Frontline vs Advantage: Which one is best for fleas? And how do they work?

March 4, 2010 7:23 PM

Frontline vs Advantage: Which one is best for fleas? And how do they work?

I can't find a decent article about Frontline vs. Advantage. How do these products work? Is there something better? My cat is allergic to fleas (she gets a rash from them) and we just want the best solution.

posted by aburd to pets & animals (12 answers total)

I tried all the over-the-counter stuff and none of it worked for my cat. In my experience, both Frontline and Advantage killed some of the fleas, but did not solve the problem. What worked for my cat was Revolution, which gets rid of all of fleas and ear mites and heartworm and a bunch of other problems. It's by prescription only, so you'll have to go to the vet to get it, but it's been well worth it for me.
posted by ourobouros at 8:19 PM on March 4, 2010

Comfortis worked for my dog, when frontline and advantage did no.
posted by quodlibet at 8:21 PM on March 4, 2010

Ah, and here's a pretty thorough flea product comparison if you haven't already found it.
posted by ourobouros at 8:25 PM on March 4, 2010 [2 favorites]

Both products travel through the fatty layer of the skin, and reside in the tissue for up to a month. The fleas ingest the product when they bite your pet.

There are risks associated with all of the products. I will only use them if I notice a problem (which happens very rarely for me, knock on wood).
posted by bolognius maximus at 9:46 PM on March 4, 2010

Oh, and I would never, NEVER use one of the products that you can buy OTC at Petsmart or Walmart or anything like that. Lots of pet deaths associated with these products, as they are very toxic.
posted by bolognius maximus at 9:47 PM on March 4, 2010

Seconding revolution instead. It's what my vet recommends, and it worked well.
posted by Tooty McTootsalot at 5:18 AM on March 5, 2010

Advantage. Definitely advantage. I had chronic flea problems with my cat here in FL on Frontline. Advantage (actually advantage multi) gets rid of 90% of the fleas--I've found a couple, but they're always so on the verge of dying when I do (as opposed to spritely and jumpy when he was on frontline).

If you just want to get them off to start with, I'd recommend a product called capstar. It's administered in a pill and you can actually see the fleas falling off the kitty. Follow that up with advantage, and do what you can to control fleas in the environment (through vacuuming and bombing) and you should be good.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 5:25 AM on March 5, 2010

My dog is also allergic to fleas and gets a rash that she would spend all day licking. Our vet recommended an OTC topical anti-itch cream (wish I could remember what we used, sorry!) and that seemed to soothe her skin enough for the Frontline to do its dirty work. We've also used Revolution with successful results. So maybe ask your vet if there is something you could put on/give to Kitty to ease the allergic reaction?

We never tried Advantix, mostly because the Frontline was the first of the type that we tried and it seemed to work fine.

Our vet explained that one of the differences between brands, especially between the recognized "name" brands and the cheaper off-brands (BioSpot was one we tried with poor results) is the name brands work longer, so you don't have to reapply as often. Not only did that awful BioSpot not work as well, but we had to reapply almost every 2 weeks. With Frontline, we stick to pretty much a 4-5 week schedule.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 5:45 AM on March 5, 2010

I'm late to the party, but Advantage worked for me (flea-free within a couple of days!) while Frontline didn't do squat. YMMV based on the fleas in your area, believe it or not, so don't be discouraged if something doesn't work for you.

Avoid all things Hartz.
posted by phatkitten at 6:02 AM on March 5, 2010

Advantix Advantage. Sorry.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:17 AM on March 5, 2010

the truth about *CAT* and *DOG* flea treatments:

I know I'm late, but I buy Hartz or Sergeant, whatever's at the grocery store. advantage costs like $11/dose and I have 5 cats. OTOH Hartz/Sergeant is like $10/12 for 3 doses and is, AFAICT, pretty much as effective. we don't have fleas in the house and Mr. Sensitive doesn't chew all the hair off his ass.

as to the toxicity/pet deaths/etc, I read extensively on this before going cheap and exposing my dear friends to these evil chemicals. turns out most of the problems were due to Hartz/Sergeant failing to make the packaging of the *cat* version visually different enough from the *dog* version. the dog version is *fatally toxic* to cats.

so, with that in mind, if price is a consideration, get the grocery store kind that kills both fleas and flea eggs, and make sure you get the *cat* version, if what you have is cats. if you put the *dog* version on a cat, the cat will die in agony.
posted by toodleydoodley at 7:04 AM on March 5, 2010

*Warning*

NEVER use Advantix on a cat. Advantix is NOT the same as Advantage.

I watched a relative's poor cat suffer from someone who made this mistake. The cat lived through it, but what happened was one of the worst things I've ever seen an animal endure. The poor cat spent hours having a massive seizure while breathing very heavily and occasionally vocalizing something unearthly. I try to make sure to mention this any time I encounter the discussion of flea treatments.

Please check the active ingredients on anything before you apply it and ensure it is safe to use on your type of pet.
posted by joquarky at 2:52 PM on March 5, 2010