Dogs- flea & tick control

westwicklow

Hi. I've got two very active jack russell terriers and, on advise of my vet, purchased "FrontlineCombi" as a treatment against fleas and ticks. However, in my experience, it seems this product is not effective. Is there something better out there please?

Sigma Force

A lot of people swear by frontline I use Advocate on my two and used to use Advantage both of which I found very effective. Just changed to Advocate because that's what the vets started stocking. In 5 years only had a flea incident once or mabey twice and only if late dosing them.

In general I dose them every two months at the moment I find they don't need it every month.

Also tea trea or neem based dog shampoos help repel the little blighters as well.

westwicklow

Thank you for this information. I'll be buying Advocate or Advantage from now on but, do these products cover tick prevention also?

Sigma Force

I think Advantage does. Advocate does anyway, nasty little things ticks. My oul ones dog was bitten by one last summer she went all weak really quickly and started to shake, after some meds and a couple of days rest she was fine.

Munster Gal

I've used all the products mentioned and was happy enough with them. The important thing with any of these treatments is that they're applied correctly, used at the right dosage and regularly used. They won't always stop ticks attaching but they will kill them really fast.

westwicklow

That's a fair point Munster Gal, it's all in the application I guess, but one can not do much more than follow the instructions which I did and the product I used seems to have failed on two dogs. So it's time for a change eh?

Jules

Advocate only covers against flea, flea larve, hookworm, heartworm, roundworm, whipworm, ear mites and and mange mites, IT DOES NOT WORK ON tapeworm ticks and lice. Advantage is only for fleas and Advantix is for fleas and ticks. The best treatment i have found for parasite control in pets in Prac-tic spot on treatment and an oral wormer like milbemax.

Outkast_IRE

my vet always reccomends Stronghold its a spot on thats used once a month .
We give a wormer then every 3 months have never found a flea or tick on dog and shes outside and with other dogs a lot so it defo works well

westwicklow

great info guys.... thanks very much.

LordDorington

hi just wondering if anyone knows where in Dublin I can buy a flea bomb (sometimes called a flea fogger)? The little pests are driving me mad. Have treatd the pets twice but they still keep coming back and they are disgusting.

comongethappy

Personally I use 4fleas protector or Bob Martin Vet Care spot on. They both work by preventing the flea from reproducing, so while the adult flea survives, it will break the flea life cycle. One spot on lasts for 3 months. To kill adult fleas on the pet, I use Johnson's 4 fleas tablets, it's a short acting flea killer that isn't as toxic as the spot ons that are meant to kill fleas.

I've tried both advocate and advantage on the cats when they got fleas, on one it didn't work, on one it was only effective for 2 weeks. I also tried flea sprays in the house without any joy, they killed everything but the fleas . I found daily vaccuming and monthly washing of the carpets the best thing to control fleas indoors.

Ado86

LordDorington wrote: »

hi just wondering if anyone knows where in Dublin I can buy a flea bomb (sometimes called a flea fogger)? The little pests are driving me mad. Have treatd the pets twice but they still keep coming back and they are disgusting.

You need to rid your environment of fleas, only 5% of fleas are acutally found on the dog, the other 95% are in the environment (e.g. house, bedding, carpets...). I would advise to use Indorex (made by Virbac) it is an aerosol spray that you can buy from most vets and you spray it around your house, it kills the remaining fleas in your house, thus eliminating the reservoir and hopefully your pets wont be reinfested. If you ring up your vets, or any vets you can get to and ask them for it, they should be able to tell you whether they stock it or not.

Miss Lockhart

Jules wrote: »

Advocate only covers against flea, flea larve, hookworm, heartworm, roundworm, whipworm, ear mites and and mange mites, IT DOES NOT WORK ON tapeworm ticks and lice. Advantage is only for fleas and Advantix is for fleas and ticks. The best treatment i have found for parasite control in pets in Prac-tic spot on treatment and an oral wormer like milbemax.

As far as I know there are no spot-on treatments that treat tapeworm so you're always going to have to use a proper wormer like Milbemax anyway.

According to the product info Advocate "treats and controls" lice and mange. It definitely doesn't kill ticks though. Prac-tic, according to its product info doesn't treat lice or mange - just fleas and ticks

Personally, I have found Advocate to be the most effective. My dog is living in an urban area so we have never had a problem with ticks but if he was going to be in a rural area we would probably change to a spot-on effective on ticks. At the moment mange is a greater concern.

I have also found Advocate to be the best for my cats as it seems to be the only one effective against ear mites.

OP - if your problem is with recurring fleas I would definitley reccomend you treat the environment as the previous poster suggested. No spot-on can stop fleas jumping on your animal if they are exposed to them - they will just ensure the fleas die once they feed.

lizzie09

For years any cat I had never had fleas but 3yrs ago we got a new cat
and she just seemed to pick fleas up easily.

Since then two strays have arrived to us!! Its expensive to treat 3 of them
and Im back scratching again! It seems to be just some of the family that
the fleas attack

I got a flea collar for the little cat and wonder is it any use. I have used the
advocate for two of them also but can see myself heading to the vet to get more and maybe abandon the collar. Is there anywhere else spot on can be bought apart from vets as they seem to charge a lot

Gone With The W

LordDorington wrote: »

hi just wondering if anyone knows where in Dublin I can buy a flea bomb (sometimes called a flea fogger)? The little pests are driving me mad. Have treatd the pets twice but they still keep coming back and they are disgusting.

bob martins flea bomb s are great. Got them on the pets at home website. the effects last for 7 months

ghost_ie

Over the years I've used Advantage, Frontline and Stronghold at different times and have never had a flea infestation yet (fingers crossed).

Could anyone tell me a wormer I could use on the 11 year old dog that will not make her sick? The vet has given her milbemax (and was forced to clean up his floor afterwards), and I've tried a couple of other wormers all with the same result. The only thing that worked was an injection that a young vet gave her but when I asked the older vet for it the next time he wouldn't give it as he said it could be dangerous for collies or collie crosses

Peter Banks

Some products that can help control gastrointestinal worms:

Drontal suspension is the most recommended by vets. This product will help control roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms. It is best for puppies and small dogs. The active ingredients are febantel and pyrantel embonate. As with any medication watch your dog for any signs that he might be allergic to the medication. If his appetite changes or you notice a change in his bathroom habits, please contact your vet.

Miss Lockhart

ghost_ie wrote: »

Over the years I've used Advantage, Frontline and Stronghold at different times and have never had a flea infestation yet (fingers crossed).

Could anyone tell me a wormer I could use on the 11 year old dog that will not make her sick? The vet has given her milbemax (and was forced to clean up his floor afterwards), and I've tried a couple of other wormers all with the same result. The only thing that worked was an injection that a young vet gave her but when I asked the older vet for it the next time he wouldn't give it as he said it could be dangerous for collies or collie crosses

Milbemax is really good - pity it doesn't agree with your doggy. Maybe try Drontal. Panacur powder is sometimes used in very young puppies so maybe they could try that.

Peter Banks wrote: »

Some products that can help control gastrointestinal worms:

Drontal suspension is the most recommended by vets. This product will help control roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms. It is best for puppies and small dogs. The active ingredients are febantel and pyrantel embonate. As with any medication watch your dog for any signs that he might be allergic to the medication. If his appetite changes or you notice a change in his bathroom habits, please contact your vet.

I think a lot of vets are concerned about resistance to drontal at the moment - particularly in hookworms.

planetX

I find frontline great for fleas, but the tick protection is very short - I suspect it's the same with any other products. I just pull them out, slow steady pressure makes sure you get the head out too.