I have a healthy 9 year old terrier mix female dog. My vet discovered she has fleas for the 1st time ever. The vet prescribed Frontline, the kind that is in 3 vials that you apply once a month. She is normally lively and playful but today, ever since I put the first vial of drops on her, she has been very lethargic and quiet. Is this normal or should I be worried? Please help. I love her dearly and don't want to do anything to harm her. Thank you so much.
By cettina from Malta, Europe
I had the same thing happen to my Maltese. Vet told me she was allergic to it. I thought maybe it was too much for her at one time. Now I use half of it and run it up and down her back.
Thanks for info. Perhaps my dog is also allergic. Maybe I should try something else as an alternative? Problem is, I can't use anything for a month since that is how long the stuff is supposed to work.
Please find something less toxic to use on your beloved dog. All those products are toxic to animals and humans. I just flea comb mine, which works out fine. Since I have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, I've had to learn about these things. I can't use ANY pesticide, which is healthier for me and my pets and the world anyway.
Good luck
I don't know if this will help, because I only have experience with cats. Ours tend to sleep more the day we use the product (not sure if it's the Frontline brand, but it is a treatment we get from the vet). We've used it for several years with no other ill effects. It would be a good idea to make sure you're using the right dosage for the dog's weight.
With due respect, I believe these products (the ones sold through vet offices or online pharmacies) are safe when used as directed. It's possible for an animal to have a bad reaction, but I don't believe it's common or likely. The so-called alternative treatments are not nearly as effective, and it saddens me to see animals suffering from flea bites just because their owners are misinformed.
My dogs get that way for about a day after I use Frontline. If it goes on for longer than that I would see a vet.
Btw if you wash your dogs in water with Sea Salt in it, it's very effective at killing fleas. I used to take my dogs to the beach everyday and let them play in the water and they never had fleas at all.
I would call the vet and find out what to wash her with to get this poisin off her body. My dog almost died last Friday. We put a product bought at the vets office, called preventic on him. It is a tick collar. My husband wanted to do the frontline and I said no lets do the collar and if has a problem we can rip it off him.
Well, he had a problem, lethargic, respiration slowed and then the vomiting. I went on line and looked up adverse reactions with this product and these are sever reactions and then it said Death Could Occur.
I got it off him, washed his regular collar as it rubbed on that and my huband soaked his neck and scrubbed him with Baby shampoo. He is fine now. Thank God!
This is a 1.5 year old American Bulldog. He is 80 lbs. But you just never know. We are giving him apple cider vinegar tablets and brewers yeast for the fleas and ticks and we sprayed the heck out of the backyard.
I hope your little doggie is better. Below is a web site I found talking about pesticides on our animals.
www.redmap.co.uk/
cbs3.com/
www.alternet.org/
Laura SW Florida
After using a similar product our dog can hardly walk. They talked about it on TV. I will not use those products on our dog anymore. It's bad for them.
More and more bad news has been reported lately about the use of pesticides on our pets, even the supposedly good stuff from the vet. I read one heart breaker about a pair of dogs that actually licked the stuff off each others necks and eventually died. I would still be using Frontline or Advantage except it just stopped working here in Florida and i have heard from other pet owners who report the same experience. On my local reuse it group, the owner suggested using vinegar and dawn dish soap. I was extremely skeptical but I figured what the heck, it couldn't hurt. Imagine my surprise when i actually saw the fleas come right up to poke their heads out of my pets coat, seemingly choking for air and die on the spot.
I even kept a few fleas to the side to observe if they were "drunk" or like ants, playing dead, you know you try to drown ants and as soon as they are dry they get up and march off! But the fleas stayed dead and I was so excited. I use this now. The basic ratio is 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup Dawn to a gallon of water. My dogs are bigger so i have to use a bigger batch but it works and seems to have a lasting effect, I have been using it once a week. I am glad to have a less toxic option for my girls. Good luck with your pets and hopefully they are not harmed.
I also use it and on the advice of a Shih Tzu breeder and friend, I remove the liquid in the little pocket by using a syringe and put one drop at a time on each dog til it is all gone. Haven't had any problem for years [hope this doesn't jinx them].
I am thinking if the dog was spunky before and now lethargic the frontline did it. Call the vet or go to the vet now! Sounds like the dose was too much for her. Hope everything turns out well. I don't use any of that stuff with chemicals that go in their bloodstream. I use Sevin. It is a powder that you get in the gardening aisle. You may have to work at it but somehow Sevin doesn't make my dog sick.
Wow! Really scary to read about all the adverse information. I think I will stick to the less intrusive one of taking her to the beach and letting her play around in the sea water. I live on a tiny Mediterranean island where the sea is only a few minutes away from any location. She seems to have revived a lot but I was dreading the next months dose (it's a 3month course). My dog is too precious to me to risk hurting her.
Thanks everyone for giving all this information. I wonder what the manufacturers have to say ? I purchased Frontline at great expense from UK. A couple of people recommended I purchase this, so I did.
However, I do not do anything before consulting my VET. She advised not to use it as "Baby" was too small. She gave a flea and tick shampoo . I use this and so far have not had any trouble.
How do dogs get fleas and ticks ? Can Mites be seen with the naked eye?
I have his play pens and play areas cleaned daily and once a week with Dettol ? I also dust his bedding with flea and tick powder, leave it for a couple of hours, then brush it and beat it till no sign remains.
I am a new dog owner and I hope I am doing the right thing.
First time today my 12 year old X Border Collie is completely under the weather from Frontline (applied yesterday). Hope it's only for a day! Been Frontlining her regularly since my return to Europe 3 years ago. Never had this kind of flea infestation in Canada. Ticks too, too awful for words.
Four weeks? Nonsense! 2 1/2 weeks would be generous. Ditto with the cats. Last time ever I purchased Frontline. Must resort to home remedies and just pluck the ticks off - which I do anyway after daily inspection. What an ordeal.
Thanks for the home remedy tips - I'll try the soap and vinegar next time!
I just put frontline on my 2 dogs tins morning.. My hyper one I found in botto
Of my closet sleeping and other on couch sleeping. Definitely made them drowsy. Hope wears off today!
Well, actually, even fresh water would take care of that - you do not need to be at the seashore. Fleas are readily killed by drowning. Salt in the water does not matter.
My little 9 pound Maltese got frontline 3 days ago and is still not acting like himself. I'm going to try just putting one drop on him next time. This is so sad. He's normally so active and happy. I know diatomaceous earth kills fleas and ticks in the yard. We buy it at a seed and feed store, it's fed to horses for internal worms. It has to be food grade, not the kind you use for pools. I have put it directly on my last dog with NO side effects. We also had some fleas a few years ago in our carpet. We took a ketchup bottle we bought from the dollar store and squirted it around the house, left it for a few days, vacuumed it up, no more fleas. Completely harmless. Google it. It works great. My new little pound puppy, 5 years old looks so sad. I'll never put the whole tube on again. Just not worth it. Thanks for all the information.
Just curious how long did it take for him to return to normal? Its been 4 days and same with my 5 year old chi. He's usually so happh and spunky and he's super depressed and mopey still. I hope it hasn't done permanent damage
use Food grade diatomaceous earth it works
just use the D.Earth on your animals, will kill the fleas,
