This is where the old saying comes in handy, “an ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure”...and a lot of work, as well. In the old days we had flea powders, and commercial brand collars that you picked up at the local department store. Neither one of them worked very well, and actually posed health hazards for owners and pets when ingested or inhaled.
We are fortunate now, to have a wide range of choices in preventing flea infestations. For those who prefer not to go the chemical route, there are Program pills, and more recently injections. The pills are good for one month, and the injections, for several. Program’s basic “ingredient” is actually a flea hormone, which when ingested by a flea that bites your pet(since they must have a blood meal to reproduce), enters their system and then prevents the shell of the flea egg from hardening enough for the eggs to hatch. While it doesn’t kill the fleas immediately, it puts an end to the life cycle. Fleas themselves do not live that long, so that when any adults present have died, There will be no offspring to follow them.
The ingredients in Program do not “bind” to an animal’s organs and will cause no side effects if accidentally overdosed. It has also been used in pregnant and nursing animals by some breeders, although this type of use should always be checked out with your veterinarian, who may prefer an alternative treatment at that time. Another side benefit, discovered only in the last year or so, is that Program has proven effective in treating Ringworm, a nasty and highly contagious skin condition that is transferable between humans and animals. Studies have found that the same ingredient which prevents a flea egg shell from hardening, also prevents the basic structure of the fungus from completing its formation.
On the chemical list, there are products such as Advantage, and Revolution. Both work in the same manner, being a very small tube of liquid that is placed on the back of a cat’s neck, or the neck and along the spine of a dog. These are given as being effective for one month, although effectiveness may be diminished by bathing of the pet. Advantage deals
