# Frontline??



## napoleonsbird (Jul 12, 2012)

I took my gorgeous 14 yr old cat Stinker to the vet today, she's been losing condition and her back legs have become weak (waiting for blood test results)
While we were chatting about her I mentioned her monthly Frontline treatment, he advised me to use Advantage in the future and expressed concern for an increase in numbers of sick cats and Frontline use.

Has anyone else heard anything about Frontline??


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## codyann (Jan 8, 2011)

napoleonsbird said:


> I took my gorgeous 14 yr old cat Stinker to the vet today, she's been losing condition and her back legs have become weak (waiting for blood test results)
> While we were chatting about her I mentioned her monthly Frontline treatment, he advised me to use Advantage in the future and expressed concern for an increase in numbers of sick cats and Frontline use.
> 
> Has anyone else heard anything about Frontline??


I normally use frontline and its brilliant my vet recommended I use Advantage so I did and I still found fleas on mine, and I wouldn't use it again. hope stinker is ok, bless her, and BTW brillaint name bet you get a few laughs at the vets when you get called.


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## napoleonsbird (Jul 12, 2012)

I do get a few laughs. The receptionists love the name and I'm continually explaining she doesn't smell but was a little stinker to my older cats when she was a kitten. 

Frontline works for us but the vet seems to think there is a link to Frontline and illness in the cats he's been seeing. 

Stinks is ok and I will get the results soon, I'm preparing myself for liver or kidney problems


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## nightkitten (Jun 15, 2012)

Although I use Advantage which works fine for my cat I have never heard of anything negative of Frontline. I only picked up the last pack this Monday and the nurse asked me if I wanted Advantage or Frontline.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

The only negative thing I have heard/read about frontline is that it has been less effective and fleas are becoming resistant to it.


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> I mentioned her monthly Frontline treatment, he advised me to use Advantage


Wondering if he didn't have Frontline in stock to sell  No harm in him suggesting Advantage instead but no need to make up an excuse for it.


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

Vets can't stock everything. It follows that they tend to prescribe or recommend what they stock.


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## anotheruser (Aug 17, 2011)

Has anyone tried Eliminall yet?

Animed Banner:


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> Has anyone tried Eliminall yet?


It's Fipronil just the same as Frontline. Even Bob Martin flea treament is now Fipronil.


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## Treaclesmum (Sep 26, 2011)

If a vet says they are concerned about Frontline (or any other product), it's best to listen in case they do have a point...!! Better safe than sorry!! Unless you have a cat who's always used Frontline and been fine, but even so, best to keep an eye out for any problems! Vets after all do get to see alot more animals with health problems than any owner ever will, so they're probably the only ones who can make the connection between a health problem and a certain product.


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

One can only hope they are reporting it then. There are so many Frontline lookeylikeys that Fipronil is now sold in supermarkets. It would be unlikely that the only problem with Fipronil is that which is packaged as Frontline unless they happened to have a bad batch.


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## napoleonsbird (Jul 12, 2012)

havoc said:


> Wondering if he didn't have Frontline in stock to sell  No harm in him suggesting Advantage instead but no need to make up an excuse for it.


I thought of that too or possibly on commission :laugh:


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## napoleonsbird (Jul 12, 2012)

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I do think that I will use Advantage in the future as advised by the vet.

I was just wondering if anyone else had any negative feedback about health issues and it seems not.


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## Treaclesmum (Sep 26, 2011)

napoleonsbird said:


> Thanks for the feedback everyone.
> 
> I do think that I will use Advantage in the future as advised by the vet.
> 
> I was just wondering if anyone else had any negative feedback about health issues and it seems not.


Frontline does seem to have become less effective for lots of people, including friends of mine. I think they may have diluted it or added in another product!! So we can't assume it is the same as other products which use the same main ingredient.


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> So we can't assume it is the same as other products which use the same main ingredient


No, we can't assume - but the dosages are fairly well established and the contents are clearly labelled.


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## Treaclesmum (Sep 26, 2011)

havoc said:


> No, we can't assume - but the dosages are fairly well established and the contents are clearly labelled.


In that case, it should work as well as the other products! As it seems to be getting a poor reputation, there must've been changes of some kind, even if they haven't been declared!


