Flea sprays

Spray against fleas - blood-sucking arthropods that attack your pets and your home - is an effective and easy-to-use external remedy that destroys these ectoparasites. As veterinarians note, dog and cat fleas must be fought, since their bites can cause deep scratching and dermatitis.

In addition, fleas, as intermediate hosts of nematodes and cestodes, can be a source of invasive diseases (helminthiasis).

Indications flea sprays

Indications for the use of any flea remedy (including aerosol form) are entomoses, which are caused not only by fleas, but also by other blood-sucking parasitic insects, in particular, parasitomorphic ticks.

Flea spray is used when there are obvious symptoms of ectoparasitic infestation, which are manifested by restless behavior of the four-legged, frequent scratching and biting of various parts of the body due to itching and irritation of the skin. Traces of fairly painful flea bites - small red spots - are visible on areas of the skin with less dense undercoat (especially on the belly and in the groin area).

The instructions for most veterinary drugs in this group indicate that they can be used to combat other types of ectoparasites - ixodid ticks and lice. Also among the combined insectoacaricidal drugs there are agents that help protect animals from the bites of blood-sucking dipterous insects (mosquitoes, midges, gnats).

These sprays are recommended for use on the animal's usual resting place (rug) and other places where fleas may get.

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Release form

Today, dog and cat owners are offered a variety of means to combat ubiquitous ectoparasites. Here are some names of flea sprays from different manufacturers:

• Bars forte is a spray against fleas, ticks and lice for dogs and cats (made in Russia).
• Frontline, produced by the French company Merial; there are sprays Barrier super, Fiprex (Netherlands) and Fiprist (KRKA) with the same active ingredient.
• Hartz spray: flea and tick products for dogs and cats Hartz UltraGuard (from adult insects) and Hartz UltraGuard Plus (destroys both adult fleas and their eggs); manufactured in the USA (Hartz Mountain Corporation).
• Bolfo is a spray from Bayer Bolfo (by Bayer Animal Health GmbH, Germany) for protecting cats and dogs from entomoses.
• Insectoacaricidal sprays Rolf Club (TM RolfСlub of the Russian company Ecoprom).
• Spray against fleas and ticks for dogs Burdi (produced in Ukraine) and its Russian synonym spray Chistotel.
• sprays Extrazol M (Ukraine) and Insektol.

It should be noted that when choosing a flea spray for your pet, veterinarians recommend paying attention to the active ingredients included in their composition (see the Pharmacodynamics section).

In addition, a wide range of aerosol insectoacaricidal preparations are produced to treat an apartment from fleas, ticks and other insect parasites. For example, Hartz spray - Control Home Flea & Tick Killer; spray Flee or Flee spray (Spain); a series of aerosols Combat (Combat Spray) of Korean manufacture; spray Clean House (RF). They will be discussed in a separate section - How to treat an apartment from fleas with a spray?

Pharmacodynamics

The active substance fipronil, which is contained in the sprays Bars, Frontline, Barrier Super, Fiprex and Fiprist, is a phenylpyrazole insecticide that paralyzes the neuromuscular system of insects. Fipronil affects the complementary receptors of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) of ectoparasites and blocks them, which leads to depolarization of nerve cells. As a result, the transmission of nerve signals through the Cl ion channels of presynaptic membranes is disrupted, and general paralysis of insects occurs.

In addition to fipronil, the Bars spray contains the benzamide insecticide diflubenzuron, which is a chlorine-containing derivative of benzenephenylurea and acts by blocking the synthesis of chitin, which is necessary for the formation of the cuticle of insects when their larvae pass into the next stages. As a result, the insect development cycle stops and they die.

The basis of Bolfo Spray is an insecticide of the carbamate class propoxur, the effect of which on fleas and other insects is similar to the effect of acetylcholine, but with an excess of this neurohormone, its hydrolysis and inhibition of cholinergic reactions and blockade of nerve impulses in synapses occur. After a single application of Bolfo, its insecticidal effect lasts for a maximum of two weeks.

The pharmacological action of Hartz UltraGuard spray is provided by tetrachlorvinphos, a derivative of trichlorophenyl phosphate, i.e. an insecticide close to the well-known chlorophos. This substance also paralyzes the nervous system of insects, inhibiting the enzyme cholinesterase. And Hartz UltraGuard Plus spray contains S-methoprene, a synthetic analogue of the juvenile hormone of insects (supporting the metamorphosis of the insect at all stages of their life cycle), which is many times more active. Under the influence of increased doses of the analogue of this hormone, the process of changing ontogenetic stages is disrupted, and the life cycle of a flea or tick is irrevocably interrupted.

The mechanism of insecticidal action of the Rolf Club flea and tick spray is associated with the already mentioned fipronil, as well as pyriproxyfen, which is a juvenoid and acts similarly to S-methoprene.

The active ingredient of the Burdi flea and tick spray for dogs is the second-generation pyrethroid insecticide permethrin (a derivative of dimethyl-cyclopropanecarboxylic acid). Penetrating the body of an insect, pyrethroids, just like the above-mentioned active ingredients of insectoacaricides, block acetylcholine receptors, inhibit cholinesterase activity and disrupt the process of generating and distributing impulses along nerve fibers. Celandine spray for cats also contains permethrin.

The flea spray Extrazol M has a similar neuroparalytic effect on insects due to the pyrethroids it contains (deltamethrin, esbiothrin and tetramethrin). And the spray Insektol contains only deltamethrin.

