The Old Trainer: Look for safer flea control

DEAR OLD TRAINER: I applied a liquid flea and tick product to Autumn, my little mixed breed, and by the next day she was scratching like mad and had red spots on her skin. I bathed her several times to get the product off and her skin cleared up. Are flea products you apply to the skin of a dog safe?

A: Not in my opinion. They all contain toxic chemicals so lethal they cause cancer in humans and are regulated by the EPA, not the FDA. The chemicals are absorbed into the bloodstream, brain, organs and fur of your dog.

These products are relatively new and no research exists on long-term effects. I became suspicious of the products two years ago when one of my dogs developed dark red sores the day after I applied one of the liquids, so I did my own research and was shocked by what I found.

Every liquid flea product contains at least one toxic chemical – imidacloprid, fipronil, permethrin, methoprene, pyriproxyfen, carbaryl or propoxur. All are listed as cancer-causing agents by the EPA.

All flea products warn against getting the liquid on your skin and advise you to wash with soap and contact your doctor if you do. The instructions on a tick collar sold by most veterinarians read, “If the product touches your skin wash with soap and water for 20 minutes and contact your local poison control center.”

If merely touching it is that dangerous, what is it doing to your dog when it is on the skin and in the blood for months? And what happens to you and your children when you pet the dog every day?

No one at the companies that make the products could answer that question. Neither could the vets who sell the products. No one knows if they are safe or not.

What we do know is that many dogs suffer more from the flea medications than from the fleas, and that skin cancer on dogs has increased dramatically since the products were introduced.

That’s why I advise the common sense approach. Look at the ingredients and check the EPA site to see if they are carcinogenic. If they are, don’t put your dog and yourself at risk.

But fleas and ticks themselves may cause serious illness if untreated, so how do we protect our dogs? I choose to fight the pests with products that are natural and contain no toxins.

I found one flea product – Comfortis – that is effective, but contains no toxic chemicals. It is given orally and appears to have no side effects (I buy any product I use and accept no free samples). The ingredient that kills fleas is spinosad, rated a natural product by the EPA. It may not be perfect, but at least it contains no toxic chemicals.

In addition I clip my dog’s fur short and check them every day for fleas and ticks. I put hydrocortisone cream on any skin irritation I see. I also hose them down twice a week in summer with cool water. They enjoy it and contact with water kills most fleas.

It takes a little more time, but my dogs are safer and so am I.

This story was originally published June 5, 2015 at 2:29 PM with the headline "The Old Trainer: Look for safer flea control."