Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsDidn't work at all for Alaskan Malamutes
Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2023
First, let me point out that CapStar is NOT a preventative! It is supposed to kill adult fleas on the dog but it doesn't prevent them from getting fleas again - not does it kill anything but adult fleas, which means you still need something (monthly topical or oral flea medicine) to kill the eggs and the larvae or those will obviously mature into adults and you and your pet are stuck in the vicious cycle.
That being said, here is my first and only experience with CapStar. We have never had flea issues until this year. I have two Alaskan Malamutes - one 105 pound "short hair" and one 110 pound long hair. Clearly, they both have the Malamute thick double coat. We usually like K9 Advantix II for flea treatment/prevention. Early this summer, I bought the Amazon brand that has the same ingredients. As K9 Advantix Ii. It arrived with no expiration date and I'm not sure if that's the reason that it doesn't seem to work, that it's not the same formula or perhaps the fleas have become resistant... or it's just an especially overwhelming year for fleas. Either way, I thought by trying this first and THEN putting their prevention on within a day or two would work. I gave them each a CapStar pill, nervously watched for adverse reactions and thanked God they didn't seem to have any issues. It also didn't seem to help the flea situation - they continued scratching and biting as before. Because I didn't want to give them back to back, I waited for about 48 hours before giving another CapStar to each of them. Once again, no reaction but the scratching and chewing hasn't subsided at all nine hours later. In fact, I almost feel like both times, they are actually scratching more after the CapStar tablets?? It makes me wonder if it is actually not killing the fleas but just irritating them and making them more active and angry (or at least more hungry LOL). I really needed this to work and was hoping that in conjunction with a topical preventative, we would be able to both kill AND prevent reinfstation with a two prong attack. Sadly, we are just out more money, time and effort.
I should mention that a long side this effort, I treated the bedrooms that have carpet (the rest of the house has hard floors and we have a no-knap, outdoor rug I'm the living room because it can be power washed) Anyway, I sprayed the Vet's Best Flea & Tick Home Spray on the carpet, mattresses and washed bedding & blankets. It's difficult to get every possible location that a flea could be hiding but I was fortunate to be able to see a flea and spray directly on it. The Vet's Best spray killed it in less than 10 seconds. It does say that you can apply it to your dog's coat and rub it in down to their skin. That sounded too unrealistic with their thick coats but because it is natural, smells really nice IMO and obviously works, I think I will still attempt that on most of their cost/body, add Diatomaceous Earth to the floors, dog beds, rugs, etc and THEN try reapplying topical prevention. I just have to decide of I am going to use some of the 8 tubes I have left of the Amazon brand or try something else - might pick up the Frontline Plus that's on sale at Costco tomorrow.
