Less toxic flea & tick prevention options

[Bicoastal]

Now that Joey, Mr. Super Allergic to Fleas, is gone, I’m looking for less toxic flea and tick prevention options than Advantix . I’m content with the heartworm prevention I’m using (Heartguard). I live in the Mid-Atlantic with tons of ticks and the constant worry of Lyme. Timber’s furnishings are fantastic at sweeping up ticks and fleas preferred him over Joey. One reason royalty bred lap dogs was to draw fleas onto the dogs & away from the humans. Tim doesn’t appear allergic.

I rent so do not feel sprinkling DE and spraying the property are options. In my Lyme tick-infested area, I think something applied to the dog (not necessarily a spot-on) is required. I just don’t know what.

I’ve read threads, googled, and researched product websites. The claims, opinions, and proclamations make your head spin. It seems the newer trend in thinking is topicals and feed-thrus are bad because, in order to work, they “poison” the dog’s circulatory system. I would love something that repels ticks before they bite.

Contenders:
Seresto collar [Two concerns: my dog doesn’t normally wear a collar and it’s July: I don’t need 8 continuous months of coverage.]
Sentry Natural Defense topical
Vectra 3D topical
Activyl topical

Less Contenders:
Preventic collar because it only treats ticks. Do people use one product for ticks and another for fleas?
Trifexis chewable because it’s a systemic and also treats heartworm
Comfortis chewable because it’s a systemic and only treats fleas
Revolution topical because it’s a topical and also treats heartworm

What should I do?!

[jherold]

Stick with the Advantix. The preventic collar did a great job of repelling the ticks off the dog and onto me. The dog brought them in, jumped on the bed and the ticks deciding that their original host was toxic, and laid in wait for me to go to bed. Not fun. I would think you could try the seresto collar for the few months and then put it in a ziplock bag. Maybe it would be good for the following year?

[Marshfield]

Revolution topical won’t get ticks. Trifexis and Comfortis also don’t get ticks. Bravecto and Nexgard are both orals which get fleas and tick. While newer to the market, as non pyrethrin compounds the safety on them is good.

Feedback on the Seresto collar is very mixed, folks either love of find them ineffective. Vectra is good as a topical. Activyl has not caught on in my area, the feedback from my drug rep is the practices which tried it didn’t like it.

[wireweiners]

I’ve used Bravecto ony tick magnet hound with great results. It doesn’t repel tick but it does kill them before they really attach and it kills them quickly

[bdj]

We hate the Trifexis/comfortis stuff in my house. Had to use it when we couldn’t get Sentinel and hated it. Made one of my ridiculously easy to treat dogs utterly reluctant to take ANY kind of pill, and I honestly couldn’t blame her - it doesn’t smell like something anyone should eat.

Plus, it won’t do a darn thing about ticks, if that’s your major concern. We use Sentinel as our monthly, so that seems to keep the flea population under control and only use Advantix (for the dogs) or Frontline (for the cat) in the rare event that I notice a problem. Of course, there’s also Capstar if you think your dog may have brought hitchhikers home from an event…

I’ve used that Sentry Natural Defense stuff on a rescue dog that I picked up/transported once - Don’t know that it was any more effective than the incredibly thorough bathing job I did on him (poor guy was a mess), but it didn’t seem to bother him, and smelled nice in a very strong minty-cinnamon-y way.

Haven’t tried Bravecto or Nexgard, but I’m glad to hear that they’re safe, Marshfield! It’s good to have additional tools in the toolbox, so to speak.

[make_x_it_x_so]

[QUOTE=Bicoastal;8232110]
Now that Joey, Mr. Super Allergic to Fleas, is gone, I’m looking for less toxic flea and tick prevention options than Advantix . I’m content with the heartworm prevention I’m using (Heartguard). I live in the Mid-Atlantic with tons of ticks and the constant worry of Lyme. Timber’s furnishings are fantastic at sweeping up ticks and fleas preferred him over Joey. One reason royalty bred lap dogs was to draw fleas onto the dogs & away from the humans. Tim doesn’t appear allergic.

I rent so do not feel sprinkling DE and spraying the property are options. In my Lyme tick-infested area, I think something applied to the dog (not necessarily a spot-on) is required. I just don’t know what.

I’ve read threads, googled, and researched product websites. The claims, opinions, and proclamations make your head spin. It seems the newer trend in thinking is topicals and feed-thrus are bad because, in order to work, they “poison” the dog’s circulatory system. I would love something that repels ticks before they bite.

Contenders:
Seresto collar [Two concerns: my dog doesn’t normally wear a collar and it’s July: I don’t need 8 continuous months of coverage.]
Sentry Natural Defense topical
Vectra 3D topical
Activyl topical

Less Contenders:
Preventic collar because it only treats ticks. Do people use one product for ticks and another for fleas?
Trifexis chewable because it’s a systemic and also treats heartworm
Comfortis chewable because it’s a systemic and only treats fleas
Revolution topical because it’s a topical and also treats heartworm

What should I do?![/QUOTE]

I guess I’m a little confused as to what you define as “toxic.” Some topicals, such as frontline and advantix, do not really enter the circulation, and instead are distributed within the oily layer on top of the dog’s skin.

The benefit of a collar (eg. seresto) over these topicals, is that the collar is specially designed to slowly release constant levels of the product, ensuring full protection, whereas the monthly topicals have a “spiked” concentration when you first apply them, and it dwindles over the course of the month.

Other topicals, such as Revolution, DO enter the bloodstream (although this doesn’t mean they’re TOXIC to the animal). This is similar to the action of feed-thru’s with the convenience of not having to get a picky animal to eat it.

Things that work inside of the dog are regulated by the FDA, which is why you need a prescription, or to buy it from your vet.

Things that work on the outside of the dog are regulated by the EPA, which is why you can buy them from any pet/feed store and there is no prescription involved.

Anyway, good luck with your tick problem!

[Bicoastal]

[QUOTE=make x it x so;8233487]
I guess I’m a little confused as to what you define as “toxic.” Some topicals, such as frontline and advantix, do not really enter the circulation, and instead are distributed within the oily layer on top of the dog’s skin.

The benefit of a collar (eg. seresto) over these topicals, is that the collar is specially designed to slowly release constant levels of the product, ensuring full protection, whereas the monthly topicals have a “spiked” concentration when you first apply them, and it dwindles over the course of the month.

Other topicals, such as Revolution, DO enter the bloodstream (although this doesn’t mean they’re TOXIC to the animal). This is similar to the action of feed-thru’s with the convenience of not having to get a picky animal to eat it.

Things that work inside of the dog are regulated by the FDA, which is why you need a prescription, or to buy it from your vet.

Things that work on the outside of the dog are regulated by the EPA, which is why you can buy them from any pet/feed store and there is no prescription involved.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for your thoughtful post. Maybe I should leave it the same ? I feed raw, minimal vaccs, late speuter. The flea & tick prevention seems like my last remnant of out dated or over the top husbandry. I feel guilty and lazy using a topical. It shortens lifespan, right?

My dogs would run from the topical vial and roll around on their backs after application. I believe it temporarily bothered them.