I know this is not a site for animal info but can anyone tell me what is in these medications please?

I have multiple chemical sensitivity and our vet seems very keen for us to use this on our puppy. We have two other dogs who have never had fleas despite not having this treatment. 

I am sure I heard some bad press a few years ago but don't seem to be able to find anything on the net.

Thanks,.

Adrienne.

Hi Adrienne, I steer clear of all these treatments unless of course you have cats who quite often bring home the fleas.  I have used spot on with no adverse effects and sometimes put it on if she goes into kennels just in case a tick gets on her and they miss it.

My previous dog used to have the spot on because I used to take her next door to see the old lady and she had a cat and the carpets were riddled, expensive visit.

If I were you with your ailments I certainly would not use it.  The vet is only keen because it is money in his pocket.  You could try giving a clove of crushed garlic daily in the food.  If it is a young pup half at first.  You need to check daily for ticks (touch wood we have never had one in this area for some reason but others I know gets loads) and if you find one need a special tool to remove it. 

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/information/tick_removal.htm

 
I am due for jabs next month and every year I vow I will not do them but the insurance companies will not cough up if they catch something that can be vaccinated against.  You just can't win can you.......

Here's a website about the ingredients in a few treatments:

Yes, I've been wondering about this too.

 I have a cat with severe skin problems, the vet thinks it's a flea (or other parasite) bite allergy altho' they never find any fleas or flea dirt on her. But some animals do react badly to just one bite and she does go outside where there are other cats & foxes, so can easily pick up fleas. Frontline doesn't seem to have eased this problem & she is now prescribed Stronghold (Pfizer) - selamectin - spot on treatment, and we felt it necessary for her to have a steroid injection as she had a lot of very nasty scabs which she was scratching intensely. Immediately after the injection she started shivering but was checked over by the vet nurse who thought it was probably a bit of shock & to take her home & keep an eye on her. She was fine when we got home. But later she started panting which she'd never done before & we had a night of phoning the vet for advice & watching her for any change in her condition one way or another. She returned to normal eventually. I am now very unhappy with these treatments, had always been uneasy about using them, and am looking for a complementary health vet in SE London, but no luck so far. The cat gets distressed travelling and we don't want to take her on a long journey. In the meantime I'm trying to find out as much info as possible about these anti-parasite treatments, and about safer alternatives....

There are at least two excellent books available, which will give you much of the information you need. 

Dr Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Cats and Dogs, by Richard H Pitcarn DVM,PhD

Homeopathic Care for Cats and Dogs - Small dose for Small animals, by Don Hamilton,DVM

Both should be available from your local library,bookshop, or Amazon.

I worked for an excellent vet for eight years, and learned enough to avoid as many chemical treatments as possible.

Hi there. Completely stumbled upon this site and read this thread, and thought i'd post a quick reply.

As a nurse in a veterinary practice I can understand your concerns but not protecting you pets against fleas and worms is not advisable! They should be treated every other month with frontline, or every month with advocate. The treatments sold in a clinic are the best around, and if others worked then they would sell them(it would save them money aswell!) Homeopathic remedies are genuinley about as usefull as spraying your dog with water! Some supermarket products do work. My dog is allergic to frontline and uses a flea treatment from wilko's that work fine for him, however all dogs are different! 

I would definately call and speak to a nurse/vet at your clinic and explain your situation to them. If you still feel you are being fobbed off then ring around vets for second opinion.

 Also please don't consider not vaccinating your dog. I understand your concerns with the chemicals in the treatments but vets only use these chemicals if completely necessary. I'm sure they would all rather be using herbal remedies as they are handling these chemicals all day, everday, but at the moment that just isn't a possibility.

Lastly the vet only has your pets best interests at heart! Unless your vet is the owner/partner of the practice they are not pocketing ANY more money than they would if you don't take the treatments!

I really don't want to sound pushy, but when you see pets coming into a clinic with roundworm it puts it all into perspective! Maybe browse the frontline and advocate websites to see what chemicals are involved in the remedies, or email them with your concerns.

I hope it all works out well for you!

Many thanks for all your responses to my post.

All were useful and of great interest.

We have since (very reluctantly!) used Advocate after finding a flea so felt we had no option!

However, I do now know that this medication contains a chemical called imidacloprid which has been blamed for the huge decline of bees in France where it has been banned as use as a pesticide.

She has had all her vaccines and been wormed also. I do realise the importance of these things. My concern is that animals can sometimes have unecessary vaccines when they still have immunity. Our older dog last year did react strangely to last years booster.

Thanks again.

Adrienne.

Our dog had the same problem, flea bite allergy. Her hair fell out all over her back and she had greasy, unpleasant scabs evrywhere. The conventional vet prescribed steroids which we refused. We found a homeopathic vet who gave her remedies which, unfortunately, I have forgotten but also suggested Selsun shampoo and zinc ointment. The problem disappeared in two weeks and she never suffered from it again. We were told subsequently that it was a good job we had refused the steroids because once in the system it is virtually impossible to rid the body of the allergy!

I do use Frontline on our new dog... reluctantly!