Frontline Plus, K9 Advantix and Advantage... Which Is The Best Flea & Tick Preventative?
Wondering about the differences between all of the flea & tick preventatives that are available these days?
I have firsthand experience using three of them (Frontline Plus, K9 Advantix and Advantage).
I review each of them here...
Frontline
(for fleas, ticks)
The Claims:
Offers the long-lasting, most complete flea and tick control available, killing 100% of fleas on your pet within 18 hours and 100% of ticks on your pet within 48 hours. Best of all, research confirms that Frontline works for an entire month to help keep your pet flea-free.
My Opinion:
I used Frontline Plus on my dogs for years... until my vet made the decision to switch to K9 Advantix. We never saw a flea or a tick on our dogs the entire time we were using Frontline Plus.
Watch the latest Frontline Plus commercial!
K9 Advantix 
K9 Advantix The Claims:
For the topical prevention and treatment of fleas, mosquitoes and ticks including deer ticks (the major carrier of Lyme disease), American dog ticks, Brown dog ticks and lone star ticks. K9 Advantix kills and repels fleas, ticks and mosquitoes.
My Opinion:
What makes K9 Advantix so different is it has permethrin in it. Permethrin will kill and repel just about anything. (It's the same chemical they use to fog dog kennels and horse barns to kill fleas, ticks, flies and practically everything else.) However, we live in an area where ticks are problem, and our dogs have actually had a couple of ticks (either attached or embedded under their skin) while on this product. It does appear that the ticks were shriveled up and dead by the time we spotted them.
Advantage
Advantage The Claims:
Stops fleas from biting in three to five minutes, and starts killing fleas withing an hour. Within 12 hours of initial application, 98-100% of all existing fleas on pets are dead.
My Opinion:
I used Advantage on my dogs for a short time, but it didn't make sense not to protect them against ticks and mosquitoes as well, so I switched to K9 Advantix instead. If money is an issue, and/or you've only got a really bad flea problem that you're trying to combat fast, then you might want to try Advantage first.
So Which Is The Best?... My Overall Summary
I think we're going to go back to Frontline Plus. While I like that K9 Advantix also repels fleas and (especially) ticks... I don't think it repels them a full 30 days. Frontline Plus seemed to be more effective on my dogs during the entire 30-day period. And since we use Heartgard (to prevent heartworms from mosquito bites), we don't actually need the mosquito preventative that Advantix has. I'll post an update if we notice any other differences.
Here's a chart comparing them all:Frontline Plus, K9 Advantix, K9 Advantage, Revolution, and Sentinel (it's from the folks at Merial).
Another great product worth considering if you have a flea problem is Frontline Spray. It comes highly recommended by a veterinarian that I listen to on the weekends. According to veterinarian Carey Carver who appears regularly on Pet Talk with Harrison Forbes, (on on 99.7 WTN), Frontline Spray can be used by itself weekly or even daily, if necessary. Or, you could also use with any of the other preventative measures, including the Advantix collar (which only works for ticks, but it works well). Veterinarians often use it to treat a flea problem on-the-spot in the vet's office.
No Fleas?... Reasons To Still Use A Preventative!
We've been very fortunate. We have never had a problem with fleas on any of our dogs. Each year our vet verifies this for us: STILL NO FLEAS!Therefore, we use a flea & tick preventative for 2 reasons:
1. Mostly, to prevent fleas from the neighbors' dogs from jumping onto our dogs; and
2. To keep ticks off the dogs in the summer months (...because we live in an area where ticks are quite prevalent).
And finally, here are some tips on how to apply a flea & tick preventative.
I'm at a loss. I have six cats in the house, and didn't mean to have six cats. Two are very elderly, like 12 years old, and we've been using Frontline for years now with success. However, I bought some Frontline Plus from a place that sells it besides a vets, and it's just not working good at all. I had one cat that had never had any flea stuff just kind of go nuts after that, scratching and rolling around. She's like a year old now, maybe over that, and is okay. I was very concerned about her as it happened on a Sunday, the day after we had given her the Frontline Plus.
As it turns out, I have to run a flea comb down them since last week. Something is going wrong with the flea stuff. I guess the fleas are finally immune to it now, you think? I haven't had a flea problem in years, now I have one.
Please respond.
Thanks
We have been using Frontline plus for almost 6 months. And, I still find one or two fleas on our puppy. Frontline plus might be effective in killing the fleas only after certain time (e.g, starvation). Because frontline plus doesn't kill the fleas once they bite the dog. They pretty much survive on her for a while, and this makes our puppy uncomfortable enough. So, we decided to switch to a product that will repel the fleas. We will try Advantix and I hope it is effective as it claims to be...
I too have noticed that Frontline is not as effective as it used to be, as has my brother. I have used it for years - unk if they changed the formula or fleas are developing a resistance. I'm especially noticing it not working on my cats.
I used Frontline for years, just this summer I started seeing a lot more fleas on my dog. After being told by their customer service that "the product is working properly, your pet must be picking them up from the environment" (i.e. my house is infested), I decided to give Advantix a try. Within 12 hours my dog was flea free, it is almost a week later and I have yet to see a flea on her since first applying the Advantix. I have since called Frontline back to inquire about their "Satisfaction Guarantee" (prominently displayed on the box). The representative told me that I need to provide a receipt that can prove 3 months of continuous use. Of course I rarely keep receipts that long, so it looks like I won't be able to get a refund. Put aside the fact that Advantix is actually working, based on their customer service alone, I will not buy their product any more!
I have a ten month old maltipoo and i have tried advantage and just tried frontline today. He acts really funny after I give it to him--he just can't sit still he trots the edges of the room and justs acts wierd. with advantage it started after only a few minutes but not so fast or hardly as bad with frontline. any comments or alternative ideas to control fleas. He never goes outside but still picks up a few fleas from time to time. thanks.
Obviously, you must have used Frontline spray years ago because it's so effective for me recently, I might as well save the money and spray them with water. IT DOESN'T WORK ANY MORE. FLEAS HAVE GOTTEN USED TO IT.
Do you know anything about Revolution? I have a dog that's been on it for years and recently started having seizures. I think it may be related to the Revolution so I'm researching it.