Flea allergy is the most common cause of skin disease in dogs and cats. In New York State, pets are particularly affected during the spring, summer and fall.
Fleas are extremely prolific creatures. Adult females can lay between 50-60 eggs per day. During a flea's lifetime, it produces more than 1,000 eggs. It is easy to understand why flea infestation can occur in just a short period of time.
There are 4 stages in the life cycle of the flea: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Only one stage, the adult, lives on the animal. The remaining three stages live in the environment. In general, eggs, larvae, and pupa account for 90-95% of the total flea population in a home. For every flea that is found on a pet, there are about 100 immature fleas living in the environment.
Significant improvements have been made in the area of insecticides during the last decade. The newer chemicals, insect growth regulators (I.G.R.) and insect development inhibitors (I.D.I.), disrupt the maturation process of the flea. When these product are applied to the environment, the immature stages (eggs, larvae, pupae) do not develop into adult fleas. The advantage of these products is that the chemicals are less toxic for the animals and the environment, and more effective in controlling fleas.
Several new products have been developed for killing adult and pre-adult fleas. Two of these products, Advantage and Frontline are applied directly to the animal's skin. Unlike the older more toxic products, these products are not absorbed into the pet's bloodstream. They remain on the surface of the skin where they are toxic only to the fleas.
K9 Advantix® - A New Product that Protects Your Animal from Fleas, Ticks and Mosquitoes
K-9 Advantix® has recently become registered and available in New York State from Bayer Corp. It is a product made by combining Advantage (Imidacloprid), a monthly topical flea control product, with the ingredient permethrin. Both ingredients attack the nervous system of insects in different ways and have a synergistic effect making their effectiveness greater than the summation of the two. The resulting product applied monthly:
- Stops fleas from biting in less than 5 minutes.
- Starts killing fleas before they lay eggs
- Kills flea larvae in the dog’s environment.
- Repels ticks before they attach.
- Kills the repelled ticks.
- Repels mosquitoes and reduces feeding by as much as 95.2%.
- Kills mosquitoes.
Because the product repels fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes as well as kills them, treated dogs are less likely to develop skin diseases such as flea allergy dermatitis and chronic itching, and are less likely to develop diseases that are tick and mosquito borne including:
- Lyme disease
- Ehrlichiosis
- Heartworm disease
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
- Babesiosis
- Tularemia
- West Nile Virus
- Tapeworm infection
Safety issues with K-9 Advantix®:
- Is a topical medication that is not absorbed into the body. It remains in the lipid portion of the skin. This increases its safety in dogs.
- Affects the nervous system of insects and arachnids (ticks), but not the nervous system of dogs.
- Is safe for puppies as young as 7 weeks of age and dogs of any weight.
- MUST NEVER BE USED IN CATS. Cats cannot metabolize the permethrin portion of this product.
- To prevent ingestion by a cat which actively grooms a dog, separate the cat and dog for 12 hours after treating the dog.
- This product is extremely toxic to fish.
Application
- Small and medium sized dogs—apply over the shoulders in one location.
- Large and very large dogs—apply in three or four spots along the spine.
Questions
Customer Questions: 1-800-255-6826
Medical Emergencies: 1-877-258-2280
For controlling fleas and ticks, we recommend Advantix and Frontline Plus for Dogs and Frontline Plus for Cats. We also recommend Advantage for controlling fleas in cats.
