Applying Frontline Plus (timeline?)

[LovelyBay]

Bleck! I just pulled a tick off our puppy.

I used Frontline plus last summer and I felt it worked great. So I bought it again this summer and applied it April 15th to both dogs. I read the directions, but it didn’t say anything about how long to keep them out of the water after applying it. I was only able to keep them out of the for 2 days (they are labs and will lay in mud puddles to “swim” :winkgrin: ).

Later, I read online that you are supposed to put it on 4-7 days after they get wet, apply it, and then wait 4-7 days before they get wet again. Does anyone know if this is true? It’s almost been a month, so time to reapply, but I was going to take them to the river today for some exercise.

Oh and I called my vet and the weekend vet just told me to read the package, which I already did.

Sorry for the silly question. It’s expensive and I don’t want to waste it. At the same time, swimming in the best exercise for our injured dog, and I’d hate wait 2 weeks.

[lovey1121]

My vet says its a 48 hour window–no wet fur for 48 hrs. before or after application. I also got Preventic collars as per Meghan’s recommendation on this forum, sincewe have lots of ticks here. Got the collars at Amazon–they say they last 3 mos. Hope that helps!

[Equisis]

Yes, 48 hours should be sufficient. It is absorbed through the skin fairly quickly. Do make sure you’re buying the right size, as they make different ones for different sized dogs. I was also advised by my vet to treat monthly year round, and not just during the summer months. It is expensive, but I must say I used to pull ticks off her when I only treated summer, and now that I treat year round I never find ticks or any other sort of bug on her.

[wendy]

I thought it was the soap, namely no bathing, for 48 hours? not just water. Frontline has more or less stopped working here, we have to use expensive k9 advantix.

[CarolinaGirl]

I personally don’t bath my dogs 48 before or 48 after putting on topicals. And most topical flea treatments don’t soak into the skin per say, but soak into the hair follicles. So therefore I also bathe using a soap free shampoo. As using other types will strip the oils and clear out the hair follicles.
This is even more important if you’re using something like Advantage Multi which also has the monthly HW prevention in it.

[Equisis]

Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said skin- it is absorbed by the oil glands which are located in the skin, then spread through the hair follicles. This process takes up to 48 hours, and if the skin is too dry (from bathing or, depending on your dog’s skin, swimming) it won’t work properly.

[Dry_Clean_Only]

Ticks can still bite your dog, but it kills them. It can take up to 2 days for it to completely die and fall off. You can use a Preventic collar with it- it paralyzes the tuck mouthparts so that they can’t attach.

If no one at your vets office was willing to take the time to advise you on this stuff you need a new vet!

[LovelyBay]

It was just the weekend vet who didn’t want to deal with me. Ironically I had a similar experience at my doctors office last week. Is customer service a dying art?

This morning, when the normal vet was back in she said 2 days to be safe. I only have to use Frontline Plus for a few months because we don’t have ticks year round, and my dogs have never had fleas (probably because they spend more time on the couch than outside ) It’s so expensive to have two large dogs on it.

[BuddyRoo]

Because the medicine spreads via the oil coat on the skin, we advised (at the clinic) no baths 48 hours before or 48 hours after.

That said, Frontline doesn’t instantly kill ticks or fleas. They can still latch on. It can take up to 24 hours before the icky things die.

So if you’re in a Lyme infested area, it’s still a good idea to vaccinate for Lymes.

[LovelyBay]

Nope no Lymes

Luckily we don’t experience most tick borne illnesses here :).

I use the Frontline because I would rather find dead ticks on/near the dogs than live ones stuck to them. :yes: Bleck!

[Capriole]

Many people are finding Frontline is ineffective. I would try Advantix or Vectra next month.

[Kryswyn]

Many people are buying Frontline off of websites to save money and are getting a counterfeit knock off product. Also, a lot of the website product comes from Australia where it is shipped by boat and can be exposed to extreme heat and rendered ineffective.

As frugal as I am, I do only buy my Frontline Plus directly from my vet. Usually I can get a ‘buy 6 get 1(or 2) free’ deal. I bought 6 (got 2 free) last week. The $95 cost damn near killed me, but divided by 8, it was still cheaper than the nearest catalog price for 6 of the same size.

[LovelyBay]

My vet (really small) doesn’t actually carry things like Frontline, and she just tells me to buy it at the feedstore. I bought a 6 month so 3 mo for 2 dogs) supply from Amazon.com for $75 I think. I’ll definately look into ordering something else once I’ve used this up.
Thanks guys!