Flea treatment for dogs and insectmageddon

Just reading this:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/19/i-have-seen-the-decline-pesticides-linked-to-falling-uk-insect-numbers

My dog gets semi-regular doses of flea treatment from the vet. It’s incredibly effective, but now I wonder if it’s also helping to kill any invertebrate that comes in contact with him, either directly or indirectly.

What does the STW hive mind think?

Which treatment is it?

I have cats.  I’ve been through every flea powder, potion, bomb you can name.  The only ones I ever found to make the blindest bit of difference were the spot-on treatments.  Originally Frontline, but that’s stopped working, today it’s Advantage which is the go-to.  (Moot in any case for me now because our cats are all kept indoors).

Frontline and Advantage work the same way.  They don’t kill fleas, they break the hatching cycle.  So when the fleas die of natural causes, there are no new fleas to replace them.  I would suppose that it’s unlikely to trouble your average honey bee.  If you’re hosing your hound down with DDT it might be a different story. 😁

(ObDisclaimer: As I Understand It, I Am Not A Vet.)

… To paraphrase an old idiom: “google twice post once.”  It seems that they do kill fleas and tics also.

They’re a pesticide, they’re particularly bad if your dog goes in water, the pesticide washes off and kills bugs/eggs in the water.

Indoor cats here and we have an issue with the odd persistent flea on one cat out of four. He’s been regularly zapped with Advantage, but having spoken to the vet, we’ve got some Advocate just to finish the buggers off. Frontline doesn’t work as the fleas seem rather resistant.

Advocate is Advantage plus a worming treatment.

I use Cooper and Gracie natural flea and tick spray on Bert. His fur is double coated with a very fine undercoat that I’d think would be flea heaven. He’s brushed and groomed often (at home by me).

I only use it in the summer months, winter I don’t bother. He’s never had fleas and only has the odd tick. Quick spritz before we go out walking and take a bottle with us in caravan.

The last straw with our first vets was them recommending Bravecto.

I use pill form so not sure how that effects any that don’t try to live on him.

We dont bother with flea treatment for our two, working labradors.

How do the treatments actually work? I squirt a small, squeezy tube thing on the back of my dog’s neck. What happens next? Does that get absorbed and that’s how it kills bugs, or does it somehow spread out over the dog’s skin (which would seem to be a bit risky if it rains or the dog goes for a swim, as per @Houns’ comment)?

It gets absorbed into the bloodstream.

So presumably dog flea treatment isn’t a risk-factor for insects, other than those that choose to feed on said dog.

> So presumably dog flea treatment isn’t a risk-factor for insects, other than those that choose to feed on said dog.

I’m not an expert but I think any insects that come into contact with faeces, urine or fur (e.g. from swimming) are going to be in trouble. These things are systemic so they just sit around inside the animal, killing any and all insect life.

I’d go with having a very minimal effect on them having an effect, yes. Swimming for example the dog would surely have to bathed in the stuff to have any effect on the thousands of gallons of water it enters.

If it’s on or in the dog/cat whatever then it’s probably going to end up excreted in their poo. If the poo is not collected then insects will end up on the poo and ingest it.

Collection of said poo is obviously important but there are many cases where this doesn’t happen and it lays in the open.

The same kind of problem exists in horse manure, it’s quite likely to contain a pesticide that was on the grass fed to the horse. It passes through the horses and ends up on your roses or veg patch. Plants die or are deformed as a result

Aminopyralid Herbicide in Manure is Back

It’s not a new phenomenon, we are all familiar with how rat poison ends up killing raptors

It’s not a new phenomenon, we are all familiar with how rat poison ends up killing raptors

A poisoned animal is one thing, a tiny amount flea treatment in a dog that only effective for 3 months for the dog is another. I’m struggling to see how there would be enough excreted in urine or faeces to have an impact.

Collection of said poo is obviously important but there are many cases where this doesn’t happen and it lays in the open.

And once collected it….. vanishes?

That’s brilliant, how have I not seen that before?  Thanks for sharing.