what's the difference..
Advantage and K9 Advantix are made by the same manufacturer – Bayer. They both contain an ingredient called imidacloprid, which kills adult fleas, as well as flea larvae on cats and dogs for up to a month after application. It also has a claim to kill lice for up to 6 weeks in dogs. As both products contain the same ingredient for flea control they have a similar activity against fleas. Advantage and K9 Advantix both kill 98-100% of fleas on a dog within 12 hours.
The difference between K9 Advantix and Advantage is that Advantix also contains permethrin, an ingredient which repels and kills ticks, mosquitoes and sand flies for up to a month. K9 Advantix is registered for the treatment and control of deer ticks (the major carrier of Lyme disease), American dog ticks, Brown dog ticks and lone star ticks. Permethrin is highly toxic to cats, so Advantix is only for use in dogs.
If you have dogs and live in an area where ticks are a problem, Advantix would be the better product to use. In households where dogs and cats socialize closely it is recommended that you don’t use Advantix due to the serious harmful effects that this product has on cats and Advantage is preferred.
Frontline Top Spot and Frontline Plus are made by the same manufacturer – Merial. They both contain an ingredient called fipronil, so they offer the same killing activity against adult fleas and ticks. However, Frontline Plus also contains an ingredient called S-methoprene. S-methoprene belongs to a class of compounds known as Insect Growth Regulators or IGRs which kills flea eggs and larvae. Frontline Plus controls all stages of the flea life cycle and aids in environmental control of fleas.
Owners generally report better long term flea control when using Frontline Plus when compared to Frontline Top Spot however Frontline Top Spot costs less and so is more economical.
Revolution is a topical 'spot-on' parasiticide used in the treatment and prevention of fleas, heartworm and ear mites in dogs and cats.
Frontline Plus is also a topical 'spot-on' type application and is used for the treatment and prevention of fleas, ticks and lice on dogs and cats, however the main difference is that Frontline Plus has no effect against heartworm.
Heartworm is a serious disease spread by infected mosquitoes. Heartworm infection is widely distributed throughout the United States and has been found in dogs native to all 50 states. Treatment is very involved, complex and expensive, therefore prevention is preferable to the cure. When using Frontline Plus pet owners are also advised to use a heartworm preventative.
Both Revolution and Frontline Plus have a rapid onset of action for fleas. Both Revolution and Frontline Plus kill the egg stage as well as the adult stage of the flea lifecycle. Revolution is registered for the control of the American dog tick - Dermacentor variabilis while Frontline Plus is registered for the control of the brown dog tick, the American dog tick, the lone star tick and deer ticks.
Revolution contains the active ingredient selamectin while Frontline Plus contains fipronil and S-methoprene.
Revolution is easy to use and effective against fleas, heartworm and some ticks, as well as having added benefits such as ear mite control and intestinal worm control in cats. However if you live in an area where ticks are a problem you want to consider using Frontline Plus along with a separate heartwormer such as Heartgard Plus or one of the generic heartwormers such as Nuheart.