Flea Medicine

Although a number of flea control options are available to pet owners, the vast majority of them still prefer to use flea medicine.

Flea Medicine comes in a variety of delivery methods. Some comes in a pill or tablet form which can be given orally while others may come in spray or spot-on type whereby the medication is applied directly on the skin surface and absorbed through the skin. The increasing popularity of these flea medication is primarily due to their convenience and also their proven effectiveness.

These flea medication differ mainly in the way they are given to your pets, some are sprays while other are apply topically as spot-on. They also differ by the type of parasites that they control eg fleas, ticks, ear mites and at which life-cycle stage they are attacking the flea... the egg, larvae, cocoon or adult stage.  If you have read about "Understanding the Flea Life-Cycle" , you would have know that killing the adult fleas alone will not solve your problem.

There are certain precautions that you have to take note of when using flea medication on your dog or cat.

Firstly, determine that it's really fleas that you are dealing with and not something else. Very often, when pets started scratching, pet owners assumed that it must be fleas and tend to start on flea treatment immediately. Sometime, scratching may be due to other problems and not necessarily due to fleas infestation. In food allergy for example, where your pet may be sensitive to one of the food ingredients and this may also causes dermatitis and itch. 

Secondly, depending on the health status and age of your pet, it may not be advisable to use any flea medicines on them as these may adversely affect your pet. In such circumstances, it is always best to consult your vet before starting on the treatment.

Thirdly, when you started on one flea medicine, it is always best to stick to just one instead of mixing a few together. Some pet owners tend to go overboard in their treatment and end up mixing a few of these medication in the hope that it can work better and faster. Also, do not give or apply more than what's recommended. This is not the way to do it and you may end up causing more harm to your pet.

Lastly, keep a close eye on your pet after administration of the flea treatment medication. Some pets may develop allergic or adverse reaction to the drug which may include vomiting, diarrhoea, breathlessness, lethargy or seizures. When any of this occurs, rush them to your vet for emergency treatment immediately.

There are currently a few popular and effective flea medicines available in the market. These include

Sprays and Topical spot-on solutions:

• Advantage Flea Treatment (Bayer)
• Advantix Flea Treatment (Bayer)
• Revolution Flea Treatment (Pfizer)
• Frontline Flea Treatment (Merial)

Oral Tablets:

• Program
• Sentinel