How Flea Prevention Medications Work

There are many flea medications out there today

. Frontline Plus, K-9 Advantix, and Advantage flea medication, plus many other name brands, are available for you to choose from. However, before buying these products for your pet, you should understand how these medications work.

More about Fleas

Though fleas usually only spend about 20% of the time actually on your pet for their blood feedings, they can cause your pet continual itchiness, irritation and pain. A flea can live up to a year long, and a female flea can lay up to 2,000 eggs in a lifetime. Needless to say, flea prevention should be a constant concern. There are 4 steps in a flea's lifewhen they are hatched from their eggs, they become larva; then they become a pupa, which is then encased in a cocoon. Then the flea emerges as an adult. While baths and sprays may kill adult fleas, they can rarely eliminate the eggs, larvae and pupae stages of a flea. That's where medications come in.

More About the Medicine

Each medication works in a slightly different way. For instance, let's examine the medication Frontline Plus. Frontline Plus contains Fipronil and the insect growth regulator (IGR) (S)-methoprene. Insect Growth Regulators stop flea eggs from hatching by imitating flea hormones. Frontline is a liquid that you apply to a small part of skin on your pet's neck. It spreads through the body through a process called translocation, in which the Fipronil collects in the oils of the skin and hair follicles, and continues to be released onto the skin and coat, which is how this flea medication can last a whole month.

Advantage is another type of flea medication. It is also applied to the skin every 30 days, but it works by targeting the flea's nervous system. It literally freezes the flea, and it dies within 12 hours. Advantage is considered a type of pesticide, but it is very safe to use on your pet. Both medications are very commonly used by veterinarians for flea prevention.

Considerations

There are many online stores who are offering cheap Frontline Plus and Advantage flea medications. Make sure that you are buying from a more local site, one that is preferably operated by a veterinarian, and one that is definitely guaranteed FDA and EPA approved.

by: Jeff Segraves

POST COMMENT