Our vet has recommended we try Comfortis(spinosad)
chewable tablets for my daughter's dog.  He is allergic
to flea bites, even one, and has been wearing his "cone"
all summer to keep him from chewing himself, even
though we've made every effort to keep him flea-free.
We use Advantage with no problems. 

Has anyone used Comfortis or heard anything about it?

I'm pretty sure this is the new drug that reacts badly with heartworm preventatives. Make sure you are only using the correct hw dosage if you try it.

rom6 -
     I'm just confused by one thing regarding this product.  If it only kills the fleas AFTER they bite, how does that prevent a flea allergy reaction in the animal?  Isn't the bite the problem to begin with?   

Sorry- promeris is the drug with the problem with ivermectin. Sounds like comfortis is the new capstar. A chewable that kills fleas within 30 minutes. It cuts down on the bites because the fleas die quickly and don't keep biting or reproducing. I used Capstar a few years ago & still had some,its nitenpyram as the active ingredient. It is safe for dogs & cats in different dosages. It did work when we had fleas in the yard,but I wouldn't use it on any of them unless absolutely necessary.

Hello out there, I just found this forum on my search for information about Comfortis and the ingredient Spinosad. I have already posted a comment in the other thread about the reaction with high-dose Ivermectin (which is only used in cases of demodectic mange). I had to take my Sarah to the vet today since she has a severe flea allergy and the raw and bloody spots seemed to multiply by the hour. I have used Adantage, Advantix, Frontline Plus and it seems to me that the fleas are getting resistent to these topicals (as is the case with some worms getting resistent to dewormers). I talked to the vet about this and he agreed that this could be true. Every 4 weeks I had bathed Sarah, waited 3 days and then applied the topical. The last 3 or 4 months, she started scratching after one or two weeks and I found fleas. These results are no longer worth the money. The topicals might be a good solution for winter time but summer here in the Southeast is hell for my pets. And Sarah loves to be outside to look after her little goats and play in the yard. She had her first chewable today. I fed her dry food and tried to make her eat the chewy. She refused. So I broke it in half and put it in her mouth. Soon after she vomited. I saw the food but not the pill pieces (the pill is pretty large). I had read in the description that some dogs might vomit and that it is best to give a second dose right away. To make sure, I called the vet and he told me the same. This time I crushed the tablet (it is not as soft as Heartgard e.g, rather hard) and mixed it into wet food. She ate it and now, almost 6 hours later she has not yet thrown up. In addition she has to take Benadryl to keep her from scratching. At the moment she is scratching once in a while but not as frantically as she did the past few days. In addition I will treat the house before I leave for work tomorrow (I can take the dogs).
As I posted in the other thread I see this as our last resort. It seems to be a pretty safe insecticide since derived from a natural bacterium. I mean, what can we do regarding fleas, ticks, worms etc.? I always like the natural approach better but so far I have tried brewer's yeast, garlic, apple cider vinegar, herbs and none of it has kept Sarah flea free. This poor thing was miserable today and I feared that she would get an infection from scratching. 3 years ago she had a bad outbreak (I tried to go without chemicals) and the vet I visited by then gave her Prednisone shots once a month. This was more devastating on her health than anything else. Eversince she has had problems with her joints.
The vet I am visiting now is reluctant to pull out this artillery and suggested we try Comfortis first, together with a skin-healthy diet and Gentamicin topical spray for the wounds to help Sarah heal. I will keep you updated.
By the way: I paid $ 80.00 for a 6 mos. pack (60-120 lbs.) at the vet's office but I read somewhere else that you could get it as low as 65-67 dollars at internet pet pharmacies. So, it is not more expensive than the topicals.

I too have taken Atarax for hives, and found it sedating. The effect did wear off somewhat, and it does wonders for itching.

I also live in the southeast and I have found Frontline Plus to be largely ineffective this year. I'm still getting live, and very lively young fleas off the cats with the flea comb - when they tolerate it. Fortunately it did make somewhat of a dent since I'm only getting a few fleas here and there. Some unseasonal cooler weather may have helped, too.

Last few years it zapped the nasty buggers in one or two treatments.

Thanks, lesliek.  Read it.  Don't think we have a mange issue!

The one thing that concerns me is that all test dogs treated with the "Comfortis chewable tablets developed mild elevation in the ALT". That's the liver enzyme that indicates liver damage. The odd thing is that while the level seemed to reduce after 24 days there was NO follow up blood chemistry to see if it ever returned to normal or pre-test levels.
Also "phospholipidosis of the lymphoid tissue was seen in all dogs treated with Comfortis chewables" You may want to read studies and research on phospholipidosis. It's quite complex and seems to have various effects at a cellular level from what I can gather by just a brief search.

I read this in the ad in DVM mag this month but here is the FDA page:
http://www.fda.gov/cvm/FOI/141-277o092507.pdf  (refer to page 21)