Just wondering what others use for their dogs. Albert is 10 weeks and had frontline administered by the breeder at 8 weeks. I've read conflicting reports about it effectiveness or the lack of it through over use, and the vet didn't recommend it. I used Program tablets for my previous dog, any one else use these? As always your advice is greatly appreciated as I go through puppyhood with Albert. Jan
Re: Flea prevention I have used frontline in the past as well as fiprospot which is the same as frontline but cheaper but due to one of my dogs developing lumps on the back of his neck due to spot on treatment and his reaction to spot on treatments in general i now use a natural product. We use billy no mates made by CSJ, it repels fleas but does not kill them as it contains no chemicals. The other good thing about it is that you only feed it from easter to october when fleas are out and about. It also repels ticks and lice. We get a 1kg tub which lasts both of our dogs the whole duration of a year, with one on large dog dossage (1-s scoops, alternating days) and one on medium dog dossage (1 scoop) which is the labrador, one scoop is a 5ml teaspoon so that gives an idea of how much they need. It just gets mixed in with their food every day, it also smells very nice, it includes mint so also helps to freshen their breath
Re: Flea prevention I have always used Frontline (and I use Drontal Plus as a wormer) I know this isn't offering as much cover as many others, but we are in a low risk area I think. Our biggest issue is Ticks as we have a lot of deer around ( : ) but I don't really use flea/tick products over winter. Just thinking about getting some on at the moment actually. I find it difficult with Lilly being in water an awful lot knowing how often to apply it as I don't want to overuse it. I do have some reservations about overuse. I think vigilance is the most important thing. And an O'Tom Tick Twister!!
Re: Flea prevention I find all the Frontline type products of very limited use as my two swim every day and are regularly bathed due to their fox poo rolling habit. Program is ok but is simply a flea contraceptive effectively, so although it does break the flea life cycle it does not kill adults. Your choice of product really depends on what you need to kill or repel in your particular area, whether you want a wormer incorporated or not and how much swimming and bathing your dog does. I've just given mine their first dose of Bravecto, a chewable tablet which gives three months flea and tick killing hence neatly avoids the swimming and bathing issues. Personally I'd recommend a quick chat with your vet as they will know the local issues and threat level for parasites other than fleas which may be a very significant risk to your pup.
Re: Flea prevention Hmm....Bravecto...haven't heard of that one. Definitely thinking of vet advice here myself. Don't really know what our best option is. Want to avoid a tick collar if I can due to the lack of collar wearing unless out on a walk. Thanks Lochan.
Re: Flea prevention Bravecto is new to the market, only came out this month. No known interactions with any other drugs, high safety margin and seems to have very high efficacy in clinical trial. I'm off to the Cairngorms in a few weeks and the dogs usually get a good crop of ticks up there so I'll let you know how well it works.
Re: Flea prevention Oh yes, please report back! Have a great trip.....hope the weather is good for you. Been a cracker this week!
Re: Flea prevention I can never see a reason to apply flea control, I dislike the thought of chemicals in my dogs' bodies. I have had 8 dogs over 40 years and have only seen one flea on one dog once. However, if I lived in a tick country then I would use a monthly pill.
Re: Flea prevention Obi used to get fleas at daycare sometimes so we used Advantage. Only ever saw dead fleas. Very keen to hear your reports of the Bravecto, Lochan. Some Google research shows that the company has applied for the active ingredient to be approved for use in Australia (though who knows how long approval will take...).
Re: Flea prevention i use advocate, flee and worm treatment, we use it every month from my vet on prescription,..we have used this from him being 9 week old,...he as been fine
Re: Flea prevention I mainly use frontline, though I too have heard reports of it's finishing effectiveness and have actually experienced it my my soon to be parents in laws cats (does that make sense? Lol). Generally I treat every 12 weeks and alternate between products - usually frontline, advocate or a tablet that I can't remember the name of at the moment. The same with wormer - one time I use drontal, then milbemax. I don't really know why I do this to be honest .... I nabbed a load of the stuff before I finished working at the dogs home ( we get stuff donated by owners surrendering their dogs and the vets won't use donated stuff so the staff are allowed to take it).
Re: Flea prevention Advocate here - not thrilled with the swimming restrictions, but we value the lungworm and ear mite protection it offers. Tapeworm treatment in addition (drontal) every 6 months (could be every 3 but my vet reckons Charlie is low risk for tapeworm so recommends 6). Advantix in addition for the summer if we go to Cornwall.
Re: Flea prevention [quote author=Lochan link=topic=5515.msg69715#msg69715 date=1398031388] Bravecto is new to the market, only came out this month. No known interactions with any other drugs, high safety margin and seems to have very high efficacy in clinical trial. I'm off to the Cairngorms in a few weeks and the dogs usually get a good crop of ticks up there so I'll let you know how well it works. [/quote] I would be very interested in this too Lochan as I find Frontline to be expensive and it has to be applied monthly to keep ticks at bay. Have a lovely trip xx
Re: Flea prevention I was just about to order some Laboratoire flea and and insect repellent shampoo. Has anyone tried anything similar? If so is it effective?
Re: Flea prevention [quote author=LovelyLittleLola link=topic=5515.msg69919#msg69919 date=1398090321] I was just about to order some Laboratoire flea and and insect repellent shampoo. Has anyone tried anything similar? If so is it effective? [/quote] Do you know what the active ingredient is? Most of the repellants that really work are permethrin based, deltamethrin being especially good. Flea shampoos that purport to kill fleas are a waste of time - mostly you just get clean fleas.....
Re: Flea prevention [quote author=MadMudMob link=topic=5515.msg69911#msg69911 date=1398089528] Sounds very interesting ... what was the cost? [/quote] I'll look up the price for you tomorrow - I just took some off the shelf at work :-[ :-[
Re: Flea prevention we use Frontline in the winter but switch to Advantix in the Spring/Summer. We get a lot of ticks around here because of all the sheep, and Frontline doesn't seem to be very effective with ticks.
Re: Flea prevention Thanks everyone for your input. All very different lol. Have to make a decision soon. My vet is trying a new one called Vectra but when I check it out on Google it doesn't get great reviews. So I will probably go with something with Permethrin in it. Jan
Re: Flea prevention teapot57, why do you need to use flea prevention? I don't and have no need either so far. I don't like the idea of filling a dog with chemicals that it doesn't need. (Sorry, to many 'needs')!
