the same problem a while back. Switcheed to Comfortis which is an eatible pill. Problem gone.

 

[dmccarty]

We have used Frontline for years. This spring/summer it failed. The dog was infested with fleas which has never happened before. We had to switch to a different brand of flea/tick control.

There have been some threads on TBN about this over the last couple of years. Hard to tell if the fleas have developed immunity, or if there is a problem with counterfiting or quality control.

In any case we switched brands and the fleas went away.

Our supplier of dog food has had other people who had Frontline stop working as well for them.

Later,
Dan

 

[rekees4300]

Capstar is very effective for fleas.

 

[Gary51]

Capstar is very effective "knock down" drug for fleas infestations, but I believe it only last 1 day.

 

[Sackett2]

Thanks for the update, we too were baffled as to why the "fleas are back!" we will now look at other options....

 

[clemsonfor]

My wife has worked at a vet as an assiatant for the last 3 years. They have not sold frontline for this very reason. Product is old and like said fleas are becomine imune to it. If you vet has just heard this he is not a very big or busy vet. You can buy frontline at lowes now so it hardly is a "good" product anymore. Revolution is great and advantix is good as well. Just dont trust the heartworm protection part of revolution if you care cause they have had several heartworm positives tests with religious dosages. Company will pay for treatment, but you have to prove that you tested negative every year and that you have receipts for a tube for each month. The other thing is that an older dog can not be treated cause it probably wont survive and it is really tough on a dog and they feel bad for days, our dog was positive and we did not even know it, and she was treated.

Frontline is still being sold and pushed cause of market share and the commercials, advantix with the lab puppy is becoming popular now and is a better product as it dose something more than advantage (ticks i think?). Like i said her office does not even sell it, it costs as much or more than better longer lasting products (they have the larges practice in the big town we live near there are 5 vets in this town). Also if you dog gets wet often none will work they all wear off, wet often means several times a week, in the case of a water dog or a dog that gets in a pond or creek or likes to stand out in the rain.