Flea & Tick Preventative

[AgilityDog]

What does everyone use to prevent fleas and ticks?

Flea and tick season is about to start. I live in an area where ticks and lyme disease are a huge issue. I normally use k9 Advantix from March to November, but with my dog's recent Cushing's diagnosis, I'm hesitant to use chemicals. On the other hand, I don't want her to get lyme disease.

What do you all use and recommend?

[Squirt's Mom]

I used Advantage Multi and Preventix collars with my cush baby and use the same with those here now that aren't cush babies. ;)

EDITED TO ADD:

Advantage Multi is a heart worm treatment that also kills several parasites including fleas but it does not have any effect on ticks. So the Preventix is to cover the ticks.

[mytil]

That is a hard one for sure. I now use Sentinel and Parastar Plus (I do not have a cushpup anymore though). I switched from Advantage and Frontline last season for fleas and ticks because they did not seem to work --- two of my girls came down with Lyme. (very expensive to treat and the symptoms were lameness and infections).

I am sure there are some natural remedies but I know they have to be used continuously - i.e. orange oil mixed with water and mint oil mixed with water. Tried those years ago and worked to some degree.

I also tried diatomaceous earth too last year --- dried the girls skin out way too much and caused one to sneeze a lot - but some swear by it.

Terry

[Wrighton]

Just a little note about white footed dogs, usually collies and some other herding dogs. The University of Washington can test for a mutant gene that excludes the use of some drugs if the dogs are shown to carry them. I have three mutant/mutant MRD1 dogs. Ivermectin and now other identified drugs should not be given to them. Sorry I don't know how Cushing drugs can impact them, but they are not on the current list published on the University of Washington web site.

Since Interceptor is no longer available, I have blood work done every six months and have my yard treated. I, by the way, live in the tick and Lyme disease Capitol. I worry more about the drugs safety then a six month delay for heart worm should it appear.

Gail and Icy, Paige and Jamison

[labblab]

I'm not aware of any reason why Cushing's should preclude your use of any of the flea/tick preventives that you've used successfully in the past. So if you were happy with k9Advantix before, I see no reason why you can't continue with it.

Marianne

[AgilityDog]

I'm not aware of any reason why Cushing's should preclude your use of any of the flea/tick preventives that you've used successfully in the past. So if you were happy with k9Advantix before, I see no reason why you can't continue with it.

Marianne

I guess my thinking is that if my dog has hormonal issues, the less chemicals I put into her body, the better off she will be in the long run.

I'm still using heartworm treatment (heartgard) because there's no natural medicine for heartworms that I know of. But if there's something more natural to repel fleas and ticks, I'd rather use that.


Just a little note about white footed dogs, usually collies and some other herding dogs. The University of Washington can test for a mutant gene that excludes the use of some drugs if the dogs are shown to carry them. I have three mutant/mutant MRD1 dogs. Ivermectin and now other identified drugs should not be given to them. Sorry I don't know how Cushing drugs can impact them, but they are not on the current list published on the University of Washington web site.

Since Interceptor is no longer available, I have blood work done every six months and have my yard treated. I, by the way, live in the tick and Lyme disease Capitol. I worry more about the drugs safety then a six month delay for heart worm should it appear.

Gail and Icy, Paige and Jamison

Wrighten, I've never had my sheltie tested for MDR1. But from my understanding, low doses of Ivermectin and Milbemycin (like the amount in heartworm pills) are safe for MDR1 dogs. Of course, I am not a vet, so always follow your vet's advice.

[Squirt's Mom]

Not saying you should switch but here is some info on HeartGard. I used HeartGard for years with mine til I learned about this and I switched to Advantage Multi on advise from our vet, the Dr. B referred to below. There may have been changes to HeartGard since then so you might want to ask your vet if there has been.

Heartworm preventive efficacy study results revealed at NAVC

http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dvm/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/703785


In the following study HeartGard is Ivermectin/Pyrantel (group #1); Advantage Multi is imidacloprid/moxidectin (group #4)

http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/avhc/Sponsored+Industry+White+Papers/Comparative-efficacy-of-four-commercially-availabl/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/714137


This is the article from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Dr. B gave me but to read the whole article you have to pay. A lawsuit has been filed against Merial, maker of HeartGard, by a former employee of that company. The lawsuit says, ““Merial has been aware of a serious lack of efficacy” since 2002, even as it continued to market HeartGard as “100% effective”. “ A study found that 20% of dogs treated with HeartGard “regularly contracted heartworms”. The article also says, “It’s not just the number of heartworm larvae that concern Delta veterinarians There are a growing number of anecdotal reports suggesting heartworms in South-Central states are resistant to medication, said R. Kelly Schwalbe, a spokesman for the Companion Animal Parasite Council.”

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2011/jun/21/pet-pill-problem-known-suit-says-20110621/