Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Can really improve life for you and your pet . |
| Disadvantages: |
No cuddles, possible side effects . |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
I turned the page on my trashy magazine and MyDogs nudged his nose into my hand, looking for affection. "Whassup then?" I murmured, shifting his heavy furry body over my legs. The sun was streaming through the caravan windows and The Boyfriend was dozing on the seat opposite, his head on his folded arms across the table. The three of us sat in companionable silence, the summer's afternoon drifting along.
I watched The Boyfriend rub the side of his face, then his arm. All of a sudden he was on his feet, as though he'd been stung by a wasp. "Urgggh, where's it gone?!" he yelled, flying out of the door and down the step into the long grass and gravel. MyDogs bounded after him in a frenzy of excitement and I watched the two of them leap around outside. That was the first flea.
Thereafter, we kept on finding them. They appeared on the white bits of the board game we were trying to play in the evenings, dancing across the
table in the afternoons as we aimed a magnifying glass at them and in t-shirts left on the bed. The real trouble came when The Boyfriend's sister phoned up and screamed at him to go and get the strongest household flea spray the vet could offer. At this point I got really worried and started to nag. I wasn't being bitten, but if they came back to my
house I would have to tear the place apart to get rid of them. If you've seen that advert where the woman burns all the bedding and soft furnishings - I knew how she felt.
The worst bit was that we all seemed to have a perpetual cold. I felt run down but I was the only one with no bites. The others had swollen scabby legs and ankles on top of the aches and pains. There was a collective and rational fear of deep pile carpet, and his scratching, it was enough to drive anyone to distraction. Before the move to the new flat, something had to be done.
What are the alternatives?
First, we tried the traditional methods. A flea comb was out of the question, apparently someone once hurt MyDogs with a metal brush when he was a puppy. Now, as an older dog, he'll bite anything that looks like a brush, leave the room if I'm brushing my hair and considers any touching of his dreadlocks as a personal assault. He's about the same size as me and I wasn't keen to inflict any further damage - psychological in his case or physical on my part.
Garlic comes highly recommended and two whole Domino's Garlic and Herb dips later (he refused it raw in his food), MyDogs showed some sign of the itching subsiding. It wasn't enough though and the gastric results were so unpleasant we had to evacuate the caravan as he slept in front of the telly. I think the infestation in this case was too far gone.
Tea tree oil; well, where to put it? It cleared a small patch when I tried it, but we couldn't put it anywhere he might lick it. By this point, The Boyfriend's dad and his trusty companion, MyDogs were exhausted. MyDogs scratching was keeping them both awake at night and MyDogs was even scratching in his sleep, to the point where he would fall off the bed.
The Boyfriend and I spent the sum of £8.95 in Tesco on Bob Martin Flea Treatment for large dogs. I called MyDogs to the caravan with a cheery wave "Whassis then? Flea treatment? Oooh, all for you!" and he bounded through the door. We followed the instructions to the letter and waited. Disappointingly, this did absolutely nothing. MyDogs continued to scratch while The Boyfriend's dad muttered darkly about waste-of-money-Dr-Martens-should-stick-to-making-shoes.
We moved into the flat. Following the Bob Martin, both The Boyfriend and I found fleas on us after we arrived at work and constantly worried about what was under the covers on the sofa. Then something really nasty happened. MyDogs and I were fighting over a biscuit when I felt a weird lump on his back. The Boyfriend deals with this kind of gross thing best and we called him over to look. There was a large, white, blood filled lump. A tic. That was the final straw, the following day at work I phoned the vet and enrolled MyDogs in the free flea clinic at our local vet.
Vet's Advice.
We arrived at the vets early on Saturday morning. MyDogs, ever the social butterfly, was anxious to get in there and bother the sick animals and had to be kept on a tight lead. An entire wall of posters in the waiting room was dedicated to flea treatment. What were the causes? Other animals - check. MyDogs had inexplicably stuck his nose in a hedgehog while on a walk. Long grass - check. MyDogs lies under the caravan in the long grass, come rain or shine. There are actually different levels of flea infestation and his counted as severe.
