Which product are you using for dog fleas?'

[Ruby M]

I´m using Advantage over switching from Frontline for a few years. I have two dogs and I haven't had any problems with fleas or ticks on them, and mosquitoes don't even set on them for more than two seconds. What are you guys using??

[PawsitivePet]

I use a spray of diluted essential oils. In the event any of my animals do bring in fleas, I do use Advantage on them. My Mini Schnauzer did come in once last summer with a couple of fleas on him so I did use the Advantage, but, in the past three years, I've only applied it twice to my animals.

[Owen Enterprises]

The truth is I am old enough to tell you all the products we have now for fleas are much better than what we had 30 years ago. That said there are differences I think we should look at. If ticks are part of your problem you are limited to a smaller number of products. In my case ticks are a concern so I use Frontline Plus.

However there are three things I want from a flea product

• Kills fleas well
• Last for a long time without reapplication
• Has a wide margin of safety for the users

The fact is they all kill fleas well. That is great news.

Capstar is disqualified from my list because it is in the system only 24 hours and then I must adminster it again.

Here is where we are slipping. We are presuming that because it is being sold it is safe. Are we burying our head in the sand? We need to research the chemicals in these products. One of the active ingredients in Advantix and Bio Spot for dogs is Permethrin. The link is for you that want to read for yourself the dangers of the insecticide including cancer.

In fact cats laying against a dog treated with these products can in some cases absorb enough product to actually result in a toxic reaction and death.

This raises several questions in my mind.

• Can my children absorb these chemicals over time from the dog?
• Could they possibly cause cancer in me or my children later?
• Are health problems such as cancer in the dog related to these products?

The truth is I don't know. I am going to use either Frontline or Advantage which to date has been shown to be user friendly.

By the way Permethrin is used in nearly all the over the counter flea products. You need to read the label if this concerns you like me.