Abstract
Two studies were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of two monthly topical anti-flea products for the prevention of Dipylidium caninum infestations in cats and dogs. A single treatment with Frontline® Combo spot-on for cats (fipronil-(S)-methoprene) and two successive monthly treatments of Certifect® for dogs (fipronil-amitraz-(S)-methoprene) were assessed for the prevention of D. caninum infestations following weekly challenges of treated cats or dogs with metacestode naturally-infected fleas. The rate of infestations using the model in cats versus dogs explains the choice of a 1-month trial in cats and a 2-month trial in dogs. The experimental flea-infection model resulted in a range of 22–53% of the fleas being infected by Dipylidium cysticercoids. The arithmetic mean flea counts recorded for the untreated cats ranged from 51.2 to 68. The geometric mean flea counts recorded for the Frontline Combo treated cats differed significantly (p < 0.05) from those of the untreated control cats on all assessment days. The arithmetic mean flea counts recorded for the untreated dogs ranged from 166.6 to 238.6. The geometric mean flea counts recorded for the Certifect treated dogs differed significantly (p < 0.001) from those of the untreated group on all assessment days. Frontline Combo treatment on cats provided ≥99.8% persistent anti-flea efficacy throughout the 30-day treatment period. In the dog study, the two Certifect treatments provided ≥97% persistent efficacy throughout the 60-day study. Based on the collection of expelled D. caninum proglottids by cats, 100% (6/6) of the control cats and 0% (0/6) of Frontline Combo treated cats were infested with D. caninum. Frontline Combo spot-on for cats was therefore 100% effective in preventing infection with D. caninum. In dogs, 7 out of the 8 control group dogs (87.5%) produced proglottids following infestation of infected fleas, whereas 0 out of 8 dogs (0%) in the treated group were infected. The infection rates of the two groups were significantly different. The percent effectiveness for the Certifect treatment group for the prevention of D. caninum infection was 100% during this 2-month trial. No treatment-related adverse events were observed in either cats or dogs during these studies.
Highlights
The cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, is widespread all over the world [1, 4, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15]
Arithmetic and geometric mean flea counts on the various assessment days for both study groups are summarised in Tables 3 and 4
The geometric mean flea counts recorded for the Frontline Combo treated cats differed significantly (p < 0.05) from those of the untreated cats on all assessments
Summary
The cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, is widespread all over the world [1, 4, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15]. Its low specificity explains its common infestations of cats, and dogs, and many other mammals including human beings. Flea infestations pose serious health problems to cats and dogs such as itching, hair loss, flea allergy dermatitis, and increase the risk of transmitting numerous pathogens including Bartonella henselae and Rickettsia felis [3, 14, 22]. Once the adult flea emerges and infests a host, the hexacanth develops into an infective cysticercoid (metacestode stage) in the flea within 2–3 days. Carnivores become infested through the ingestion of infected fleas containing cysticercoid larvae, and adult D. caninum typically begin shedding proglottids within 2–3 weeks. Dipylidium caninum is common worldwide, infesting both cats and dogs, and is zoonotic, even if human infestations are really scarce [5, 8, 19]
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