Here are some additional questions often asked by clients that you should be able to answer.

1. On a given dog or cat, sometimes the fleas look smaller than average. Are these baby fleas?
   
   Remember the flea life cycle. The fleas you see on a dog or cat are adult fleas. They vary in size depending on the nutrients they got in prior development as well as individual genetic make-up. Adult fleas have an exoskeleten made of chitin (as do all insects). They can’t grow bigger than they are.
   
    
2.  I put the topical product on the dog  3 weeks ago but now I’m seeing fleas again.  Do I need to put more on?
   
   Remember how these products work. In the first 20 days or so, the topicals reliably kill fleas before they have a chance to bite the host. In the last 10 days, the don’t kill as quickly. Seeing fleas does not mean the product isn’t working and this person definitely should not reapply the product more frequently (they will get resistance).  If they don’t like seeing any fleas at all in the last 10 days of the topical application, a few Capstar^® tablets for home use ought to take care of this situation.
   
    
3. Is it OK to save money by getting a large tube of one of the topical products and dividing it up with a syringe into smaller doses?
   
   There is some confusion with all the products that are available. Some are licensed as insecticides (through the EPA) and some are licensed as drugs (through the FDA).  Of those that are drugs, some are “over-the-counter” and some are “prescription.”  Advantage^® and Frontline^® are insecticides. They may not be used in any manner other than the way they are labeled. Larger sizes cannot be broken up into smaller doses legally.
   
   The products that are labeled as drugs include: Program^®, Revolution^®, and Capstar^®. These products can be used with some leeway according to the doctor’s discretion only.
   
    
4. Why is buying product from the internet or from the pet supply store some kind of a big deal?
   
   With the flea product revolution of 1995, the market for flea products changed from being primarily pet supply store / over-the-counter outlets to primarily directly through veterinarians. The pharmaceutical companies like this arrangement as they feel that their products are now being marketed by trained personnel who can explain best how the product should be used or not used. The veterinarians also like this arrangement as they have more input regarding what their patients are using. The pet supply stores do not like this arrangement at all as they have lost their market-share.  In an effort to gain it back, they have resorted to a number of black market techniques (paying large sums of money to veterinarians to order product for them, going to other countries to buy product and smuggling it back to the U.S. for re-sale, even counterfeiting product). We caution any one who buys flea products from a black market source. Product purchased through pet supply stores or from an online source that is not a veterinary hospital is not guaranteed by the manufacturer.

Last updated: August 31, 2002