[Dailydrool] Flea prevention

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

I've just started giving our Elsinore and young Charlie Comfortis. So  
far so good. I've tried both Frontline and Advantage on Charlie and  
he still kept getting bitten. Several times a day he'd suddenly have  
to stop what he was doing and sit down and bite at himself, and I  
could see fleas on him. It must be his body chemistry because  
Elsinore did just fine on both medications.

The vet told me to try Comfortis. It's a monthly chewable, which is  
very nice for us humans. I've always wondered just how much of the  
liquid preventive was actually getting in through the dog's skin and  
how much was getting smeared on their fur and me. I hated the mess  
and stickiness that lingered for days after an application.

Comfortis is advertised as working within half an hour of being  
taken. The flea bites the dog and dies. The vet said that 12 percent  
of the dogs who take it will experience nausea or vomiting the first  
month and half of that 12 percent will feel yucky after taking it the  
second month. Elsinore and Charlie did fine on it. I followed the  
directions and gave it to them after a meal. No nausea that I could  
see and no vomiting. I started them on it last week and have noticed  
that Charlie's no longer biting himself and his fur on his back end  
doesn't look as if he's been going at it.

Because Elsinore is 49 pounds and Charlie 32, I had to buy a  
different box for each. Together a six-month supply for two dogs cost  
$188 from the vet. Another reason Elsinore's going to have to wait a  
little longer for her doggie door to be purchased and installed.

Elizabeth