Hi there, A question like this is going to give you a lot of different answers as we are all living in different parts of the world with different flea/tick/ parasite exposure. We live in Dubai and based on my Vets advice,Dexter has a spot on treatment called Revolution every month and is wormed with Drontal or millebax ( I'm quoting that second one without looking at the box so I may not have spelt that correctly) we are a bit out of the normal routine at the moment as we recently travelled to the UK and Dexter was given Bravecto orally.Many members have used this successfully and been happy with its cover but I'm convinced the funny turn Dexter had the same day was caused by it. The best thing is to talk to your vet and get advice on the risks in you area and treat your dog accordingly .
I agree wholeheartedly with Angela (Dexter). Speak to your vet about what you need to cover in your area. It may be that you don't need to buy the product from the vet, but they are the best to give you the advice.
I would use one that comes in tablet form, not the 'spot on' treatments. The dogs hate them and they often burn and irritate the skin. ..
On the adult dogs and cats I use Seresto collars. They work for both fleas and ticks and I've found them to be brilliant. They are quite expensive but last for around 7 months. Check them out online for all the details. I know some people don't like them but I even used them on our old cocker who had very sensitive skin and couldn't tolerate drop ons.
As Dexter posted, there are different products around the world. Some vets have preferences too, and may only prescribe what is on their guidelines. We use bravecto for our three. It is very effective for ticks, and we have a lot here. We have cats, and they swim a lot, which is why we don't like the spot on formulations, purely persona choices though!
I've used Advantix (spot-on) and Bravecto (tablet). The place in Spain we bought was tick heaven, and with Advantix, we were still finding ticks attached. So, we swapped to Bravecto. I wasn't happy with this, though because, even though the ticks all died, they were getting bitten a lot by them. Because the Bravecto doesn't have any repellant effect, we would still find live (unattached) ticks on them, which would be brought into the house. They were also still bitten awfully by sand flies, which carry leishmaniosis here. I couldn't find a combination I was happy with that would protect them against these issues alongside the Bravecto, so I have gone back to using Advantix. We've cleared a lot of the long grass the ticks were living in (thank heavens for the grass cutter on our tractor!) and I now haven't seen a tick in months. For worming, we use Milbemax, which protects against heartworm as well as the regular gastro-intestinal worms. But, I agree with the others, you should ask your vet for advice specific to your location.
When I was in California I didn't need to use anything but brewer's yeast and apple cider vinegar added to food. In Spain I used a Scalibor collar as I had to because of leischmaniosis (sp?) but it seemed to keep everything else away as well (ticks and fleas). I don't like the topicals as I've just heard too many bad things about them, plus I was always petting and touching my dog and didn't like the idea of it going into his or my skin. But also I've never had a big flea problem... I may feel otherwise if the natural stuff didn't seem to work for my dogs.
I don't use any flea/tick treatments on Snowie. We will be a tick bite fever area in Dec so we will be using a natural repellent spray on him (we used it last time and it was very effective although has an unpleasant strong smell of citronella). We do deworm with Mediworm every three months because he's raw fed and a scavenger (of note!) and we had a scare when he was 1.5 years old with a tapeworm infestation. When he was a puppy, we used the spot-on treatments (Frontline, Advantix, Revolution) but he HATED them -- I guess they burnt his skin. Then I heard about Diatomaceous Earth (food grade) that I rubbed on him -- we used it for a few months. Made him awfully grimy (very unpleasant), although I guess it does work cos we sprinkled a lot on a cockroach that was scurrying on the floor and it died after a few minutes. I've subsequently read about the dangers of using DE on pets, can cause serious lung disease if inhaled (might be a particular grade of DE). Earlier this year we were in a tick-infested area with tick bite fever. We used the repellent on his legs and tummy, but because it had such a strong smell, I was reluctant to spray it too close to his face. We were careful to inspect him all the time and remove ticks (he had none on his legs at all), but a few days after getting back home we noticed big fat ticks around Snowie's neck (such thick fur and they were probably tiny when they attached) so we gave him a Bravecto. He had two seizures, the first a few weeks after giving the Bravecto, the second a few weeks later. They might've been normal epileptic fits as he is epileptic, although he'd not had a seizure for 7 months and was doing so well with none of the normal signs that he might fit, and I just keep reading so much bad stuff about Bravecto, and the ticks must attach first in any case, it is not a repellent. I also read bad stuff about the other flea/tick treatments, and because of Snowie's proneness to seizures, we try to avoid all chemicals. He's not had a fit since those last two -- those were around May. In our area there are no fleas and ticks in winter, so I definitely see no need for tick/flea treatments at that time. Summer is more difficult and an itchy dog is miserable. Snowie is itchy, but he was itchy when he was on all the treatments, so we've stopped all treatments and will use that spray when we're in the tick infested area. He does pick up a tick now and then on our walks, but we don't have tick bite fever in our area. I in fact woke up the other morning with a tick attached to my foot and I'm fine! Of course tick bite fever is no joke and can be deadly. A flea comb is very effective at keeping fleas away -- gets rid of fleas and eggs. The environment is what you need to treat if you do have fleas -- so keep bedding well laundered and put out in the sun regularly.
I have been using the Seresto collar for the last 32months.....expensive but lasts 8 months and, although I live in a tick area, have not found a single one on Cooper. Your vet will recommend what is the right one for you. I did not like putting on Advantix because it was very messy and I got it all over Cooper and myself....even though it should have been easier!! My fault here! The collar stays on 24/7 and you can put the regular collar over it if you prefer.
Just a comment about Milbemax - it needs to be given monthly if it's to be effective against heartworm. If you don't need to protect against heartworm then you can just give it every 3 months which covers all other worms.
