[Jeff M]

I’m just curious what the forums general stance is on oral flea/tick and heartworm medication. I’m speaking of the ones that are given on a monthly basis. I’ve been giving them to my dogs for about a year now but after doing some research and looking at the ingredients I am hesitant to continue. My main concern is that I do a lot of backpacking and outdoors stuff with my dogs and would be devastated if they got heartworm or a disease from a tick while on a trip. I always do a good job inspecting them for ticks but it’s definitely not fail proof. I also live in the mountains where mosquitos are prevalent especially in the upcoming months. Thanks.

[InkedMarie]

I do heartworm preventive but we do it every 45 days from March/April til October/November.

For fleas & ticks, I use Bug Off Garlic daily and spray with Wondercide. We also Wondercide the lawn.

[pitlove]

I use a generic oral Ivermectin pill for heartworm and Bravecto oral for flea/tick. Not a single issue with either even for my very sensitive pitbull who we just found out after a recent minor surgery is predisposed to seizures.

I live in the South and we don’t get real winters so it would simply be irresponsible for me not to use a tougher preventative. I’ve tried the “all natural” route with zero success.

[Jeff M]

Thanks for the tips. So are a lot of the issues out there on these oral medications overblown? I can’t imagine a toxic substances being circulated in the bloodstream long term would be good for a pet, but like everything I guess you have to weigh the risks. When you say zero success I’m guessing your dog got flees/ticks?

[pitlove]

Correct. We still got fleas, not to mention constantly having to reapply daily. It was very time consuming.

I’m sure some dogs have had negative reactions to oral meds, but any living thing can have a reaction to any type of medication. For me personally, I can not take Tramadol because I vomit and have auditory hallucinations when I do. Does it mean it should be taken off the market because a few people react to it? No. Just means you find an alternative.

I’m a vet tech student, so for me, I see the way pharmacuticals have revolutionized the veterinary medicine field. I’ve studied a lot of drugs and what they do and I have a better understanding of them and I do not worry as much.

[elaine c]

hi pit luv, Jeff,
this is a great question and not many people ask!! this is what I was told by a bio chemist. Give a full dose of heartworm med starting in March.. wait 3 months and give it again, wait 3 more months and give it a 3rd time and after the hard frost wait until March again. As for the stuff for ticks and fleas.. My experience is don’t use it. I am a professional trainer.. I saw my friend put it on his puppy and the dog got seizures. It is fairly uncommon I think but I think dogs get other sicknesses from this stuff it goes right into their nervous system. If it tells us not to touch it WHY would you give it to your dog?? It took this guy 2 years to listen to me and he stopped it and slowly his dog got much better. I would use something natural and put a lot of it on I make this up 1 cup water
2 Cups white vinegar
2 Teaspoons of a vegetable oil
2 Teaspoons, lemon or citrus oil or peppermint oil
mix it all together and use as a spray

It works well I know that the peppermint oil keeps mice absolutely out of my barn they hate it.

[Bayne K]

We have a house full of pets. No, really. We’ve got 3 dogs, about 10 cats, and 3 ferrets. That means we have our work cut out for us when it comes to flea control.

Since we also have a house full of kids- who love their pets- I really hate to use topical, chemical flea control (not that it works well anyway) and I worry about what the chemicals are doing to our furry family members when they ingest so much of these pills or chews that supposedly get rid of fleas. Luckily, there are a lot of options to get rid of fleas naturally!

This is why natural remedies are a good approach to dealing with fleas on dogs. Below are 6 natural ways of getting rid of dog fleas

https://goo.gl/G6s7tQ

[Pamhanson]

These flea/tick problems are increasing day by day and affecting pets like dogs and cats, etc. we treat our pets like our family members and thus they opt to be taken care if got injured. I remembered last month my dog was getting infected and surrounded with fleas and ticks everywhere on his body, even inside ears, it was so difficult task to handle the situation, but somehow we managed. Later on, we decided to contact pest control queens ny to get rid of the flea and ticks problems by having some pest controlling at home.

[Alice L]

My recommendation is Nexgard oral chewable treatment. And my vet also suggests this treatment for my dog. This tasty beef-flavored chew is easy to administer and only Lasts for a full month. NexGard can be given to any kind of dogs breed as well as puppies 8 weeks of age and older, weighing 4 pounds of body weight or greater. You should try this once, surely you will love it. Thanks!

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