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Why does Frontline for Cats No Longer Work?

Christine Church's photo
Hartford Cats Examiner

I have been battling a flea problem in my Connecticut house for the last 8 months. Before this, I had not seen a single flea since Advantage was invented and hit the market. If I saw ONE flea, I treated the cats with Advantage and they were GONE! 

Then Frontline came out! Frontline took care of fleas AND ticks and became extremely popular. At the time, we had one cat that came in and out, and we had dogs. So we switched to Frontline. Never saw a flea. 

As time went on we had only one dog going in and out, and only she was getting flea treatment regularly. The cats had no fleas for many years.

Then, about 8 months ago, my cat Jake started losing fur and developing scabs. It had been so long since we had had any fleas, the thought of flea allergy dermatitis never even crossed my mind. But, a trip to the vet confirmed it.

That was the beginning of the battle.

I did what I had done years ago; bought Frontline and treated everyone. Nothing happened. The fleas didn't even go away. I heard about this problem happening everywhere. People started to say that the fleas have developed an immunity to Frontline.

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At the vet hospital where I am a client, one of the vets wrote a paper on this issue. He said fleas HAVE NOT, and cannot, develop an immunity to Frontline! He claims that it is harder for fleas to develop an immunity to any topical spot-on than for bacteria to develop an immunity to an antibiotic (hello... that seems to be happening more and more frequently).
 
He went on to say that the days of bombing houses and dipping were over and that all one needs to do is "change their flea treatment." Obviously, this vet (who is not my vet) has not dealt with the flea issue I am dealing with because, let me tell you, I have tried EVERYTHING from Frontline to Capstar to Program to Revolution.
 
Revolution and Frontline worked the LEAST!!!! Capstar is GREAT at killing the adult fleas for ONE day but that's useless. Program breaks the flea cycle but doesn't kill adult fleas. So Program and Capstar are meant to work together, however, I found that you have to do at least 3 days in a row of Capstar to get the program to work... and I have 7 cats!!! This is getting EXPENSIVE.
 
My last resort will be to bomb and dip, just like the old days, but I want to try Advantage first. I have not tried it in 15 years. I figure I will treat each cat with one last big whamo of treatment; Advantage and Capstar pills!
 
Wish me luck, because if this does not work, it's back to bombing and dipping.
Fleas are getting harder and harder to kill....
Fleas are getting harder and harder to kill....
Photo credit: 
Unknown

Related topics:

  • Frontline not working
  • flea infection
  • cat flea issue
  • cats and fleas

, Hartford Cats Examiner

Christine Church is an established author and cat care behaviorist. Her 2001 book, Indoor Cats, won the Iams Responsible Pet Ownership Award. Her most recent book, House Cat, is available in English and Russian. Email her at literate-feline@sbcglobal.net.

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