What heartworm/flea products are you using this year?

[Tommy Coyote]

I just took my dogs in yesterday for their heartworm ck. I bought a package of Trifexis (6 tablets) for $130.00. Trifexis is good against everything but ticks, I think.

 

So I just looked up Sentinel and it would be $52 for 6 tablets. And I think it is good against all the same things Trifexis is.

 

I'm thinking I would be better off getting Sentinel on line for my next package of heartworm meds. My vet doesn't sell Sentinel in the office.

[ncsugrad54]

I have also been wondering what to use for ticks this year. My dogs are on Trifexis, and it works great against fleas. Frontline Plus seemed to stop working for me last year. I don't want to use a flea collar either. Hopefully people have some other suggestions

[GentleLake]

Sentinel was what my vet recommended for heartworm.

 

She recommends Seresto collars for ticks.

 

My concern is that both have flea preventatives, and different ones at that. I usually don't have a problem with fleas, and when I do, can usually clear it up quickly. So I'm concerned about doubling up on flea meds that I don't even need.

[Maralynn]

$130 for 6 months? Yikes!! I use Absorbine ultra guard for fleas and ticks. It's a horse spray that is approved for dogs. Cost is about $20/bottle and I'm still using the bottle I bought last year. With the pills the insect still has to bite the dog and I'd prefer to repel the bugs so my dogs never get bit in the first place. Generic heartguard is about $50 for 12 mo but I'm thinking about switching to liquid ivermectin.

[Alchemist]

I'm using Sentinel for heartworm, and Seresto collars for ticks. My older son did find a tick on the dog he'd borrowed to take on a mini-vacation - not sure whether said dog picked it up locally or up in NH. Until that point I'd found the Seresto collars to work well. We don't usually have a problem with fleas, probably because both of these have worked for them. In the past I'd used Sentinel + Frontline + Preventic tick collars (the latter two mainly for tick control).

[Mark Billadeau]

We use Ivomec sheep drench for heatworm and frontline plus for tics. We've been spared fleas (touch wood) for many years.

[GentleLake]

Just did a quick search and am not finding Absorbine ultra guard.

 

Did find a product called Absorbine UltraShield Red, but it specifically says not to use on dogs or cats.

 

Blue can be used on dogs, but has ingredients I'd never use on them, like clove and thyme oils. Doesn't repel ticks anyway, according to the package. Besides, one of my dogs is exquisitely sensitive to essential oils so I can't use products like this.

 

Could you mean UltaShield EX? It seems to be the only other one approved for use on dogs. http://www.horse.com/ContentFiles/Associated_Content/2013UltrashieldShelftalker3.pdf

[Maralynn]

My mistake - it is the Ultra Shield EX. It does have a citronella odor to it. My dogs are a bit bothered by that but don't appear any more bothered than they were from frontline or bio-spot.

[Jumpin Boots]

We are back on Sentinel now that it is available again, we've used it for years and have been very happy with it. We double up on a topical adulticide when we feel it's needed for fleas and try to always have capstar handy.

[waffles]

My mistake - it is the Ultra Shield EX. It does have a citronella odor to it. My dogs are a bit bothered by that but don't appear any more bothered than they were from frontline or bio-spot.

How long (days, weeks) have you found this to be effective or how often do you re-spray them?

[GentleLake]

My dogs are all rescue, and 2 of them are definitely mixes, so unless I want to spend more money to test them for the MDR1 mutation just for preventatives, I shouldn't use ivermectin.

[Mark Billadeau]

Dogs with the MDR1 mutation are sensitive to all heartworm preventatives.

All heartworm preventative doses are well below the doses where dogs with the MDR1 mutation show sensitivity to these drugs.

Multidrug Sensitivity in Dogs

 

What heartworm prevention products can I use if my dog has the MDR1 mutation?

