The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and fleas and ticks are starting to get active. I have done a lot of flea prevention before, but yesterday I found a flea on the dog bed.
Very failed, how to solve this terrible problem completely?

What have you been using for flea and tick prevention?

I'm not a fan of applying flea and tick stuff on my dogs, but know that it is necessary in some areas. I have never seen a flea on any of our dogs since we moved from Florida to Pennsylvania, but we have lots of ticks. We treat our yard for ticks a couple of times during the spring and summer. I go over the dogs every day for ticks. We keep the dogs out of the yard when we treat it for a few days and definitely till it is well watered in..... but we have a graveled dog run so we can do this with no problem other than the dogs being upset over not having the yard to run in.

Bravecta seems to be the choice of all my pooch friends here in Southern CA. It's a chewable and you only have to give every 12 weeks. One of our pups didn't particularly like the taste so we had to cut it into quarters and push down his throat after which we have a yummy treat.
We had been using Revolution spot on every 4 weeks and started noticing fleas after week 2 so we switched

Where are you located? Certain products seem to work better in certain areas. I find that fipronil (Frontline, etc.) is one of the least effective things out there, yet other people love it.

Personally, I use Nexguard for my dogs, and Advantage II for my cats.

We have used Trifexis for years with no problems. It does not protect against ticks, but does against intestinal parasites and heart worm which is much more important to me given our chance of exposure to ticks vs parasites.

Some folks shy away from Trifexis because it causes vomiting in some dogs. That would be a problem....

If your dog vomits up the medicine Then it is either unprotected for a month or you are out $25 or so to re-dose Our dogs handle it really well

We have never had a problem with fleas. I have never seen a flea on our boys.

Here is a very concise comparison between Nexguard, Trifexis and Comfortis:

https://www.1800petmeds.com/Comforti...re6870029.html

John
Portland OR

Ticks where I live are a big problem, with lots of cases of serious tick related illnesses in dogs. I have used the Seresto collar over 4 years with no side effects, and it works like a charm.

I live in a very high tick area. I use Bravecto and have had zero issues. Frontline and other topicals have become less effective in our area and tick-borne disease is pretty high risk. There's no one "best" answer - it depends on your dogs, your area, and what you feel comfortable using. I'd recommend discussing with your veterinarian and not listening TOO much to the internet. There is a lot of hysterical scare mongering on flea/tick medications. There are definite risks, certainly - I'm not trying to downplay them - but you have to be aware of what they are verses the risk of what you're trying to prevent, like any drug. Your vet is the best person to help you assess that.

I use Advantage II for the cats and the dogs (the dogs mostly only get treated if we've been to agility barns where fleas are known to be a problem--then I apply AdvantageII before going to those barns.

The cats (because one of them is VERY allergic to flea bits) have Advantage applied monthly.

About fleas--if you see a dead flea in bedding it means your product is working. Fleas get on and off dogs and cats. Fleas are inside as well as outside. You pet can pick up a flea out for a walk--I know (because I work in a vet clinic) that I have occasionally brought fleas home with me (to make my cats happy). Often people see a dead flea or a slow, dying flea and believe their flea prevention is not working--it won't work on fleas that aren't on your pet but it will kill off new fleas that may show up on treated pets. And when that happens you may find dead fleas on the pets beds.

Because I don't go anyplace where there are likely to be ticks I don't use a combo product that gets rid of ticks and fleas--but if you do or if you hunt and are only out in fields where ticks abound, occasionally--one of the solutions is to use a Preventick collar--you can put them in a plastic bag when you get home from hunting and stick the collar and bag in the freeze--my friends who hunt birds say that the collars will last for a season are are less expensive than using a combo tick and flea product--the Advantix product comes with rave review for keeping ticks off but you can NOT use it with cats--and it comes with warnings all over the packaging.

Really you just need to have a clear idea of exactly what various of the internal, external and collar products that are to kill or repel ticks and fleas are supposed to do and how exactly they do it.

dobebug

I use K-9 Advantix II. My vet is surprised that it works. She said she's heard otherwise.

And she said that nothing will actually repel anything, no matter what the box says. But I beg to differ because Advantix II has permethrin in it and that sh*t repels. I treat my own gear and clothing with it (permethrin, not Advantix II) before I go out for field work or camping/hiking trips. Just about every biologist I know who goes into the field uses it because its so effective. If she's experienced it failing, I'm more inclined to believe she got a bad/expired lot of it.

I'd be willing to bet it wasn't even expired product--vets often believe clients who come in and tell them that the flea (or tick or both) killer isn't working and they find live or dying fleas and/or ticks on the dog. NEW FLEAS AND TICKS CLIMB ON DOGS AND CATS EVEN WHEN THE ORIGINAL RESIDENT POPULATION DIED--THEY DON'T HAVE A TELEGRAPH SYSTEM THAT SAYS--"HEY--STAY OFF THIS ANIMAL--I'M DYING!!!!!

The recent reputation that Frontline no longer works--maybe true in some areas--still works fine here--I got a bunch of free Frontline and since I have one cat who is an early warning system I know if anyone has fleas--worked fine in the area around Portland.

It's true, that like many medications, some things work better than others on a particular pet. I want skin application because I don't want to be pilling a dog with something that claims it fixes everything. And if that everything also makes him puke I want to know which ingredient isn't working. So I use internal protection for heartworm. Skin application for fleas. I'm not in an area with a lot of ticks so I don't use anything that is supposed to kill ticks. The heartworm protection is milbemycine and that is effective on heartworm, and just about everything else except tape (I haven't had a problem with tape since I started using flea prevention.

Good luck

dobebug