Flea/Tick Medication

[Dexter9607]

I'm just curious as to what Flea/Tick medication all of you use. I've heard awesome and equally horrid things about Sentry. Frontline Plus is not working well enough for my taste. Advantix is OK so far, though It hasn't really been tested well yet (haven't been in the woods, etc.)

 

What do you use?

 

Toodles!

[theshine]

We are using Frontline Plus right now, no problems so far. We started out with Advantage, can't remember why we chose it, but they were getting ticks like crazy. Turns out it doesn't work on ticks.

[Kenbo]

Frontline Plus

[juliepoudrier]

Advantix. Frontline stopped working well for me four or five years ago. I'm just waiting for the next new formulation to come along. BTW, if you go to the Health and Genetics section and do a search on "ticks" or "flea control" or something similar, you will find some good conversations on the topic.

 

J.

[Samson]

Frontline - went on a hike with Samson not thinking he'd get ticks, sure enough he was full of them, so I got some frontline after the fact and they all fell off

[lorimac45]

Bio-Spot Spot ON it's way cheaper and works alot better. We have a lake place in Brainerd MN - if it not, it should be the tick capital of the world lol. I know our county (Crow wing)i s #l for lyme in the state.

[jrid]

Fort Dodge has a new flea/tick medication out this year called ProMeris. There is a formulation for dogs and a different formulation for cats. The dog formulation gets fleas and ticks. Unfortunately, you can only buy the ProMeris from a veterinarians office. There is also a new 30 day formulation of Capstar called Comfortis, but it only works on fleas.

[Lewie'sMom]

I'm using Frontline right now. It works well but it's not my favorite because I feel like I can never get it applied well enough and I HATE the oily spot it leaves.

 

I really prefer Sentinal. Heartworm preventative with flea control, once a month, taken orally....piece o' cake!

[aBC4me]

We use sentinal and are very happy with it. I have only ever found one tick on Blaze and it wasn't even sucking. I never have a problem with Fleas, I can't honestly say I have ever seen one on him. We also treat the house with Flea-Stoppers and we really LOVE that.

[MaggieDog]

Regular Frontline Top Spot. Down here I do have to be sure to apply it at least every 6 weeks, but back home in IN we were good for up to 3 months on one dose for fleas and I never saw a tick on my dogs.

[nancy]

I use Frontline Plus on Fergie every 30 days. She gets her Interceptor after as a reward.

 

She's 12 - and has never had a flea. We have seen maybe 3 ticks - in 12 years. But they were half dead, unattached, and easy to pick off and flush. Hmm, what can we do now with the drought?

 

We are way more likely to come home with ticks. Can I get Chuck to put some Frontline between my shoulder blades?

 

And we live along the I-85 Rocky Mountain Fever Alley. And do lots of hiking and walking in woods and fields. Daily.

[MagicGirl]

A clove of garlic in her food every day.

[Anda]

The only time we've used flea/tick medication was last summer when we traveled to Montreal - the vet gave us a dose of Frontline to put on the dog before we left Colorado. He didn't get any bugs on him during our vacation, but his always-sparklin' clean ears got some sort of rash inside - probably due to the humidity there. It cleared within a day or two of getting back to Denver.

[sheepandakom]

Lately, I've been using Advantix and have been really happy with it. Frontline Plus was working fine with the fleas but was doing nothing for the ticks. I generally don't use anything from about Nov-March and don't have any major problems. My dogs have been unusually itchy though, so I will probably put some Advantage or Frontline on them this weekend.

 

My old vet always recommended switching flea/tick meds every so often. She said they worked a lot like a horse dewormer and that if you continued to use the same product, you were more likely to end up with fleas that were resistant to whatever you were using. Because fleas reproduce on the dog, they can become resistant a whole lot quicker than ticks. Apparently, Program, the oral flea preventative is more of a flea birth control. It doesn't kill the fleas on the dog, it just makes them sterile.

 

Emily

[SincereArtisan]

Frontline is decent. K9 Advantix is the best tick prevention out there, next to preventick collars (which last up to 3 months) Advantix is toxic to cats, though. Advantage/Advantage Multi provides OK tick protection up to 2 weeks, but then its pretty much useless on ticks, so additional tick protection should be used. The Advantage Multi does defend your pets from internal parasites AND Heartworm, so thats a plus, especially if you're not really in a heavy tick area.

 

I'm abou to try out the ProMeris, we just had an info presentation at the clinic I work at, and it seems pretty good...very similar to Advanix, without the toxicity to cats.

[in2adventure]

I dont need to use anything when I'm in Yellowstone. Lucia gets yeast/garlic tabs every day for the fleas and I've only found a few on her in a year and a half. Ticks are another story. She's a magnet for them! I started using Frontline plus during the winter months. I haven't found a single tick, so far, this winter, but last winter (when I was living near Chesapeake, VA) she got a bunch while on the Frontline Plus. The vet acted shocked, like I didn't put it on right or something

 

I'm looking for something better, too. I may ask the new vet today when we get her heartworm meds. I also don't like the ugly, greasy spot it leaves on her fur

[Dexter9607]

Thanks everyone! I, too, am NOT a fan of the icky greasy spot some meds leave. It sounds like most of the meds are OK (with Frontline Plus and Advantix being the top dogs {hahahaha}) but that it really depends on the dog. I guess I should have figured that out! Thanks again everyone!