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

You're absolutely right, it should. The strengths and amounts as labelled would have attracted the likes of Trading Standards if it wasn't right. I don't have any direct experience because I haven't seen a flea in years. It does strike me though that it has to be Fipronil that is now less effective rather than the brand Frontline and if so then all other Fipronil products are a waste of money.

I would like to see it tested properly. Everyone I know who uses it regularly for prevention doesn't seem to have a problem with it. Those who start to use it because they suddenly notice fleas on a cat will have an infested house and may, or may not, be taking appropriate action. Eggs hatch, fleas jump onto cat and take 24 hours to die, owner still sees fleas and reckons it isn't working. Maybe. I'm interested to see how long it will be before vets start suggesting Advantage doesn't work now that they no longer have a monopoly on sales. We'll see


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## cookiemom (Jun 23, 2011)

napoleonsbird said:


> I took my gorgeous 14 yr old cat Stinker to the vet today, she's been losing condition and her back legs have become weak (waiting for blood test results)
> While we were chatting about her I mentioned her monthly Frontline treatment, he advised me to use Advantage in the future and expressed concern for an increase in numbers of sick cats and Frontline use.
> 
> Has anyone else heard anything about Frontline??


Fipronil the active ingredient should not be applied to sick, debilitated or geriatric cats, as your girl is not in full health I would also be cautious to apply any other insecticide. If you have a serious problem with fleas you can treat the environment with daily hoovering, steam cleaning, application of non insecticidal flea spray - Skoosh or Wipeout, use a flea comb and drop the fleas into container with a small amount of water and washing up liquid.

I'd be interested to hear more of your vets experiences.


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## Dragonlady (Jul 5, 2010)

I used Frontline last year when a had a big flea problem inside my house and it worked ok. I heard it could be no more effective in many areas but obviously it still kills fleas in Slough.
Furthermore, Frontline used to be the only flea product accepted by UK border authorities (5 years ago, not sure what is the current situation), so obviously it doesn't have adverse effects on most pets.


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## MollyMilo (Feb 16, 2012)

I also started using advantage last year after frontline stopped working. 

i do want to try the 6 month injection of program but need to investigate it further. Meanwhile Ill treat Molly and Milo with advantage


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## sarahecp (Aug 22, 2011)

I've always used Frontline and not had a problem until recently, I found flea dirt on my boys, but no fleas, they were scratching quite a bit but not excessively. 

I did the usual things to prevent, hoovering daily, steam cleaning furniture, washing bedding and toys ect and combing the boys daily. 

After advice and recommendation on here I decided to change to Advocate, used it on the boys yesterday and have noticed no more scratching  I like that it treats worms too, I will just use an additional wormer for the tape worm that my vet advised every 6 months.


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## Banksy'sfriend (Jul 13, 2010)

I've just found out that Advocate contains a chemical banned in France and allegedly one of the causes of the collapse of the bee population - it was widely used as an insecticide. 

My cat doesn't like it much - but he didn't like Frontline either...

BF


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## koekemakranka (Aug 2, 2010)

I use frontline or an equivalent (fiprotec) and have not yet had problems with fleas. However, it is a possibility that fleas, over time, would become immune to the active ingredient. I don't think the ingredients have necessairly changed.


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## Charlie's mum (Dec 18, 2016)

I used Frontline for years then the pharmacist recommended Eliminall. The 1st dose a month ago was fine but last night 40 mins after the 2nd application, my little minipin was losing clumps of hair and had a red rash. I rinsed the Eliminall off immediately and put Savlon on the rash. Today Charlie is fine but I am taking him to the vets tomorrow for a checkup. He was in no way distressed or I would have taken him to the 24 hour vet. He has a 3" - 4" wide bald patch on his neck but his skin looks perfectly healthy. Frontline has methoprene in it whereas Eliminall does not. I don't know if this caused the reaction but I will have to find another way to protect him from fleas and ticks.
I hope this info is of some help!


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

I used front line on my cats for years with no problem then about three years ago front line became ineffective. Advantage sorted the fleas out and it became apparent from comments made my friends and local vets that the local fleas are resistant to fiprinil.

Front line now produces a new product called Front line plus which has a different active ingredient.

I haven't heard of any issues with frontline apart from the resistance issue. I no longer chemically treat my kitty that has ckd as the insecticide would be too much for her system. My other cat receives stronghold under supervision of the vet.


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