Comfortis, aka, spinosad is a once-a-month flea repellent for dogs. The way it works is simple: this powerful insecticide is ingested by your dog in the hope that a flea will bite your dog and ingest some nano-particle of the insecticide, which will be enough to kill the flea.
A lot of folks seem to be fine with Comfortis, but this treatment regime violates one of my core rules, which is "outside drugs for outside bugs" and "inside drugs for inside bugs."
The fact that Comfortis does not kill a dog outright is not enough for me. What happens to the dog's liver and nerve system after a lifetime of ingesting this stuff? No one knows! Comfortis is too simply too new to know.
What we do know is that a significant percentage of dogs on Comfortis end up having problems.
- 12.7 percent experienced vomiting
- 9.1 percent had decreased appetite
- 7.6 percent had lethargy
- 6.7 percent had diarrhea
All of these are classic signs of poisoning.
And then, of course, there are the distressing results reported when Comfortis was given to pregnant bitches (results at top). These results are buried in the package insert for Comfortis --a package insert most folks will never bother to read because, after all, their veterinarian prescribed the drug and sold it, so it must be fine.
Right. There could be no profit motive there, eh?
Bottom line: I am taking a pass on Comfortis and all other monthly indigestible insecticides for my dog.
My advice for fleas and ticks is the same as it has always been: a flea comb and an occasional flea bath with the cheapest over-the-counter flea shampoo you can find at your local grocery store.
If other folks want to go with something else for their dogs, that's their prerogative.
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