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MODES OF TREATMENT: A HISTORY
In older times, we were limited to sprays, foams, collars, and dips. Those days are thankfully long gone, and thanks to thorough advertising campaigns from the major flea product manufacturers, most
pet owners know this.
In today’s world, flea control is largely confined to TopSpot type treatments and Oral medication.
TOPSPOTS: IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS PRO-SPOT
The so-called Spot-ons or TopSpot products use oils containing insecticides. These products can either “translocate” meaning they dissolve in the body’s natural skin oils and spread by
themselves over the pet’s entire body, or they can be absorbed into the bloodstream.
The first such product was from the animal health division of Bayer and was called Pro-spot. It used an organo-phosphate insecticide and was of the type that was absorbed through the skin and into the
bloodstream. A flea took a bite of the host and was poisoned. Unfortunately, the large animal version (called “Spot-on”) was often used in small animal practice as a less expensive alternative sometimes
with toxic results. Many veterinarians liked the application format but feared toxicity. Pro-spot was never widely used.
THEN THERE WAS EX-SPOT
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In the early 1990’s DEFEND EXspot was created using an insecticide called permethrin. This product was completely topical, spreading by translocation, and was pretty effective.
This format was viewed as a miracle and the product became tremendously popular. The problems with it, though, were: 1) it was only for dogs 2) it used a 30 year old insecticide for which resistance
was rapidly developing.
This product is still available to this day as are a number of “knock-offs.” They have largely been made obsolete by the new generation insecticides which took flea control
to a new level of safety as well as efficacy.
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Please familiarize yourself with the review of Over-the-Counter flea control products available here.
THE REVOLUTION OF 1995
The demise of the Over-the-Counter market began in 1995 with the introduction of Program® (lufenuron), a tablet that, when
given monthly with food, could sterilize any flea that fed on a treated host. This product does not kill fleas and thus does not produce rapid results, which led to some customer
dissatisfaction. However, this product, when combined with a product that does kill fleas, creates a second break in the flea life cycle, and is able to keep fleas resistant to the primary insecticide
from passing on their resistance genes.
One can certainly argue that any pet can benefit from a flea preventive such as this no matter what other products they may be using.
Program® administration was problematic for cats. The oral formulation for cats was a liquid
meant to be mixed with food but many cats found this objectionable. The pills originally marketed for dogs have since been approved for feline use but the larger doses of lufenuron
required for cats mean that cats had to take pills manufactured for large dogs. In other words, the cat was expected to take a pretty large pill. The introduction of a six month injectable has
helped to solve the issue of giving cats unpleasant tasting liquids or large tablets.
ORAL PROGRAM® ONLY WORKS WHEN GIVEN ON A FULL STOMACH.
The year following the introduction of Program®, Advantage® was introduced. The next
year brought Frontline®, Revolution®, and the most recent topical addition has been
FrontlinePlus®.
It is crucial that you become completely familiar with all four of these products. Know what additional parasites they treat, the age a young animal can begin them, etc.
We have prepared a comparison chart of these products here. Commit the information
on this chart to memory as it will be used in daily conversation with the pet owning public.
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AND FINALLY CAPSTAR®
Capstar® does not quite fit with the other products as it does not have the same use. The “big four” are aimed at long term control which is what most pets require.
Occasionally you will need a short-acting very rapid flea control (such as when a pet is freshly adopted and the new owner does not wish to bring home fleas or when a flea burden is so
heavy you do not trust the flea bath to kill 100% of the fleas).
Capstar® is an oral medication that begins killing fleas in 20 minutes. It is licensed for any puppy or kitten weighing 2 lbs or more in size and costs the client only a few
dollars per administration. The important concept here is that it does not last beyond the few hours that it is in the pet’s system.
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We will not require you to know about flea collars, foams, shampoos, sprays, foggers and other products that are now obsolete.
You do need to know all about the following products:
You need to know which are oral and which are topical, what their active ingredients are, which are waterproof, how long they last after a single application, and how young an
animal must be to use each. We have linked each to its respective web site to facilitate your study.
Last updated: August 31, 2002
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