The first thing the nurse recommended was prescription Frontline and she promised us that while this was like the Bob Martin in terms of application, it was much stronger and actually worked. This was slightly more complicated that just buying the over the counter stuff at Tesco and we had to weigh MyDogs before the nurse would sell us anything. He jumped on to the scales in a way that suggested he'd done this before and weighed in at a middling 35kilos.
The appropriate treatment was £35.00 for three doses and these could be given one every three months as a treatment and preventative measure, or every two months if tics were a problem. The Boyfriend bemoaned my spending £35.00 on yet another flea treatment, but truth be told, we could easily have spent that on two or three totally ineffective measures. Potentially, the three-dose box of Frontline could last 9 months. So, at £3.88 per month, it represents pretty good value, especially when compared to the Bob Martin Spot on. As I was paying for the Frontline, I changed MyDog's surname, making him part of *my * family.
The instructions were to make sure we applied it to the skin on the back of his neck rather than onto the fur, it needed to enter the bloodstream. The reasoning behind the back of the neck or in between the shoulder blades is to prevent the animal licking it off - when you smell this stuff you won't want them to ingest it. The instructions suggest that you don't allow the animal to sleep on beds and that you don't touch the spot where you applied the liquid, obviously this is harmful to humans. We had no idea at the time how hard it would be to follow such simple procedures.
It's also important not to use this if your dog suffers from breathing difficulties, side effects can include breathing problems. Also, check the instructions if you plan to use this on a puppy, it's not suitable for young dogs. After reading all the warnings, I started having serious misgivings. Perhaps we shouldn't use this, perhaps there was a homeopathic alternative. However, as I watched him scratch himself silly on the way home, I knew that this was the only course of action.
Our Experience
Realising that I wouldn't be able to cuddle up with MyDogs for the rest of the day, I gave him loads of affection before we applied it. The Boyfriend's dad cautiously spotted it onto the back of his neck and directly on to the skin as advised. MyDogs sat happily as he did so, this being a good indication that it doesn't sting or bother the dog in any way. That was the easy bit.
Trying to leave it a good few hours before he came into contact with people and other animals was a lot harder. We had to pile stuff on the bed to stop him joining us and arrange the cushions on the sofa to prevent him jumping on. I wondered if perhaps we should have used a household flea spray in addition to this, but the instructions say that as the pet moves around, fleas will jump on to it and be killed. In our experience, no treatment other than the Frontline was needed. Two days after we applied it, he stopped scratching and we stopped finding any live fleas. This didn't mean to say there weren't any, after all the existing eggs still have to hatch after treatment and the cycle of breeding needs to be broken. According to the box, Fipronil and S-methoprene are the active ingredients and work by hyperstimulating the fleas. So I suppose they go into a frenzy of death!
The Boyfriend hoovered up the bodies from the carpet, sofas and beds and hopefully got most of the eggs too. The most remarkable result was the change in MyDogs. From moping and hanging his head, scratching and whining, he became his old lively self again, running around the woods and chasing the van. He began to finally get some sleep and no longer scratched all night.
3 Months On…..
Well, three months of living in a flea free flat later, MyDogs is happy. He suffered a bit of a dip last week, with earache and general miseries. Temporarily, a mixture of Olbas and Olive Oil recommended in a review on Dooyoo picked him up a bit, but he still wasn't himself. The Boyfriend's dad (with his man-to-dog connection) pointed out that not only was it time for the Frontline, but that there was every possibility that something was living in MyDogs ears. This tied in with the scratching I'd witnessed and the flicking of his head.
We used the Frontline again two days ago and I'm pleased to report MyDogs is back on form, snoring loudly through Neighbours and pooing in hard to reach places while on his evening walk. As the nights draw in, it's been particularly hard to forgo the cuddles after using the Frontline, but it's been worth it.
The official site is http://frontline.uk.merial.com/, but I found that a lot of my questions were answered in a more accessible format at http://www.ask-the-vet.com/frontline-plus-dogs.htm and that although sites such as http://www.petvetcare.co.uk/acatalog/Frontline.html claim to sell the stronger version online, I would recommend seeing the vet before you use anything. There are different versions for cats and dogs, different strengths and different doses according to size and weight. On top of that, there's nothing like a bit of extra advice and reassurance. Summary: Don't waste your money on low strength solutions.
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