The truth about 'over the counter' flea treatments

Any product that claims to “cure, kill, or prevent” is considered to be a medicine, and has to be licensed by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) which is a Government regulatory authority.

All licensed products must carry a VM (veterinary medicine) number and, in pet shops the AVM-GSL symbol on their packaging. So all you have to do is pick any product off the shelf, and look for the symbol. You can also go on the VMD website, and check the product, and see the level of testing it has gone through.

Household Flea Products are not considered to be pesticides, and not medicines, and are therefore licensed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Once again it is easy to spot a licensed product, as it will have an HSE number on the packaging.

Products licensed in this way must be proven to be safe, efficacious, and produced to a consistently high standard.  This basically means, you can be sure it does what it says on the label.