All in one flea and worm treatment?

As mentioned in previous posts, you need to find something effective that eliminates fleas before they can breed, breaking the lifecycle. Once you have that product the dog has to go around stimulating all the pupae available to hatch - they either get on the dog and die, or they miss and die. Once all the pupae in the environment have been hatched, then you could take the dog off preventatives - will you know? No.

Comfortis (Spinosad) is still great and getting good results.
Panoramis (Spinosad and Milbemycin) is popular as it also worms the dog.

I am not totally familiar with the new Flea and Tick products (Bravecto (Fluralaner) or Nexgard (Alfoxolaner)), they haven't been around long enough in a "flea season" to be able to tell yet. Probably excellent as they are a new compound family used for external parasites in dogs.

In saying all of that - is it fleas? Certainly dogs get allergic to fleas. Specifically their saliva left under the skin. It is a true allergic reaction, not just irritant. Dogs can be allergic to a LOT of other things. If it is a long term issue and you are happy with flea control, you may need to go further with allergy testing.

 

Thanks, yes, I really don't know what it was, the vet said it was probably from a flea (to me, it actually looked like a sting of some sort, it was quite red). As I said, there's no flea poo on her so I never thought she had fleas, but with her crewcut I can see them when they jump on her.

I think my main problem is getting all pupae to hatch. I have an enormous backyard - if they're out there, there's no way she could attract and sterilise everybody out there....

She's not that bothered by them, it was just that one that got her really scratching at herself that one time. It's just depressing when she's on the "stuff" and she still got "bit" enough to cost me money.

 

Interesting thread... We just adopted our second doggy and as a matter of course I picked up a three pack of Sentinel Chews as that's what my folks have always used.

Might use them up and try some of these new options.

A slightly related question for those in the know:

RSPCA was giving her separate intestinal worming drugs to heartworm/flea treatment. The clinical history document doesn't state which products they are though. They're out of sync by about 16 days with intestinal worming due 5 Oct and heartworm/flea due 21 Sept.

Given Sentinel takes the place of both am I best just dosing that on the 5th for the expiring intestinal worming and risking (probably some safety factor..) a slightly higher than usual dosage of the heartworm/flea drugs which aren't due till later?

My current plan was to just split the difference and have the worming slightly late and the flea slightly early.

6kg female 11 week old female mixed kelpie/?bull arab.

Sorry if a derail - feels pretty close to the general thread theme though

 

Will be safe Holden. If you wanted to you could basically worm daily. In young pups sub 12 weeks you should be worming every 2 weeks anyway. The products in wormers don't give any protection, their activity is whilst it transitions the gut, killing what is in there. The timings we used are based on our concerns about what affect worms can have (dangerous in the pup) and likelihood of developing a problem (3 monthly for adult dogs).

 

Comfortis works well for my pups

We've been treating worms separately so we might just use Panoramis from now on.

What's everyone using for tick prevention? My inlaws dog was struck down by a paralysis tick last week. A night in the vets and $1000 later she's all good

 

Currently:
Advocate (for fleas and worms except tapeworm) every 4 weeks.
Bravecto (for fleas / ticks) every 12 weeks.

After Advocate is done:
Interceptor (for worms) every 4 weeks.
Bravecto (for fleas/ticks) every 12 weeks.

That's what our new vet advised us, as it means we aren't doubling up.

Interesting to note that most products state "once a month", however some months are 4 weeks, and others 5. So if you have a "once a month" product, best to check exactly how long it should last, as in a 5 week month, you could actually end up with a week unprotected/out of whack.

Our vet recommended we base them always on weeks rather than months, as that's how the products are generally tested.

 

If you dose again with a few days or a week still left in your current treatment period, you do know the animal isn't "at risk" of overdosing?

I mean, it's all well and good to go by the dates and get it right but don't fret if you are a little early for the next dose.

 

The only month that is 4 weeks is February, and there are no 5 week months.

Stick to months kids, it is fine.

 

But should it be the same day each month, or 4 weeks (effectively a month)?

If using a month (example September), if you dosed on Tuesday the 1st.
Tues 1st
Tues 8th
Tues 15th
Tues 22nd
Tues 29th

You would then dose on Thursday the 1st of October. So you'd be a few days out with next dosage.

millhouse you'd be able to answer this no doubt
Is the drop off in these treatments sharp, or fairly residual?

In other words if you checked the dog for drugs from that treatment exactly a month after, would they still have a small amount of it protecting them, or would it completely have cleared the system by then?

Or does it completely depend on the drug / dose?

 

The drugs don't really work on the dog, they work on the fleas that bite the dog. If the concentration in the dog is low/er, it isn't going to make the fleas receiving the contraceptive suddenly fertile. The whole thing is a process, it doesn't just stop dead as of "day X" If you keep dosing your dog monthly, the fleas won't become fertile again. A few days here and there makes no difference.

 

You're overthinking things mate.

Speak to your vet.

 

The only thing that affects the reproduction is Lufenuron (affects the egg shell production), which I am sure you can still get (Program) but I would be surprised. An older drug that theoretically is good, but the wandering of animals and clients not using it on all animals in the household means it doesn't work well.

The rest of the drugs discussed kill the adult fleas.

The drop off in effectiveness is not precipitous, and there is likely to be still a fairly decent kill rate at "5 weeks" although not in the high 90+% range (usually up around 98-99) that is seen in the month period of effectiveness.

....but yes cbb, depends on the drug and dosage.

 

As well as their "normal" stuff, I keep capstar on hand. If they start carrying on as if somebody's on them, they can have a capstar. My vet also prescribed anti-histamine for my other dog, when they start chomping on themselves going itchy, that seems to help. The other crap out in the garden can set them off, it's not always biteys.

 

Cheers for the informative post millhouse.

So anything that says "1 month coverage", is probably more likely to cover for 1-2 months, but in the second month would be ineffective enough to not really be classed as working?

Is it true that tapeworm in dogs is mostly passed on by fleas, and as such if you have an effective flea treatment, tapeworm medication is not as important?

 

Yes, it starts to become ineffective, so use monthly.
Tapeworms - http://www.virbac.com.au/home/dog-cat-owners/common-health-issues/worm-control/tapeworms.html
So yes control of fleas should control Dipylidium well.

 

Good morning,

About 4 or so years on and I've been using Panoramis with success(never use Sentinel!), prices have jumped to around $100 a box. While a small price to pay for my dogs health, I am wondering if there is a relatively easy method of sustaining his health whilst at a lower cost? Ie is there anything on the market that will actively protect against fleas, tape worms, heart worms etc?

 

Most stuff will be comparable in price (even Advocate), when you take into account 6 tablets in a box for $100 vs 6 pippettes in a box for $99 (for example).

We are using a combination of Bravecto and Interceptor now.

 

Budget Pet Products

Buy Bravecto in the lowest cost per chew you can get
Buy Interceptor in the lowest cost per chew you can get

job done

 

Cheers BBits

have you looked at Panoramis? Is there benefits with the two you mentioned?

 

Have, wouldn't bother when those two products are on the market.

If your little buddy has those things cruising around in his/her system (please make sure you buy the chews in the correct weight dosage for your dog) he/she doesn't need anything else at all except your love and plenty of food, water and exercise

I often leave it an extra fortnight/3 weeks longer than the 3 months