Advantage flea treatment is manufactured by Bayer and is the brand name for imidacloprid, an insecticide. It’s one of the safest and most effective treatments currently available for the prevention of dog fleas but some dogs might exhibit adverse reactions to this medication.
Advantage Flea Treatment
Advantage flea control is a monthly treatment that should be applied between the shoulder blades of your pet to rid him of fleas. You should ensure that you only use the advantage flea treatment on pets above the age of 7 months. It’s a relatively inexpensive treatment that costs about $50 for 4 months of application.
How Advantage Works
The active ingredient present in Advantage acts on the nervous system of the fleas. It’s effective in paralyzing and subsequently killing more than 98 percent of the flea population on your pet within 12 hours of application. Since the fleas are killed before they can lay eggs on your pet, their life cycle is broken in multiple stages.
This treatment is so effective that it stops fleas from biting your pet within 5 minutes of application and flea larvae are killed with 20 minutes of application. Advantage flea treatment is waterproof. It continues to be effective even if your pet gets wet and needn’t be reapplied.
Benefits of Using Advantage Flea Treatment:
- It’s easy to use
- It’s inexpensive
- It’s easily available in local stores and pharmacies
- It’s an over the counter medication
- It eradicates fleas on your pet within 12 hours of application and kills the larvae as well
Side Effects of Advantage Flea Treatment
Although Advantage flea treatment is considered safe, some dogs might develop an adverse reaction to this treatment. Since the medication is applied to your pet’s skin, it can be absorbed by the skin and enter the pet’s body. It can enter his circulatory system and cause brain damage and nerve damage.
What to Watch For
You should be alert for symptoms such as dilation of the pupils, irritation in the eyes, excessive salivation or drooling, vomiting, diarrhea and skin irritation. Your pet might also appear non-responsive, suffer from seizures, snap at the air, shake uncontrollably and have difficulty in breathing. Other side effects can include loss of appetite, itching, biting or chewing at the application site, rash at the application site and lethargy. An increase in thirst is also one of the symptoms of an adverse reaction to Advantage flea treatment.
Precautions with Advantage
Most pets have adverse reactions to Advantage flea treatment only if the treatment is not used as advised by the manufacturers. It’s important to apply the medication between your pet’s shoulder blades to minimize the risk of your pet licking the medication off and inadvertently ingesting it. It’s also important to consider the size and age of your dog and use the medication accordingly.
Although the active ingredient, imidacloprid, is deemed safe for use, some of the inert ingredients are not tested rigorously. In addition, manufacturers of flea products are not required by law to list inert ingredients on their labels even if they might be toxic. Such undisclosed ingredients might be unsafe for use on your pet and the neurological damage caused by them may be permanent.
If your pet exhibits any symptoms of an adverse side effect to Advantage flea treatment, you should wash him with a mild shampoo and pour large amounts of warm water over him to wash out the medication. You should also take him to the vet at the earliest, for treatment.