Petarmor plus? Anyone know about it?

[pitsnok]

I'm wondering if anyone has used, or has heard anything about the new petarmor stuff I have been seeing commercials for...supposedly it is the same as frontline, but "about half the cost" and only available at wal mart and sam's. Since we've run into this flea issue I'm thinking maybe we should just bite the bullet and go ahead and get them on some protection...but being that all three of the dogs are at different weights, we really can't afford frontline or advantix. Fleas and ticks have never been an issue for us so I've never felt like it was necessary To have them on another medication...but I've heard how hard the damn things are to get rid of, and I'm sure our neighbors aren't going to be making the same effort that we are to make sure they're gone, so maybe it's time to start them on something.

Any input is appreciated! Thank you

[iluvk9]

Never heard of it, but I STILL swear by the natural product NUPRO. I have dense woods along one side of my property, a small section of woods in my backyard, and Long Island is known for ticks and fleas (we have a lot of deer) and traffic that doesn't move (just needed to throw that in...).

[pitbullmamaliz]

And honestly, if I was going to go the chemical route, I wouldn't be getting anything from Wal-Mart or a pet store. I'm paranoid.

[plebayo]

I wouldn't risk putting an over the counter product on my dogs. If it makes one of your dogs sick you'll be spending more to save them than you would just buying advantage or frontline. Unfortunately that's the cost of having a multiple dog household, it's not cheap.

[Jenn]

I HAVE to use flea products on my dogs and thought Id give it a shot. The ingredients matched with Frontline, but I am not impressed & wont be buying it again.

[pitsnok]

Thanks, Jenn! Good to know!

I normally wouldn't ever buy anything like that from wal mart, or 'over the counter' even... Once when Degan was a puppy he had a serious allergic reaction to the hartz stuff... (yes, I am embarrassed to admit, I did try it...before I knew better though, of course)...Anyway that pretty much freaked me out about all topical flea and tick stuff, even if it's vet recommended. I would much rather try natural remedies that I know won't harm the dogs. In this case I feel a bit desperate since we suddenly got fleas...and although I CAN afford 'real stuff', I'm always down to save a buck or two if it's worth it! Because this new petarmor stuff is supposedly the same ingredients as Frontline (what everyone keeps telling me to get now that we have fleas...) I wanted to get some input on it. I'm far too paranoid to just go out and buy it without hearing some legitimate testimonials though!

[amalie79]

I recently read through another forum about this (can't remember which one) and there was of course at least one anecdotal report of a dog that had a bad reaction to the medicine, even though they'd been using Frontline for years. I know that dogs can develop reactions at any point to this sort of thing, so I reserve judgement. I do remember reading, however, that the product is made overseas (India, I believe) and since it is now over the counter, there's not a lot of regulation involved. So while the active ingredient itself may be fine, the additives could be the harmful part. I saw that Sentry is producing one that they sell at Petsmart/Petco that's called Fiproguard. It claims to be made in the US, for what that's worth.

Unfortunately, Frontline doesn't work well in our area anymore, though I still use it occasionally. I've been thinking for years now of treating the yard with diatomaceous earth (cheap food grade DE from the farmers coop) and the house with Fleabusters (boric acid derivative), and treating the animals with neem oil and DE. It's a lot of work (especially with 7 animals to douse), but the house is only treated once a year and I'd feel better about not putting so many chemicals on them if it does indeed work. And a bonus: fleas and ticks don't become immune to DE. It physically slices up their exoskeletons.

[pitsnok]

I have heard that salt, and borax do the same to the fleas and their exoskeletons... In my remedy search I have found a lot of pretty wacky things that people claim work like a charm... one being, spread coarse grained salt all over everything, furniture, carpet, etc... and leave it there for at least 24 hours (some people said a week) and then vacuum it up. Supposedly it slices their bodies and then they dehydrate, or something. I just can't figure out if you're just supposed to pretend like the stuff isn't everywhere and go about your business in a half inch of salt, or leave the house for that time...

With that being said, though... I'm not going to spread salt or borax all over my entire house... so, I'll just hope vacuuming does the trick.

I'm even weary about putting chemicals on the yard because of the dogs, but we always let it sit at least over night, (sometimes longer) to ensure that it is all dry and everything before letting the dogs out. One plus is that they really don't hang out in the grass much longer than it takes to do their business... after that they either jump in the pool or come right back inside. Spraying the yard always works though. We've never had a single flea up until now, and have probably only had two or three ticks ever. I guess we should have sprayed sooner this year.

We put ACV in their water... and it's hilarious to watch them drink it. You'd think we put cat pee in it or something... Boss and Harlow don't get that weirded out by it, but Degan will do anything he can to find a toilet instead (I have such a hard time understanding how THAT'S better! haha!) and starting today for the next few days I'm going to put a tiny bit of ACV on each of their food, too. After Boss's bath last night he seems to be mostly cleared up... I've seen a couple random ones here and there today, but considering how many he had on him last night it's like a 99% improvement.

Ugh, I'm just REALLY hoping this goes away quickly. I'm really grossed out by fleas... I have been since I was in elementary school and a girl from class had a sleepover... her house was probably not legally inhabitable... and I remember looking down at the carpet and it looked like it was moving because their were so many fleas...Needless to say, I stayed outside on the swingset ALL night long with another friend... and since then, I've been traumatized haha.

I did write a facebook message to my neighbor who is like 21 and lives with his family... they have a big chocolate lab and even though she's hardly ever outside anymore, I can't help thinking the fleas came from her...I didn't say that of course, they could have always come from a stray cat or a squirrel or something. I just told him we have found fleas and they should check Abby, and that we are going to spray the yard so they should be extra on the lookout for bugs evacuating... None of our other immediate neighbors have pets, so that's good... I just didn't want the fleas to keep lingering at the neighbor's house because they didn't take care of it.


gah who knew so much could be written about fleas?

[amalie79]

I'm even weary about putting chemicals on the yard because of the dogs, but we always let it sit at least over night, (sometimes longer) to ensure that it is all dry and everything before letting the dogs out. One plus is that they really don't hang out in the grass much longer than it takes to do their business... after that they either jump in the pool or come right back inside. Spraying the yard always works though. We've never had a single flea up until now, and have probably only had two or three ticks ever. I guess we should have sprayed sooner this year.

That's teh beauty of diatomaceous earth. While I haven't used it, I know people who swear by it. It's food grade-- a lot of folks use it on their pets' food because it will kill internal parasites. You can put it on the animals, in teh animals, so it's safe for the yard. It does cut up the exoskeleton and they dehydrate. I refuse to spray chemicals, so our yard is a mosquito's paradise. I'm thinking of trying hte garlic spray this year. I know I must sound like a crazy new age hippy dippy nut case, but I'd rather try the harmless stuff first.

[pitsnok]

haha you really don't! it's funny that i find myself agreeing with you, because i've never really been one to worry about things like that, but i guess being responsible for the health/lives of other creatures brings out my inner flower child, haha.

[iluvk9]

I'm really grossed out by fleas...

Oh, come on now. Make a positive out of this and start your own flea circus.

I did write a facebook message to my neighbor who is like 21 and lives with his family... they have a big chocolate lab and even though she's hardly ever outside anymore, I can't help thinking the fleas came from her...

Hey, let's not blame the Lab.

[pitsnok]

Not the lab, just the only other animal in the immediate vicinity! (She does have pretty long hair though!)