The New Zealand and United Kingdom websites do address safety concerns on their Q&A pages. However, these side effects are not addressed anywhere on the US website for Frontline. There are many concerns about possible side effects, the most common being skin reactions like hair loss, itching, and redness, and neurological issues like uncoordinated movement and lethargy. The idea is that the animal won’t be able to reach back and ingest the liquid, but at the same time, the liquid will spread over the body and be absorbed into the oil glands of the skin where it is gradually released. It’s applied by breaking open the plastic vial and dispensing the oily liquid between the animal’s shoulder blades. If you have a rabbit or other pet, note that Frontline is highly toxic to rabbits and Frontline is labeled “Do Not Use On Rabbits. Merial also produces Heartgard to prevent heartworm, NexGard, a chewable flea and tick poison that was released in 2013, and a series of vaccines for cats.Īltogether, Sanofi reported a net profit on these products of $706 million in 2015.įrontline Plus is used monthly on dogs and cats. Frontline Plus also contains S-methoprene, a compound that has been in use since 1977 that stops juvenile insects from turning into adults. Since then, it has been integrated into a wide variety of products including “pesticide products, granular products for grass, gel baits, spot-on pet care products, liquid termite control products, and products for agriculture,” the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) says.įrontline Plus is produced and owned by Merial, the animal subsidiary of Sanofi, a multinational pharmaceutical company. It was introduced into the market in 1993. The main active ingredient in Frontline Plus, fipronil, was developed between 19 by Rhone Paulenc AG as a broad-use insecticide. Tick-borne illnesses are Lyme Disease, Ehrlichia, anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever or babesiosis. With regard to allergic reactions, “most of these reactions are mild and don’t require treatment” she added.ĭr Lichtenberg warns that by choosing to use more natural protection against ticks or fleas, your dog will get more ticks and be at a greater risk for developing tick-borne illness. “There is no evidence to suggest that Frontline causes cancer or other serious diseases,” says Dr Deborah Lichtenberg, a vet from Massachusetts. The Controversyĭespite the cases that are well known, some conventional vets disagree with concerns over the safety of Frontline. She’s found that after she treats an animal for any type of problem, particularly behavioral or neurological, if the owners apply Frontline or other similar pesticide products, the symptoms that she’s treated come back. She has strong concerns over its toxicity to the pet and she has confidence in the efficacy of alternative methods. She’s only recommended it on three occasions in her 30 years of practice. On examining the cat, she found him to be very lethargic and when he started to walk, he had a very uncoordinated gait.ĭr Chambreau advises her patients to avoid using Frontline. They found him under a bench “looking like a puddle,” Dr Chambreau said. She told the story of a friend’s cat who had received Frontline Plus two or three hours earlier and went missing while she was visiting. “The first response of the body when the patient develops a toxic load is to discharge from the body via the eyes, the ears, the skin and through loose stool … these discharges make a great medium for bacterial and yeast growth (which live naturally on your dog’s body)”ĭr Christina Chambreau is another vet from Maryland who has seen similar cases and has a similar attitude towards the product. Ramelmeier stopped using it after seeing a connection between its use and cases like this.ĭr Ramelmeier says the owners would often complain when their animals developed an oily and sticky coat soon after applying the product. This is a typical story about Frontline Plus that led Dr Jennifer Ramelmeier to change the way she looked at the treatment. The dog dies from liver cancer two years later. When the dose of Frontline is repeated, the dog develops an ear infection that improves after about six months, but never goes away. Typical Frontline Plus Cases And The ImpactsĪ five-year old Golden Retriever is brought to the veterinarian with ear and eye discharge three weeks after receiving a dose of Frontline Plus. If you’re thinking about using Frontline Plus, a topical pharmaceutical used to kill fleas and ticks, on your own dog, you’re going to want to read this first. The bigger issues is, these treatments often do more harm than good. Lots of people turn to chemical spot on treatments to combat the problems. Fleas are a pain (literally) – a nightmare that all dog owners face at some point.
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