I've been using Frontline, best price locally was at Fleet Farm, a regional farm supply chain. Any input on other types of prevention? Thanks.

We were using Frontline until last summer... When both pups got a flea infestation... We are now happy users of K9 Advantix. And we have not had any issues since. (Oh, and by the way... Capstar is worth its weight in gold!)

I love K9 Advantix sadly when my dad worked at this one vet he insists we use frontline on the dogs.

I plan to find a vet that has Advantix I like Advantix better we used it before with no problems our cats are outside cats so no problems there and I like that it supposed to repel the fleas and ticks. I always check the dogs after walks to take ticks off I rather get them off before they latch on..
Nicole, 5year old Bella(Boxer), and 4year old Saya(Shiba inu)

I'm a fan of the K9 Advantix too. Prevent ticks and fleas in one go...sounds good to me. I do wish they made an oral version (like you can get the anti-flea pills but nothing that takes care of ticks) just because the topical meds are rather unpleasant.

Jessica you are such the good dog mommy!!!!

I put a few drops on their collars and harnesses. I still check them for ticks after every walk of course (those things are evil stubborn bastards) but it works well.

extraction: I use the teeny plastic tick crowbar when necessary- I think its called the Tick Twister, and in French for those north of the border "Le Tire Tique!"

Mostly we have used frontline for prevention, but I am coming around to advantix this year after finding that all my dogs' friends are on that with better results. I comb the dickens out of the dogs with a flea comb (easy for Reilly, Sage is too thick coated). I dispose of any Tiques by sticking them on a piece of duct tape, then when done combing, folding it over to seal them in firmly and tossing them in the trash. We are in the woods and fields almost daily. Our ratio of deer to wood ticks is probably 15 to 1. Both dogs are still lyme antibody free per their blood tests yesterday. yay!

Hmm, I just did a quick google search, not too sure about Advantix, it seems like some pretty strong stuff.

"And c) I want the little bastards to suffer for trying to suck my babies blood."

LMAO! I love it! ~

I've been using frontline we used to use advantix which I liked better since it repel the ticks and fleas too not just killed them.

I'd love to go Jessica's route, but my question is does it repels ticks, fleas and things like gnats?

How much of each oil do you mix and how many drops on the collars and harnesses would it be good to spray on the dogs coats?

I have 16 acres of land about 10 or so of it is fields and forest which of coarse has tons of ticks which I have to do a check on both dogs after each walk would it be worth going the natural route even if I'm super vigilant I'm afraid I'll miss one and Saya might get sick.

Bella is easy since she is single coated and white, but Saya she's black and double coated which makes things so hard to do. =\

I love being out in the country lots of room to explore, but with the ticks it makes me just want to live in the city and take walks at parks and neighborhoods since the dogs always gets ticks on them no matter what..
Nicole, 5year old Bella(Boxer), and 4year old Saya(Shiba inu)

@kagurarap, in Florida these issues can be year round. Ticks are not the big concern though in my area. We use an internal flea medications (Trifexis which also does heartworm and intestinal worms) year round. I have never liked the topical options and some of them can be harmful if you also have cats. Now that said, if/when I know I go to higher tick risk areas I probably would use a topical option. I tried the collar once when I knew we were going to a woodsy park and didn't like it at all. Not only did I not like it for chemical reasons, but it just added more stuff around his neck and he typically wears a tag collar and a walking collar, so that made 3 collars on him that day. I only tried that because I figured it would be easy to remove a day or two after that trip so he wouldn't have to endure 30 days+ of the chemicals.

Hopefully others that live in higher tick areas who would use collars/topical can chime in and give you some advice on what to use.

I use sentinel for Halo. Pill form. No worries for me about accidentally ingesting it. I wouldn't recommend the flea collars. My parents used one on my other dog, and it would leave residue all over. Especially the first week of using it, then only last about 3 weeks. There is also topical ones you can use which are much better than the flea collars. They don't leave residue all over. Just don't touch your pet when you first put it on, and make sure to wash your hands really well after the application.

@Halo So with topical, it's only immediately after it's applied that I can't really touch my pet? What's to stop her from running off and rubbing all over stuff haha unless I leash her somewhere to minimize the damage? So once it's applied, how soon is it okay to pet her again, and will I have to wash my hands every time I pet her throughout that month, assuming it's applied every month? Sorry for all the questions - I'm truly a noob at this. :D

Every brand is different, but all come with instructions and recommendations on the box.

The only one that really smells is the all natural ones made from essential oils. I never had any of the other ones ever have any smell at all. I have asthma as well, I never did try the ones with the essential oils, but the other ones I tried gave me a rash, why i now use pill form.

**edit, I know somewhere on here, Saya has mentioned using essential oils as a repellent on here.

Has anyone used Revolution, my aunt uses it on her golden. She says it works well and it also prevents heart worms.

@kagurarap - I use a topical (frontline. My vet suggested that or Vectra. Advantix has twice the dosage of the active ingredient and she feels it's overkill, but it will also depend on whether the fleas/ticks in your area have developed immunity).

