Though they're supposed to do the same thing (kill fleas), Frontline and Advantix are two different products with different ingredients.
The websites are www.frontline.com and www.k9advantix.com
- they list the active ingredients there. Frontline is fipronil,
Frontline Plus also contains (S)-methoprene; Advantix is imidacloprid
and permethrin.
Fipronil is a broad spectrum insecticide that disrupts the insect central nervous system by blocking the passage of chloride ions through the GABA receptor
and glutamate-gated chloride (GluCl) channels, components of the
central nervous system. This causes hyperexcitation of contaminated
insects' nerves and muscles.
Methoprene is a juvenile hormone (JH) analog which can be used as an insecticide
that acts as a growth regulator. Methoprene is an amber-colored liquid
with a faint fruity odor which is essentially nontoxic to humans when
ingested or inhaled. It is used in drinking water cisterns to control
mosquitoes which spread dengue fever and malaria.
Imidacloprid is a systemic insecticide which acts as an insect neurotoxin and belongs to a class of chemicals called the neonicotinoids which act on the central nervous system
of insects with much lower toxicity to mammals. The chemical works by
interfering with the transmission of stimuli in the insect nervous
system.
Permethrin is a common synthetic chemical, widely used as an insecticide, acaricide, and insect repellent. It belongs to the family of synthetic chemicals called pyrethroids and functions as a neurotoxin, affecting neuron membranes by prolonging sodium channel activation. It is not known to rapidly harm most mammals or birds, but is dangerously toxic to cats[1][2] and fish.
***
Hmm. Maybe I should try garlic, though it's not recommended by many.
***
What about Capstar? It contains nitenpyram.
Nitenpyram is an insecticide used in agriculture and veterinary medicine to kill insect external parasites of livestock and pets.[2]
In veterinary medicine, it is used orally with dogs and cats to control fleas (often under the trade name Capstar[3]). After ingestion, it begins killing fleas within 30 minutes and kills every adult flea on the pet within 4 hours. The effects of this pill are approximately 24-48 hours.
It has no long-term residual activity and therefore is not effective as a
longer-term flea preventative. It is usually used to kill adult fleas
quickly on an infested animal to give immediate relief for a day. It is
then usually followed up with some other longer-term flea preventative
to prevent reinfestation.
*** [5/31/12]
Though Kimo looked OK (after a quick loo), saw a bunch of fleas on Jojo. Maybe they jumped from Kimo to Jojo? Anyway, decided to try Hartz UltraGuard Plus on Jojo. I had bought this in the past from Longs, but it didn't seem to have any effect when I tried it on Kimo. And since I wasn't using it anyway... So we'll see, but I'm not keeping my hopes up.
What's in this thing? According to the box, the active ingredients are Phenothrin and (S)-Methoprene.
(S)-Methoprene is also contained in Frontline Plus. See above.
From wikipedia:
Phenothrin, also called sumithrin, is a synthetic pyrethroid that kills adult fleas and ticks. It has also been used to kill head lice in humans. D-Phenothrin is used as a component of aerosol insecticides for domestic use.
Phenothrin is often used with methoprene, an insect growth regulator that interrupts the insect's biological life cycle by killing the eggs.
In 2005, the EPA canceled permission to use phenothrin in several flea and tick products, at the request of the manufacturer, Hartz Mountain Industries.[1][2] The products were linked to a range of adverse reactions, including hair loss, salivation, tremors, and numerous deaths in cats and kittens. In the short term, the agreement called for new warning labels on the products.
As of March 31, 2006, the sale and distribution of Hartz's
phenothrin-containing flea and tick products for cats has been
terminated. However, EPA's product cancellation order did not apply to
Hartz flea and tick products for dogs, and Hartz continues to use
phenothrin in a concentration of 85.7% in many of its flea and tick
products for dogs.
The product description on Amazon sounds good.
Fleas can lay up to 50 eggs a day, so it’s important to use a formula
that breaks the flea life cycle. Hartz UltraGuard Plus products contains
insect growth regulators (IGR) which kill flea eggs, larvae and pupae
to halt current infestations and prevent future reinfestations.
But the product gets a lot of bad reviews (with 3 five star reviews and 11 one star reviews)
Now I see a review which mentions PetArmor which has the same ingredients as Frontline, evidently sold by WalMart. Doesn't really seem much cheaper though. [Funny. Soon after posting this, I saw a commercial for PetArmor on TV. Just never paid attention before.]
Isabella uses Orange TKO which is all-natural. OK, what's that?
It's actually a citrus cleaner/degreaser made from the peel of the orange. Don't see anything on the website about fleas.
[6/1/12] More about using Frontline Plus and alternatives (see comments)
[6/15/12] Here's a site with information on the ingredients in flea & tick control products.
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