Does anyone happen to know if Houston is having a flea infestation? I use Frontline Plus on my dog but it seems like it's not working or we've just got lots of fleas this summer... It's very hot here ....
Does anyone have any helpful suggestions?
Can I use anything else in addition to .... something homeopathic? Something that won't hurt the dog?

We have found that Frontline did not work for us.
When we switched to Advantix, the fleas were gone!

How is Frontline working for everyone - please see my OP
Thanks

Frontline works well for me, but I do not live in a high tick and flea area. We have had a very wet spring and early summer, and I pulled my first ticks ever off my dogs.

Frontline is working great for me and I live in the flea capitol of the world. I do however buy mine from my vet so I know it has been stored properly ie not over exposed to extreme heat.

Frontline does not work well for my dogs. I stopped using it and switched to Advantage. Advantix is directed more toward eliminating ticks. Not saying that Advantix does not work for fleas too, but for me I get better results to rid fleas with Advantage.

I have switched to Comfortis, a once monthly tablet.So far I am happy with it. Frontline was becoming less effective and I was also getting hot spots close to the application sites. I read something recently on this forum about a bad interaction with something else but can't remember what it was. I just knew it didn't apply to my situation. Maybe research this product if you are looking for a change. With the resistance factor, some sort of rotation of products might be advisable.

You might want to google comfortis, checkout the study that was done for approval. They did it with minimal dogs and with a minimal time frame used. They did a study on rats, paid by Lily, for a longer time with disasterous results. (This study was done a few years before, and after a certain amount of time frame(more than in the dog study) rapid deteriation of test subjects ocurred.) All kinds of liver, kidney, and heart damage. There also was severe damage to all lympth nodes as well. FYI.

I don't have a flea problem at all but are you using the frontline topspot or the spray? They say the spray is more effective than the topspot for ticks at least and that is what I use for my dogs. Another homeopathic remedy you can use is 15 drops of rose geranium oil diluted in a carrier oil such as almond or olive oil and brush that onto the dogs fur.
Aloha,
Jackie

Jackie
Thanks! I'm gonna try that!
I've used Comfortis for 3 months but it was not great either... Advantage not great... Frontline Plus is what they have on now... I'll just have to wait for the end of the month.... Also, gonna give them a bath to see if it helps!
Thanks all!

Advantage and Advantix are the EXACT same product as one another EXCEPT Advantix has an added ingredient to repel mosquitos. AND because of that, you can't use it around cats.

Instead of Googling, you should go to the Freedom of Information Act website, you can see all the research materials on all products(Rimadyl, Promeris, Deramaxx, Comfortis, Advantix etc.)and this is the research that the FDA and EPA use for their recommendations. Googling usually will get you inaccurate or opinionated information. Anyone who has worked with the FDA and EPA(which all topical flea/tick products must pass their inspection) know that they are a hard headed group to deal with, that is why it takes so long to get products approved.

Another flea/tick/mosquito product you can try is Vectra 3D.

That is true of googling, but if you look and select carefully, you can weed out poor info sites. With Comfortis, you will find a university study, paid by Lily, who owns comfortis, commission a study using rats, whose end results were very disturbing. The scary part of this is, taking the info learned from the study, as well as the affects that ocurred after a certain time in in the study they "designed" a new trial for FDA approval. They cut down on the dogs to a minimum allowed, and the timeframe as well(All within FDA guidelines.) they were able to get the predetermined results of the new test they were looking for and recieved approval. The active ingredient in Comfortis is a biodegradable bacteria that is a pesticide used on grain fields to kill grasshoppers and other insects. Lily thought it would be great to find other uses for it, one is comfortis that people give to their dogs. Long term use, at just moderately higher doses than what is recommended for dogs, caused long term organ and lympth node damage in rats who were given it for 6 months. At 1 year, large percentage had to be destroyed due to the drug. BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!

OP here...
I had my girls on Comfortis for 3 months and they seemed a little more lethargic than usual so I took them off of it and they are find now. I had a very bad feeling about Comfortis and I'm glad I took the off of it now.
Which brings me to ....we have a flea infestation .... Should I treat the backyard???? Any suggestions with that? Anything non-toxic?

Frontline is fine on all my dogs. No fleas. No ticks. I use Frontline spot on NOT PLUS. We have had alot of rain and heat also, but safe over the years.

Diatomaceous Earth food grade is all natural and works great.
Aloha,
Jackie

newbie 3

OP here...
I had my girls on Comfortis for 3 months and they seemed a little more lethargic than usual so I took them off of it and they are find now. I had a very bad feeling about Comfortis and I'm glad I took the off of it now.
Which brings me to ....we have a flea infestation .... Should I treat the backyard???? Any suggestions with that? Anything non-toxic?