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Pharmacokinetics

In the instructions for flea sprays, manufacturers note the absence of a systemic effect of these preparations on animals during their treatment against parasitic insects. That is, they do not penetrate into the blood.

Insecticidal substances get only on the skin and fur, although adsorption into the skin, hair follicles and partially into the sebaceous subcutaneous glands takes place. This, in fact, ensures the duration of the protective action of the preparations (for 30-40 days).

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Dosing and administration

The instructions for these preparations indicate that the animal should be treated either outdoors or in a well-ventilated room (you need to open a window, or better yet, the entire window). To protect the person treating the animal from getting the preparation on them, you should wear a respirator, protective glasses, and rubber gloves. And to prevent the animal from licking the applied preparation, you should put a muzzle on the dog until it dries completely, and a neck collar-limiter on small dogs and cats.

The bottle or canister must be shaken several times and held vertically during use, pressing the spray head. The spray is applied to the entire body against hair growth; the muzzle and ears are treated with a swab soaked in the preparation.

According to the instructions, Bars spray is sprayed from a distance of 20 cm (from the animal's body) at the rate of 1-2 presses (0.5-1 ml) per kilogram of body weight. After a quarter of an hour, the animal's fur should be combed; do not bathe, stroke or allow children near the animal for two days after using this product.

The dosage of Frontline spray (100 ml capacity) is 6 presses per kilogram of body weight for short-haired animals, 12 presses per kilogram for long-haired animals. The anti-flea effect lasts for almost two months for dogs and up to six weeks for cats.

Hartz spray should be applied from a distance of 15 cm, and Bolfo – 30 cm, so as to moisten the entire coat.

Spray Rolf Club is applied to the fur by 1-2 presses of the sprayer for each kilogram of the animal's weight (i.e. 1-2 ml). Spray Celandine and Extrasol M is also applied, the optimal distance for spraying is 20 cm.

Dosage of Insektol: 1 press = 1 second; 3 presses – for animals weighing up to 2 kg, 6 – up to 10 kg, 12 – for weights in the range of 10-20 kg, 18 – 20-40 kg, 24 presses (with spray directed to different points) – if the animal’s weight exceeds 40 kg.

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Overdose

Overdose of Bars spray can cause hypersalivation, tremors, and vomiting in animals. Symptoms of overdose of Bolfo: salivation and constricted pupils, as well as vomiting and/or diarrhea.

Information regarding overdose of other drugs listed in the review is not included in the instructions for their use.

Any flea spray cannot be used simultaneously with other insecticides (including drops).

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Storage conditions

Flea sprays should not be stored in the kitchen (near food products): they should be kept in a dark place, inaccessible to children, at a temperature of +5-25°C.

Shelf life

The shelf life of Rolf Club and Extrazol M spray is 36 months; Bars, Insektol, Chistotel, Hartz spray and Bolfo – 24 months; Frontline – 18 months.

How to treat an apartment with a spray against fleas?

For treating residential and other premises from fleas and other insects, there is the Combat series (Combat Spray); Clean House spray, Hartz spray – Control Home Flea & Tick Killer; Flee spray or Flee spray – Flee Household Flea Spray (Bimeda, Ireland). You can treat your apartment from fleas with Extrazol M spray for animals.

Get spray is not available: this product is a concentrated insecticidal suspension based on the contact organophosphorus insecticide chlorpyrifos, from which a solution is prepared, poured into a container with a spray nozzle and used to treat premises from fleas, cockroaches, bedbugs, mosquitoes, etc. Other names for emulsions with chlorpyrifos are Sichlor, Sinuzan.

Combat Spray (Combat Spray) of Korean manufacture is intended for insecticidal treatment of housing and has the following variants: Combat Super Spray (Combat Super Spray) and Combat Multy Spray – against fleas, bedbugs, cockroaches, ticks and spiders; Both variants contain pyrethroid insecticides. To treat an apartment from fleas with Combat spray, it is recommended to use it with the windows closed, in the absence of people and pets.

The insecticidal spray Clean House also contains pyrethroids as active substances - tetramethrin and cypermethrin. With these same substances, there are aerosols Raptor, KRA universal, etc. The following places are subject to flea treatment: baseboards and cracks in the floor and walls (closer to the floor), the back of floor carpets, the bottom of upholstered furniture. It is recommended to ventilate the treated room no earlier than 20 minutes after spraying the product.

Flee spray does not contain insecticides and does not require any precautions; its task is to neutralize flea larvae and pupae that owners hatched from their dogs or cats and that have managed to settle in the apartment, enveloping the eggs. Flee spray consists of evaporating silicone cyclopentasiloxane and viscous silicone - dimethicone. When spray is applied to places where a dog or cat usually is (bedding, chair, carpet on the floor), a thin water- and air-impermeable film is formed, which isolates flea eggs and pupae and creates extremely unfavorable conditions for their hatching and development. That is, in fact, this is the process of immobilizing flea infestation within the house.

Flea spray should be sprayed by holding the can 40-50 cm from the surface being treated, for each square meter for about 8-10 seconds (distributing the stream with hand movements with the can and shaking it from time to time). Darkened spots will gradually become lighter (this will take about two months): this is the silicone mixture slowly evaporating, which prevented fleas from multiplying.

A prerequisite for achieving the effect of this product: first, in order to free animals from ectoparasitic infestation, you need to use a regular insectoacaricidal spray against fleas.