Advantage

[sirrahbed]

Just back from the white coats - the tech told us we could have the kittens given a free first treatment of Advantage but since they had already been done last week - she was not sure if she should do it and asked what dose they were given. I told her it was a small dose of bulk Advantage and calculated for their weight and probably only a few drops. Well, she asked how can it be bought in bulk?? I told her about buying the extra large dog size and she was horrified, telling me it was a different and much stronger dose! I told her no, that this was commonly done by rescue folks, yada yada. She called in Dr. Horton and he kinda shrugged and winked but said just wait a few weeks and if we see any fleas (we have NOT) that we can have our free dose later. The tech then gave me a pamphlet from Advantage and asked me to call the company anonymously and let her know what I found out - somewhat calmed down by this time. Well, I DID call and talked with a representaive who assured me that the dog and cat formulas are IDENTICAL and that there is no problem whatsoever using the dog package as long as the dose is calculated by weight. I took an evil delight in calling the tech back;)
I also wanted to post about it here because it is such a tremendous savings. I imagine Bayer would not like it that well known - although the rep was very upfront with me on the phone -but this is how I buy it as well. I buy mine from a place in Australia called PetShed which, from my searching - has the best prices. Look at what I come up with:
One orange tube from my vet - one DOSE is $12 for .4ml which is a net cost of $36 per ml

A cat 6-pack of the purple (.8) size from PetShed is $32 yielding a total of 4.8ml at a net cost of $6.67 per ml *what I buy:D

An X-large dog 6-pack of the blue (4ml) size from PetShed is $36 yielding 24ml at a net cost of $1.50 per ml

A dose for a cat under 9 pounds is .4ml and cats 9 pounds and over is .8ml

Does anyone have a dosage chart that breaks it down for smaller kittens? The free dose they will give to my two is the orange .4ml and they weigh 1.3 and 1.5 pounds so I guess it must be quite safe - is this safe to assume??

1ml=20 drops
.8ml=16 drops
.4ml=8 drops

Hope my math is all correct! I got the conversion from my memory from nursing school but double checked on a metric website:eek:

I am also NOT RECOMMENDING this - it is up to you but wanted to pass on what I found out. Measuring is tedious and the premeasured tubes are much easier to use. Also, the bulk would likely expire unless you use it often and regularly - but a good saving for rescue folks and the like.

[cubby31682]

I don't mean to be rude but where are the pictures? I want to also see pictures of the new furry kids of yours.

Oh as far as the woman at the vets office, she should know more about the medication before she tries to give you a free sample of it for the kitties.

By the way have I said I want to see pictures yet? ;)

[sirrahbed]

Originally posted by cubby31682
I don't mean to be rude but where are the pictures? I want to also see pictures of the new furry kids of yours.

Oh as far as the woman at the vets office, she should know more about the medication before she tries to give you a free sample of it for the kitties.

By the way have I said I want to see pictures yet? ;)

Pictures are here! I was worried I was posting too many:D
http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60658
http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60656

Oh and as for Advantage - the orange tube that they give for free - the leaflet says it is for kittens as soon as they are weaned - just seems odd to me that it is the same dose as given to cats up to 9 pounds but that is what the product leaflet says so it must be safe - I would still rather dose out something less:rolleyes:

[cubby31682]

Never to many pictures. I have seen those, I just don't always have time to reply to them. :D I find myself checking into PT more and more the last week to see them. Little Lizzie I think has stolen my heart.

[sirrahbed]

Originally posted by cubby31682
Never to many pictures. Little Lizzie I think has stolen my heart.
Well thank you! It just seems like I am bombarding the board with Robbie & Lizzie:eek: :D :p

[rg_girlca]

I think that vet tech better get her information straight.

When I was at the vets with Poppy on wednesday, there was a guy there that needed Advantage for his cats. He has 4 of them.
The vet tech gave him the advantage for dogs and 1 tube is good to treat 4 cats. So he saved by doing it this way as where I am, 1 tube of Advantage for a cat is $13.45 and 1 tube for a dog is $15.00. So instead of him paying $53.80 for 4 tubes for cats, he paid $15.00 for 1 tube for dogs and as you said Debbie, it is the exact same thing.

[catmandu]

That struck,me too,that difference,bteween the Cats,and the Dogs Advantage! And Cat Food,in most cases,being twice,as much,as Dog Food! I think,that there is something wrong!!!

[catcrazylady]

I had to give our vet tech the lesson as well. She also was horrified when I said I wanted the four pack of over 50lbs for dogs. She knew we had cats!;) I told her it was the same thing and then she gave me the lecture on how cats and dogs have a very different central nervous system and blah blah blah. Then she read the ingredients on the package and was shocked. They are identical and it is only the dosage that is different. Just for fun she calculated the cost and if I had bought individual dosages it was going to cost me $97.00 but doing the breakdown myself it cost me only $30.00. She gave me two syringes and off we went. I will take that $60.00 savings anyday! A four pack for large dogs gives everyone in my house a dose of Avantage with a few drops to spare!
I'm lucky because my vet sells the tubes for $7.50 so it's cheaper for me to get it from them than to order it.
I have done this for the last few years and thankfully it makes it affordable for me to keep them flea free.

