Science-minded people: explain this please... (flea/tick med question)

[WiseOwlKnits]

Fleas are rampant in this part of TX right now I guess because of the lack of rain. So we just started treating the dog (who has developed really severe flea allergies) and the cat with Frontline, which (if you haven't used it) is a topical product you put between their shoulder blades once a month. Here's what Frontline's website says about their product:

 

FRONTLINE Top Spot and Plus spread over the pet's body by a process called translocation. When applied, these products are gradually dispersed by the pet's natural oils, collecting in the oil glands in the skin. It is then "wicked" onto the hair over the next 30 days. The translocation process can take up to 24 hours to complete.

 

Here's my conundrum. Frontline says you shouldn't touch the spot where you apply the medicine and you shouldn't let children apply it or come near it until it's completely dry, which can be 24-48 hours. But once dry they can do whatever they normally do with their pet. DD always sleeps with her cat and DS is constantly rolling around on the floor with the dog. How is it safe for them to touch the animal, who now has Frontline coming out of the oil glands and wicking onto the hair, but so dangerous for them to touch the spot

wet? I have images of slowly poisoning the children as they roll around and play/sleep with the dog/cat.

[ChristusG]

My sister is a vet tech who's worked at a vet for 10 years. They've moved from Frontline to Comfortis. I had the same worried about Frontline. Comfortis is an oral med that works almost immediately. Fleas are horrid down here in FL right here now too and my sister's dog had a lot of fleas on her about a week ago....she gave her Comfortis and within half an hour she literally saw ticks falling off of the dog.

 

I'm very nervous about my kids and chemicals.

[tammyw]

This is a timely post actually. We eventually want to get a cat, and after having had a cat with fleas in the past, it was horrible. After that, we treated with frontline, and over time, the cat developed a bald spot where the frontline was applied - seems pretty freaky if it causes a bald spot, not to mention the chemical issues, as you said. That wouldn't be possible to keep a kid from a pet for two days every application.

 

This pill form sounds interesting.

[WiseOwlKnits]

My sister is a vet tech who's worked at a vet for 10 years. They've moved from Frontline to Comfortis. I had the same worried about Frontline. Comfortis is an oral med that works almost immediately. Fleas are horrid down here in FL right here now too and my sister's dog had a lot of fleas on her about a week ago....she gave her Comfortis and within half an hour she literally saw ticks falling off of the dog.

 

I'm very nervous about my kids and chemicals.

 

We actually used Comfortis before, but DH wanted to switch to Frontline because it was cheaper. :glare: I didn't really think about it until I saw DS pick up our cat and bury his face in her fur this afternoon - right next to where we put the stuff on the cat yesterday.

 

We bought 6 months of Frontline so we'll probably go ahead and use it for that long, but I'm not sure if it's worth my fear and stress just to save a little bit of money. :tongue_smilie:

[WiseOwlKnits]

This is a timely post actually. We eventually want to get a cat, and after having had a cat with fleas in the past, it was horrible. After that, we treated with frontline, and over time, the cat developed a bald spot where the frontline was applied - seems pretty freaky if it causes a bald spot, not to mention the chemical issues, as you said. That wouldn't be possible to keep a kid from a pet for two days every application.

 

This pill form sounds interesting.

 

I've read stories about all topical meds having the potential to cause bald spots like that. I've never experienced it though...and hope we never do! I've found a flea on our dog after a camping trip or something, but we've never had fleas in our yard before. :eek: We've gotten our yard treated and treated the pets so I can only hope we caught it early enough and were aggressive enough that it's not going to continue to be an issue.

 

And, like you said, it's been impossible to get the kids to leave their beloved pets alone.

[Cindy in the NH Woods]

Depending on where you live, I think risking Frontline is very worth it. Lyme disease is rampant here~ I would put Frontline between my own shoulder blades if I could. :tongue_smilie: Tick bourne diseases are no joke. :(

[TheReader]

To answer the original question, I'm pretty sure it's a matter of concentration. That little amount between the shoulder blades is enough toxin to coat your animal -- a lot of chemical in a small space, and easily transferrable wet from your cat's shoulder blades to your child's fingers (and then to child's mouth).

 

After it dries, though, it's 1 - less concentrated, b/c spread over a larger area, and 2 - dry. So it's not going to be transferring to your child's skin any longer; it's fully absorbed in the animal's hair.

 

We've used it for years for our animals, and we've never had any problem with the kids. Remember too that it has to be safe -- your pet is licking himself, cleaning, grooming and ingesting the same thing yet it doesn't hurt him/her. It is not likely to hurt your children.

