Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
fantastic product which kills fleas, ticks and lice and doesnt make your cats ill |
| Disadvantages: |
none at all its fantastic |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
==Frontline Spot On ~ For Cat's==
When we got out two kitten's Toke and Simba at 6 weeks old both if them had a few fleas. Both kitten's had obviously caught the fleas from their mother and siblings; so the day after we bought them I was off to the pet shop to get a flea treatments for both of them. In the pet shop I was faced with quite a few different flea treatments, tablets, sprays, medicines and the Spot on treatment. The pet shop owner said that the Bob Martins Spot On was probably one of the best flea treatments they had so I bought two packets of it; one for each kitten. Applying the
product was fairly easy, all I had to do was apply the liquid to the back of Toke and Simba's necks and this would hopefully kill the fleas. Unfortunately the product didn't work and both kittens still had live fleas on them, so Bob Martins Spot on was a waste of money.
I had to take both kittens to the Vet's to get a check up and their injections so I decided to ask the vet for a suitable flea treatment which would actually kill the fleas. The vet recommended a product called Frontline which is fairly similar to the Bob Martins flea treatment; the only difference is that Frontline which the vet recommended is a stronger more effective product which kills both fleas and ticks. The Frontline treatment which the Vet prescribed for both kittens cost £24 (£12 for each kitten) each pack of Frontline contains 3 separate flea treatments which treat your pet for three months.
The Frontline
drops are only available by prescription from Veterinary surgeries so you can not buy them from pet shops or supermarkets like the Bob Martin products. The reason you can only get Frontline by prescription is because it contains an ingredient called fipronil which is a licensed phenylpyrazole used in veterinary medicine. Basically Fipronil is an insecticide which kills the fleas and ticks without irritating your pets. The Fipronil attacks the nervous system of the fleas and ticks which in turn causes them to die within 24 hours.
Applying The Frontline
The Frontline treatment is fairly easy to apply to your cats providing they don't wriggle about too much. The Frontline treatment is supplied in a pipette which contains the correct dosage for your cat or kitten's weight. Before the vet prescribes you the treatment they will weigh your animal so as they can give you the correct dosage. Depending on the weight of your pet. You will find it a lot easier to apply the flea treatment to your animal of you have some help from another person. My husband kindly helps me administer the flea treatment to the cats mainly because they wriggle about too much and you have to part their fur and then administer the treatment.
Firstly you have to get a firm hold of your cat/kitten and make sure that they aren't wriggling around. Before you apply the treatment to your cats skin you have to separate the fur between their shoulder blades so you are exposing their skin. Once the skin is exposed you should break the top of the pipette and then squeeze the contents onto the skin exposed on the shoulder blade area. I got my husband to open the pipette and squeeze its contents onto the cats skin whilst I held the cat firmly and separated the fur.
The main reason you have to apply the product to the shoulder blade area is so your cat cannot lick the treatment off. It is very difficult if not impossible for a cat to lick their shoulder blade area; If your cat does happen to lick the product off and groom themselves then this would probably make them ill due to the ingredients in the treatment. You just have to be very careful when applying the product and make sure you apply it directly onto the skin between their shoulder blades and nowhere else.
Once the contents of the pipette are applied to the skin you shouldn't let your car groom themselves until the area where you applied the treatment to is dry. Once the area is dry you can handle and stroke your pet as normal. When you are administering the treatment to your pet you have to make sure that you apply it directly onto their skin and not onto their fur. If you apply the treatment to their fur then the product wont work properly because it will evaporate. Applying the treatment to the skin will also make your cats fur look and feel sticky. If a little of the product does happen to get onto the fur then the sticky feel appearance will disappear within a 24 hour period.
How Often Do You Need To Apply Frontline
When you are prescribed Frontline from your vet you will either get a 3 or 6 month supply of treatments. Each pipette in the pack of frontline protects your pet from fleas and ticks for 4-5 weeks, you should apply Frontline to your pets every 4-5 weeks. Although I only needed to use two pipettes on each cat before they were completely clear from fleas. Fleas~ Frontline protects your cat from fleas for up to 5 weeks.
Ticks ~ Your pet will be protected from Ticks for up to 4 weeks
Lice ~ If your animal has lice then Frontline will control them within 48 hours.
My cats haven't had lice or ticks so I don't know how effective Frontline is at combating these problems. I have only ever used it to treat fleas.
Does It Work
I have tried a lot of other flea treatments in the past but Frontline has to be the best one yet. I am very pleased with the actual results from Frontline because my cats didn't have a reaction to it. I once tried a Bob Martin Silent Flea Spray on them and both of my cats suffered a terrible reaction to it, they were foaming excessively at the mouth and they couldn't walk properly, it was quite a scary experience for me and them. The Frontline treatment doesn't smell as strong as other similar flea treatments. It has a slightly alcoholic smell, but the smell fades quite quickly and doesn't really bother me or the cats. The flea treatment kills the fleas and their eggs quite quickly and you will notice a difference within a few hours of applying it. I noticed that the cats weren't scratching as much about 3 hours after I applied Frontline to them. According to the Information Leaflet included in the Box of Frontline the fleas should start dying within 8 hours of applying it and within 24 hours all fleas and their eggs etc will be dead. I am extremely pleased with the results of Frontline, none of the cats have had fleas for a few months and when they have caught them Frontline quickly kills them. It isn't much more expensive than the flea treatments you can pick up in pet shops, each treatment costs about £4 which lasts for 4 weeks before needing re-applied. The best thing about Frontline flea treatment is that it kills and also prevents your cats from getting fleas, ticks and lice. Not many flea treatments can offer three in one protection against fleas, ticks and lice.
As with any flea treatment there are also some side effects which your cat could develop; although my 2 cats haven't had any side effects and I have used the treatment quite a few times over the past 2 years. Some side effects which your cat could develop are ~ Severe Salivating which could be triggered off by your cat licking their fur after the treatment has been administered. Very rare side effects include ~ Vomiting and Alopecia.
Frontline can also be used on kittens over the age of 8 weeks providing they weigh 1kg or more and it is also safe to use the flea treatment on Pregnant or nursing cats too. You shouldn't use Frontline on your cat if it is suffering from a long term illness or it is recovering from an illness. Your vet should be able to advise you whether your cat can be treated using Frontline. My local Vet practice can also apply the Frontline to the cats if we don't want to do it ourselves, I'm sure that other vet practices will also offer the same service if you ask them.
Frontline is also available for Dog's too and is available on prescription from Vet surgeries. Although im not too sure how much the Frontline for dogs costs. I presume it wont cost much more than the cat treatment.
Thanks for reading
:o) Lisa x
© just.bcoz
2008
very helpful
very helpful