[AmberLee]

Thanks for the info, Debbie. I think you've saved a lot of us time and worry...

[Randi]

I searched for this thread because I'm in the exact same dilemma. Yesterday, when I went to the vet to get cat food, I saw they had Advantage for dogs - for less than half price because the date is running out in April! The vet was not there, but I asked the assistant, and said I thought the content was the same, but she said I should get Advantage for cats. Hmm!

Think I'll go and get the one for dogs. I give Fister only a few drops anyway - once a month. He's never had one single flea. :)

What do you think? Has any new info about this come up?

[Laura's Babies]

I don't know if there is anymore new news about it but I still do this for my babies, even the vets now know this is what some of us do and are willing to give us the proper syringes to measure it with.

It can not be done with the new Advantix for those that do not know that. ADVANTAGE ONLY!

[smokey the elder]

I've dosed very tiny kittens (3 weeks old) by adjusting for the body weight. The danger of anemia from fleas is greater than the danger of the Advantage (which has low toxicity, according to the label.)

[Moesha]

My vet gave my friend dog dosages for her dogs and her cats, giving the amount needed for the cats from the large dosage dog size. She has 5 dogs and 4 cats. Again it was the Advantage to treat fleas.

[catmandu]

My Vet Sold Me The Dog Size , And Its Fine As I Make Sure That I Dont Overdose Them.
Cat People Are Overcharged For So Many Things.

[Catlady711]

As a poster above said, this cannot be done with the Advantix because of the ingredients in that one is toxic to cats.

As for the other, here's my take on the Advantage thing....

If every vet was telling people they could use the dog Advantage on cats you'd invariably have someone that puts the whole dog dose on the cat, cat gets sick from it, possibly dies, client sues vet who is in no mans land as far as the company is concerned because it's being used against the manufacturers directions. I think it's more of a liablility issue personally.

The petmed type places...

Some of them get their products from US vets with the proper meds, which happens to be illegal in most cases for them to sell it to mail order type places. The vets selling it to the mail order places are generally the ones that are only in it for the money, not the pets. They don't care what happens to it, if it's stored properly, if people use it right, or if it's even given for the right reasons, they just want a quick buck. I guess to my way of thinking buying from the internet pharmacies is kinda like getting a pet store dog/cat, it just supports the pet mills. In the case of pharmacuticals it just supports the greedy uncaring vets as well as a few other money grubbers who skirt the law on a few things. JMO

BUT, there are some internet pharmacies that get their products from China and whatnot that have been repackaged or have near duplicate packaging to the US products. Now we all know what a 'great' track record China has with product safety right? NOT. Some of these products have been tested to have the wrong ingredients or the wrong dosage than what the package indicated, big surprise. Usually when you buy meds from places like this you lose any warrantee or discounts offered by the manufacturers to boot.

I'd sooner pay more and know the meds I get are the proper and safe US versions from a properly licenced vet. But that's just me.

Here's another thing to consider....

Vets have alot of money in inventory so that people can leave the office with the proper medications (from flea stuff to antibiotics etc) and don't have to go to the pharmacy down the road, wait in line for their RX to be filled before they can go home with the unhappy fido/fluffy waiting in the car the whole time. Or worse people just won't fill the meds because of the hassle so the visit was wasted and the pet never does get the meds. Not all pet owners are as concerned about their furbabies as we are.

If the vets have a huge drop in people buying the inventory they'd have thousands of dollars go down the tube when all of it gets expired. Yes the inventory is a fair percentage of the vets income, but not ALL of it. If they did not have some of the income coming from the medication inventory guess what happens? The vets have to raise the prices of office calls, vaccinations, and surgeries to maintain the hospital's income level.

As for flea products in general.....

I recently went to a seminar about a one called Promeris. We've been using this one for almost a year now and it's ran circles around the others as far as how fast it works and how well it keeps working. It's only available from the vet, but is usually considerably cheaper than Frontline or Advantage, well where I work it is. Only drawback? I can think of is the cat one smells like bananas and the dog one smells like eucalyptus. I like it myself and it only lasts a day or two then the smell goes away but some people are sensitive to the smells. Our head vet is getting sick of the other companies continually jacking the price of the flea products every time we order, and the products just don't seem to be working as well or as long as they used to, so he is basically switching our flea meds over to Promaris now to keep costs down and keep the feas dead. I don't know how many other vets have started carrying Promaris yet but it's worth asking anyways.

That's my $.02 worth.

[Catsnclay]

If every vet was telling people they could use the dog Advantage on cats you'd invariably have someone that puts the whole dog dose on the cat, cat gets sick from it, possibly dies, client sues vet who is in no mans land as far as the company is concerned because it's being used against the manufacturers directions. I think it's more of a liablility issue personally.





Yup, you are very right. This also happens with our medicines, but if they tell us how to do something differently, that makes it less expensive for us, the company that makes the product looses money, and that is what they don't want.

So it really comes down to your vet/doctor.......if they know you well, they will tell you how to save $$$.