Pet flea/tick control

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sciphi

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That wonderful time of year is almost upon us northern folks. Flea and tick season. My 60 lb black Lab mix has a bad reaction to permethrin-based flea control (Advantix and Vectra). Fipronil (Frontline and PetArmor) has some very mixed reviews, and is quite pricey to boot. I've heard things about diatomaceous earth, but nothing conclusive. Sounds like a flea comb and regular baths might be the best option in my case.

What successful products or solutions have worked for your dogs and other pets?
 
Petarmor worked wonder for my three dogs

(2 over 65 lb and one 10lb)
My grocery store has 3 months for $15. We didnt see a flea for so long.

We used hartz one time and my boxer hated it she kept rolling on her back and crying in my face so gave her a bath and petarmor
 
In southern California, we’ve been happy with “Flea Treats” Vit-B complex (fleatreat.com). Also garlic. I have been told that Eucalyptus oil is a good determent. We used to have several eucalyptus trees on our easement in our backyard and the year the city removed them was the only year we ever had any issues with ticks. We ended up treating the house rugs with borax (The 20 mule team kind) and letting it stay for a few hours and then vacuum it up. Never had a problem since. Our house normally has 2-3 long hair dogs (rough coat collies “Lassies”.

We have tried Frontline and Advantix in the past but the dogs had bad reactions so we decided to go the natural way and been happy for over 15years.
 
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I've used revolution on my dog for 10 years, seems to have worked so far. It's once a month dose, if you buy it from your vet (if you buy it elsewhere they will likely ask for a prescription from your vet) it's buy 6 get 2 free and comes out to about ~$90 so ends up being about $11.25 per dose. There's also buy 9 get 3 free if your vet participates, but I prefer to get the 6 with 2 free to keep it fresh and not get close to the expiration date.
 
Regarding the drops that's applied to the animal's back, Frontline works the best for me. My Schnauzer is 22-23 lbs normally, so he gets the stronger dose, believe intended for dogs 20-40 lbs. I do believe that added boost really helped him the past two years.

This year I will spray the yard with Ortho or Spectracide garden hose bug spray the last week of May and again in mid-August. That will help also.
 
Fleas and ticks were bad last year, so I tried Nexgard, a pill type recommended by the vet, on my Boston Terrier. It seems to have eliminated the problem and is easy to use.
 
I always used Frontline on my Labs. Mainly because it was advertised to work even after swimming.

It worked well. Never found a flea on them.

Now I use Revolution on our little 15lb mix breed. Its been working well also.
 
Try petmeds.com. There's several flea/tick applications that don't used the "bad stuff"...we found the alternative after our lab salivated badly and was staggering a bit after application. He just didn't tolerate the stuff, but we found another one without the allergic reaction and it worked well.
 
I use Comfortis (active ingredient Spinosad). A bit pricey but very effective. My vet says it is much more effective than the others at killing fleas. Disadvantage is it does not work on ticks.

Preemptively carpet-bombing the yard with insecticide helps too.
 
If your dog can handle it, Frontline or its generic PetArmour is excellent and one of the few that will work even on dogs that swim.

There is a new collar that lasts 8 months, its about $60 I think. I think Bayer makes it.

I use NexGard which is chewable on one dog as he moves around too much if I try and apply Frontline to his skin. NexGard is a Rx and is made by Frontline.

Now is the time many fleas are waiting in the larvae state and if they detect the right conditions they will leave that state to become a flea and jump on your pet. So vacuum carpets and areas where the dog sleeps.
 
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