 

Fortunately, the dose of ivermectin, selamectin, milbemycin and moxidectin in the commercial heartworm preparations are low enough to be used safely even in dogs with the MDR1 mutation. It is only when the drugs are used at high doses, such as those used to treat mange (50 times higher dose than the heartworm prevention dose), that dogs with the mutation will develop neurological toxicity. Attempting to use large animal formulations of these drugs is likely to cause neurological toxicity because it is difficult to accurately measure

 

Problem Drugs

Selamectin, milbemycin, and moxidectin (antaparasitic agents). Similar to ivermectin, these drugs are safe in dogs with the mutation if used for heartworm prevention at the manufacturer's recommended dose. Higher doses (generally 10-20 times higher than the heartworm prevention dose) have been documented to cause neurological toxicity in dogs with the MDR1 mutation.

[GentleLake]

Yeah . . . I just found that in a search.

 

Thanks for pointing it out, Mark.

 

roxanne

[juliepoudrier]

Right now I use ivermectin for all dogs except for the epileptic. She is on Trifexis (was on Interceptor). In Phoebe's case, my vet said that ivermectin crosses the blood-brain barrier more readily than the other preventives. I never researched that so don't know if it's true, but I do know that Phoebe's seizure activity initially correlated with the ivermectin doses but did not appear to be correlated to the Interceptor doses. She's now well controlled on meds, so I don't know if there would be a potential correlation with the Trifexis.

 

For fleas I use Comfortis. There is some belief that this will also protect against ticks for a limited period, perhaps 2 weeks. I've taken to avoiding areas with ticks and checking the dogs over regularly since I haven't actually found anything that really worked in the tick infested areas in which I lived. I was thinking of trying the Seresto collars but I am just not sure if they are safe enough for dogs who chew on each other, interact with cats, or sleep on the bed with me. I may just try the Preventic collars this summer and see how it goes.

 

J.

[Shetlander]

Sentinel.

[G. Festerling]

Heartworm is ivermectin. Ticks were well controlled in a super bad year with preventic collars. Fleas are out of control. Even the comfortis is ineffective for the dogs. So at the moment, I am managing with dips, shampoos, sprays (all of those natural except for the dip) and am trying the seresto collars who seem to do a decent job so far.

[GentleLake]

Preventic collars are in the highest risk category on this site: http://www.simplesteps.org/greenpaws-products#/h/+/+/846

 

They don't have information on the Seresto collar, and haven't answered my request for information on it.

[G. Festerling]

Well....I have a dog that contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever which is not supposed to be all that common down here. It was miserable for her. So it is all a matter of what works. And we have had horrible ticks.

And I am on acreage. There is virtually no to very little control over the total environment.

[Pippin's person]

We're using NexGuard. It is very expensive but so far seems to be working well. We found Comfortis worked well for fleas but didn't protect against ticks. I've had the same concerns about the various collars that Julie notes.

[bcnewe2]

Preventic collars are working quite well for my border collies. But not doing anything for the LGD. She has hair like a german shepherd. I was thinking about shaving some hair around her neck but don't know if that would help. She is out in the thick of ticks. I pick her every night. Some are dead or dying but some are fat and well fed. I'm thinking I need to take her in. She just isn't acting right so TBD's are on my mind. I sure don't want to invest in the seresto collar and find out it doesn't work either. What is NexGuard Robin? I haven't seen it

[bcnewe2]

I went to look up nexguard and found this, Frontline Tritak the reviews aren't bad. Anyone using this?

[Maralynn]

 

How long (days, weeks) have you found this to be effective or how often do you re-spray them?

It seems to last for 2-3 weeks. I don't like the citronella odor as it's probably irritating to the dogs but the top spots irritated them as well so it was kind of 6 of one/half dozen of the other. I really like the fact that it repells mosquitoes since my aunt's dog came up HW + while on preventitive.

[bcnewe2]

Mara is it water proof for those weeks?

[Maralynn]

Not waterproof, but it is water resistant. "weatherproof" is what the label says. Pretty much it's formulated to remain effective even if the horse is out in the rain. My dogs go swimming with it and it still remains effective for 10-14 days (top spots weren't doing much better than 14 days with frequent swimming for me)

[gcv-border]

With regard to a Preventic or a Seresto collar (I have used both), the directions suggest that, for heavily-coated dogs, trimming the hair in the neck area where the collar sits will improve performance of the collar.