[ktgrok]

It's actually an insanely safe chemical, but the worry is that a person could have a skin sensitivity to it in concentrated form. Redness/irritation is what they are worried about, not poisoning.

 

If you worry though you can switch to comfortis, which is oral. It works great, and is a "green chemical". It's actually used in organic gardening.

 

Katie

[Gretchen in NJ]

This is a timely post actually. We eventually want to get a cat, and after having had a cat with fleas in the past, it was horrible. After that, we treated with frontline, and over time, the cat developed a bald spot where the frontline was applied - seems pretty freaky if it causes a bald spot, not to mention the chemical issues, as you said. That wouldn't be possible to keep a kid from a pet for two days every application.

 

This pill form sounds interesting.

 

We had a dog and cat when I was young die from Frontline. It attacked their nervous system.

[Shannon in TN]

We had a dog and cat when I was young die from Frontline. It attacked their nervous system.

 

Are you sure that it was Frontline and not the Hartz stuff you find in grocery stores? It's applied the same way. I worked at an animal hospital for years and we would see sick animals come in after using Hartz (or some other cheap knock-off from Frontline) but I don't recall there being any issues with the Frontline. I could be wrong, though - it was 2000-2004 that I worked there... My memory isn't what it used to be.

[grace'smom]

I've heard bad things about Hartz. They do have some all natural Frontline knock offs, but I can't vouch for them. We used them last summer but we don't seem to have any fleas or ticks in our yard, and my dog is old and doesn't want to leave the yard.

[Myra]

We use geranium oil sprinkled on the pet's back - we live in the country and haven't had problems with ticks or fleas. You can get this oil from any health food store. I even put it on my boys!

 

Myra

[Jenny in Florida]

We had a dog and cat when I was young die from Frontline. It attacked their nervous system.

 

I lost a dog to something like this when I was a teen, too. I think others are right, though, and it was something purchased over the counter from the grocery store.

 

Nonetheless, I am extremely careful with my pets now and NEVER give them any anti-flea product without researching.

 

We tried Frontline (or something else topical) with the dog about 18 months ago, and it didn't appear to work at all. We ended up switching to Comfortis, and it's been quite good. There is a part of me that hates medicating like this, but it makes such a difference!

[Chris in VA]

Does Comfortis keep the eggs from developing, too?

We use Frontline b/c of a terrible amt of ticks (esp in the spring--two of my kids have had Lyme). But fleas are just as bad--I found some in my bed the other day, and I think they came from eggs on the hardwood floor (I wear socks to bed, and might have picked up some eggs on them--I'm not doing that anymore! LOL).

[ScoutTN]

We've used Frontline 10 months a year on our dog for 13 years and never seen one flea or tick on her. No problems of any kind.

 

I just put it on her on a nice day when she can be outside all day and we have other things to do. It's dry by the end of the day. sometimes I put it on her the evening before, after kids go to bed and make sure she's out before they're up.

[WiseOwlKnits]

To answer the original question, I'm pretty sure it's a matter of concentration. That little amount between the shoulder blades is enough toxin to coat your animal -- a lot of chemical in a small space, and easily transferrable wet from your cat's shoulder blades to your child's fingers (and then to child's mouth).

 

After it dries, though, it's 1 - less concentrated, b/c spread over a larger area, and 2 - dry. So it's not going to be transferring to your child's skin any longer; it's fully absorbed in the animal's hair.

 

We've used it for years for our animals, and we've never had any problem with the kids. Remember too that it has to be safe -- your pet is licking himself, cleaning, grooming and ingesting the same thing yet it doesn't hurt him/her. It is not likely to hurt your children.

 

This makes sense. Thanks!

[WiseOwlKnits]

It's actually an insanely safe chemical, but the worry is that a person could have a skin sensitivity to it in concentrated form. Redness/irritation is what they are worried about, not poisoning.

 

If you worry though you can switch to comfortis, which is oral. It works great, and is a "green chemical". It's actually used in organic gardening.

 

Katie

 

Really? I had no idea Comfortis was used for that! And that's good to know about the Frontline too!

[WiseOwlKnits]

Does Comfortis keep the eggs from developing, too?

We use Frontline b/c of a terrible amt of ticks (esp in the spring--two of my kids have had Lyme). But fleas are just as bad--I found some in my bed the other day, and I think they came from eggs on the hardwood floor (I wear socks to bed, and might have picked up some eggs on them--I'm not doing that anymore! LOL).

 

It doesn't sound like it. It says it kills fleas before they can lay eggs. I thought from what our vet said when we used it last year that the flea has to bite the dog in order to be killed.

 

http://www.comfortis4dogs.com/about-comfortis/faqs.aspx