Program For Fleas

In the spring of 1995, Ciba-Geigy came onto the market with a new drug called "Program" which is their trade name for Lufenuron.

Lufenuron is in a class of drugs called "Gyrases" which act on insect metabolism to inhibit or stop the production of shell material (chitin) by the flea.

The concept is then one of simple brilliance: If you can give the flea something to stop its chitin synthesis, then it will not mature or be able to make a viable egg! And that is exactly how this product works.

Compounds like Lufenuron have been around for twenty or more years. Lufenuron has a sister compound, called Diflubenzuron, which has been used to stop the proliferation of Gypsy Moths in agriculture for decades. Diflubenzuron is also safe for fish, and thus is being used to stop insect and crustacean parasites in fish!

In your dog or cat, several things come into play to make this a very safe drug, indeed.

When Diflubenzuron came into widespread usage for Gypsy Moths in agriculture, the government was concerned about the effects of the residues on food producing animals, and wildlife. Would it cause cancer? Birth defects? Sickness? How long does it remain in the food chain?

All these questions were answered by a comprehnsive study, which is available from the federal government. (Biological Report #4 June 1992, Contaminant Hazard Reviews Report #25 "Diflubenzuron hazards to Fish, Wildlife and invertebrates: a Synoptic Review") The study showed that the product remains in the tissues of exposed animals for quite a long time, (a month or two, actually). In the tissues, it has no ill effect, since animals do not synthesize chitin, and thus in mammals, it is inert.

It did NOT cause cancers or birth defects in lower vertebrates (mice and rats) tested. In fact, at doses well over ten times the normal exposure rate, there were no untoward signs. For the first time in recorded Lab Animal Medical history, test rats were dying of old age. <grin>

Sensibly, someone may have noticed the great efficacy of Diflubenzurone on the insects it was designed for, and may have noticed that it was safe and long lasting in mammals. Then, by a stroke of genius, may have decided to try it on fleas, in dogs.

The rest is history.

Lufenuron has been found to be safe, used at the described dose, once per month with a fatty meal to assist proper absorption, in order to maintain a level of Lufenuron in the pets' tissues that will disable reproduction in fleas that ingest the pets' blood or bite the skin.

There are two catches to its success, however:

FIRST: if there are other, untreated animals coming into and out of the range of the treated animal, it may interfere with Program's success. This is because the product causes the extinction of fleas after 6 weeks of non-reproduction in the face of other forms of extermination. If there is an untreated animal moving into and out of the range with the treated pet, then there will be a regularly-imported population of fleas to continue reproducing, and thus keep the environment charged with flea eggs and nymphs.

SECONDLY: The product does not kill adult fleas, and so these populations of adult fleas will require control with a spray or shampoo during the inital 6 week period while the fleas are being exhausted from the environment.

Early Spring is the time to start, since the fleas are just beginning to stir about, looking for a blood meal, and the resultant chance to lay thousands of eggs in the carpet.

Dosage: By Weight

Interval: Once Monthly

Species treated: Dogs and Cats

Cost: About 35$ per six month supply

† Be sure to give *WITH FOOD!*