In the first 5-8 hours after application, do not pet, and keep them crated. It can rub off on you, furniture, etc. topicals can and will cause a rash if a person has sensitive skin. Typically the anti-tick is good for a month and anti-flea for three months. If your main concern is with fleas, then you can space longer between topical treatments. Is your dog currently on heartworm prevention?

We dosed every other month during warm months (so typically April through October) on topical anti-flea/tick and a year round ingested heartworm preventative. We personally were not crazy about Triflexis so we did ours separately.

Honestly, I personally found fleas to be a non issue (in Manhattan at least) so I would just stick to the homeopathic stuff. When out for bbqs and the like I will spray the dogs with the same bug repellent I use (B, the chemical engineer checked to make sure it was dog safe since the pups lick me, and I have a very bad mosquito allergy). The natural stuff is nowhere near as effective but there are many fewer potential side effects, so you've got to make the call yourself.

I am not 100% sold on Trifexis. I haven't had any bad experiences, but I do have to fight my dogs to take it. It is convenient though to only give 1 pill every month and have the risks of fleas, heartworms, and 3 other intestinal worms covered.

I have considered going to Comfortis (which is the same thing in Trifexis) for fleas. We go so many places outside (including some training classes) so I am not sure I could go without worrying about fleas, plus once in the house there is 3 cats that could become infested. Because of the cats and the topical issues (Frontline in many areas is not effective anymore due to built up immunity of the flea/tick populations) I do prefer a pill for flea prevention. I can't use Advantix as it is a risk to my cats, so that is out as an option.

If I do go to a pill just for fleas, like Comfortis, then there are many heartworm options which would then cover the year round risk from mosquitoes.

In all cases I would still probably chose a pill for both fleas and heartworm risk reduction. We go very few woody areas which is why tick prevention is not an issue, plus the few ticks in my area that we could pick up have a low risk of disease compared to other areas. This is another reason I can choose not to use topicals as I don't worry about that issue, I think ticks are only covered if you use topicals or collar type options.

Again, a lot depends on your area and your risks just like @violet_in_seville mentioned what works for her is very different than what would work for me and a lot is just due to what our risks are due to location and activities.

I have never and will never use a systemic pesticide on any of my animals. Something that goes into their bloodstream and makes their whole body toxic to another creature can't be good for them. No disrespect to those of you guys who use them, it's totally a personal choice.

I use Nature's Chemistry Flea and Tick spray. It's cheap, like $10 a bottle, and you only put it on once a week. It uses essential oils and herbal extracts to repel and kill bugs. It also works on gnats, Mosquitos and black flies. It smells like cloves and herbs and it lasts forever. They have a cat specific one too. Within the first two weeks of having Kai, we found 4 ticks on her. Since using this, we've found three ticks in over a year. And most of those were because we slacked off on reapplying her weekly.

I recommend it to everyone. It's been a life saver for me.

@halo you can buy it online, but usually smaller stores will have it. Global pets, Choice pets. But amazon.com is your best bet. We sell the cat one at the vets office where I work. It won't help heart worms if your pet drinks water that the infected Mosquitos contaminated, but it will prevent them from transmitting it through bites.

I don't have all the answers! But this stuff has definetly helped us with non parisitic pest!

We use Sentinel & haven't had any issues. My vet actually refuses to sell Trifexis because of so many reported issues. When Sentinel was hard to find earlier in the year, we were using a combination of Heartguard & Parastar. That worked okay, but I'm glad Sentinel is available again as I don't particularly like the topicals.

Ughh. I over react with things as it is. With the added stress of the possibility of not having a job by the end of next month I'm now also stressing about what flea meds to use! I am a bit of a drama queen. When I was fostering a puppy last yr he had fleas and my house got infested. May not have been that bad bit on top of my amazing ability to overthink, over react and my extreme hatred for all things yucky like BUGS. I was extremely depressed and had bad anxiety. Bought flea spay that kills eggs and used it every day, even though your not supposed too. Gave the dogs a bath every week put all bedding in plastic bags except for what I used and washed that every week. Vacuumed every day even the furniture. Even bought those flea traps.

That being said and now that everyone knows how crazy I am I CANNOT have that happen again. But with all the discussion about what to use and what not to use I am thoroughly confused. I live in upstate ny so ticks are not a big problem. But I have a cat and a rabbit both indoors so they cannot catch fleas. Also I think my dogs may be allergic to frontline. That's what I currently use but after every application they itch even more than before I applied it.


Help! Lol my brain is In overload right now. I do like the idea of essential oil spray. I don't mind applying it once a week but what about the Mosquitos and worms and stuff?

@kagurarap, @crystalwolf - I'm a little concerned to hear that neither of you have your dogs on year round heartworm preventative. I know that the Northeast part of the U.S. is rife with mosquitos (especially NYC). You need to get on that. I am very surprised that your vets (and breeders) have not mentioned that you are in a higher risk area (not as high as say Florida or New Jersey, but high nonetheless).

I'm not in NYC and riku had a heart worm preventative. Mosquitos are not bad where I am not highly neccasary

@violet_in_seville, My vet carries food, mainly science diet though, and they do not push for it. Just have it laying around in the waiting room.

@CrystalWolf, My area doesn't have many mosquitos, but heartworm preventative is definitely something i'd rather have and be safe then sorry. Its easier to prevent then it is to try to fix something.