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Bramble

Spot on Flea Treatment Side Effects?

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Hi!

I just wondered if anyone has ever noticed their dog having a reduced appetite after applying spot on flea treatments? I used the Bob Martin one on Willow on Friday and she was distinctly off colour and ate very little over the weekend. I hadn't made the connection until a colleague mentioned in. Of course it could be coincidence, and I have emailed Bob Martin to ask them, but but I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has had this problem. This is the first and last time I will use it anyway, back to Frontline for us, I think!

THanks everyone!

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The vet used Frontline on my cat Scamp a couple of years ago and she had a nasty skin reaction which meant that she scratched a huge hole in her shoulder. The vet reported this to the company and all treatment was paid for by them. These type of products do work by going into the animal's bloodstream therefore it is possible that it may not agree with her. I would check with the vet.

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Bob Martin and Frontline both use Fibronil as the active ingredient.

 

It depends which Bob Martin product you used. The Double Action Spot on uses Imidacloprid, the new Fleaclear contains Fiprinol and the older spot on contains Permethrin. There is a procedure for reporting possible side effects here: Click It is of course quite possible that it is a coincidence. Keep a close eye on her in case something else is brewing :) If you have used FleaClear and you do think that she had a reaction, don't use Frontline next time as it is essentially the same. You would be better off using the Double Action or Advantage which are essentially the same.

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Thank you all SO much!

I am not wanting to blame the BM definitively as it may have been a coincidence ... I will let you know when I hear back from them. I am due at the vet's with Willow on Thursday anyway (vaccinations!) so will take the packet with me and ask advice there too.

The one I used says it is Permethrin based not Fiprinol so will check with the vet what she recommends to use in future (I'm not going to risk this problem with BM again though, coincidence or not :anxious: I'm sorry I used it this time :( )

Thank you all for not shouting at me :oops:

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The side effects of permethrin are usually mild and localised the the skin where it has been applied. Dogs can however also get a variety of symptoms if they are sensitive to it. The symptoms that you are describing would be amongst them. If she is well now I would just make sure that you don't use it again. You are not going to gain anything from bathing it off her now as it has been on for too long. Do still keep an eye on her is she isn't 100% - she should not be vaccinated if she isn't 100% either :D

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Thank you very much!! I did wonder about the vaccinations, but will keep the appointment with the vet as I'd like to discuss this with her anyway. I started to make the connection yesterday with the Spot On stuff so did make an attempt to wash off any residue, but as you say, I suspect it had been on too long. WIll is definitely picking up, she is happily munching through a pig's ear :vom: as I type, which is not something she would have done over the weekend. In a way, I'm relieved if it's "only" a reaction to this permethrin stuff and not something more serious, if you know what I mean, I shall keep away from that in future!!

Can't tell you how grateful I am for your advice!!

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To be honest it is not a great spot on anyway

 

Totally agree with that...the Bob Martin Spot-Ons are awful...burnt our poor puddy cat's skin :( We don't like using chemicals on our animals and don't use anything on our dogs but we feel we need to treat Coco as she's always bringing flea-ridden mice in :roll: and heaven knows what she gets up to when she's out at night :? so we treat her with Advocate.

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Systemic products are more likely to cause a reaction than other medicines. I have heard of a new flea treatment similar to Frontline Combo, but using different ingredients; it has caused some dreadful side effects. I am trying to remember the name.... :think:

 

LBB has given me two Tansy plants; apparently rubbing the leaves on your dogs repels fleas and other bugs. It is certainly aromatic (in a nice way) so I'll try it when the plants are bigger.

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We used a new one called Certifect made by Merial the manufacturers of Frontline (%Combo). I don't use spot ons usually as miraculously my dog never gets fleas (touch wood). I sometimes put one on when I am given a freebie by some drugs company. Anyway we used Certifect as we were taking her to the South of France and they really do need complete protection there as there are some nasty diseases they can pick up. The smell of the spot on was really overpowering and our poor dog became quite depressed for 24 hours. I can only imagine that what my nose could pick up was much less than her ultra sensitive nose, poor girl. I won't be using it again and will be feeding back to Merial. I don't suppose they can do much about the smell now though :anxious:

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That's interesting, thanks DM, I certainly won't be using anything that I haven't bought from the vet from now on. I'm liking the sound of the tansy though, that really is worth a go - garlic in the food is supposed to have a repellent effect (on fleas, not on anyone else, hopefully!!! :lol: ) and I understand that a dab of lavendar essential oil on the collar can do similar? Will definitely be looking out for tansy plants though ...

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That's it CM! Couldn't remember the name; there was talk on a lurcher forum of nasty side effects and when you google it, lists of problems come up,, some quite severe.

 

Bramble, lots of my friends use garlic in their dog's food regularly and swear by it as a repellent; our hounds are always in the undergrowth so they are more likely to pick up fleas and ticks than more sedentary hounds. Mine use Frontline Combo (as do the cats) and also have a wee bit of garlic in the food. They rarely pick up any crawlies, and if they do, the bugs soon die.

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Thank you CM and DM!!!

I have just ordered some Tansy seeds (put new coldframe together at the weekend so they'll be planted up and moving in there very soon, hopefully!!!) So thank you very much for that tip!!!!

DM, do you use dried garlic or does it need to be fresh, how much should I use? I put some dried garlic in the chucks' food from time to time so I've got plenty of that!!!

When I took Will for her booster I explained to the vet what I'd done :oops::oops: - she was really nice and said that if Will's had a reaction to spot on, then it might be as well not to use them at all, the vet said a single dog in a no-cat household should be relatively flea free, so I'm hoping that a good deterrent programme might mean I can relax a bit about going without Frontline or similar. Obviously if she gets fleas I will use Frontline, but hopefully this will be less necessary? :anxious:

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