Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Best Flea & Tick Preventer for Dogs?

I have been using Frontline Plus on my two Labs. A friend recommended Seresto 8 Month Flea & Tick Prevention Collar. Any thoughts on which product is better? Or is there another brand you recommend? Thanks for your help.

I’d used Frontline for over a decade, but have since switched to the Seresto collar. When using Frontline, it was common to find dead shriveled up ticks under the fur. With the Seresto Collar, I very rarely find a live tick crawling on the surface and that’s it. To qualify “very rarely”, I’ve found one tick this year. If you purchase a Seresto Collar make sure it’s from a reputable source. We purchased one through Amazon last summer that turned out to be counterfeit.

I use Advantage for my cat. I buy the package for big dogs and then scale the dosage down for body weight using a syringe. My vet recommended this. It saves money since they charge the same for large or small doses and works very well. Indeed, when I had my cats as indoor cats only we stopped using it. Then one got out, got fleas and the house infested. Treated them and while we did spray the house where fleas concentrated, when eggs later hatched the cats picked up the new fleas and eradicated them in short order.

I've struggled with fleas on my dogs all my life, using various products, both external and oral. The external products worked for a while, but then you need to switch to a different product, because after a while the fleas in your area evolve an immunity to it, so it's an arms race of sorts that never ends. Eventually, none of them worked, so I switched to the oral medications that cause the dog's blood to become toxic to both fleas and ticks. These work very well, but then you're concerned about a possible toxic effect on your dog, too.

But all of these concerns disappeared for me a few years ago when I switched my dogs to an all raw meat, bone, and organ diet. I hadn't heard that it was a flea cure, besides being also a cure for shedding, skin conditions, oral disease, joint issues, on and on and on, but soon discovered that it was also the cure for fleas.

Apparently, fleas prosper on a dog only when the dog's blood is high in sugar, and on a raw meat, bone, and organ diet, your dog's blood simply isn't sweet enough to attract fleas, so they just gradually disappear from them and your property. The only time they scratch with fleas now is when they first return from the kennel, because the other dog's fleas jump on them, but after about a week they disappear, and don't come back (and then just for about a week) till the next kennel visit, which only happens a few times a year.

So, thankfully, something that has plagued me and my dogs for my entire life is no longer a consideration. I no longer have to deal with fleas or the various chemical cures available for them.

Get rid of the dogs and cats, no more problems.

Post #17,178 for hanco...

Soresto has worked good for me

Been using Trifexis for years. Does heart worm, Flea and Ticks. We’ve lived in areas with serious flea problems and never had an issue. It’s not cheap but it takes good care of our dogs.


https://www.trifexis.com

I'm also inclined to spray the environment harboring the ticks; taking a two pronged offensive.

Battle the parasites on their own fugging comfort zone.

I spray a 30-40 perimeter into the woods surrounding our 3 acre immediate yard and outlots. Otherwise, for on the dog I just wipe them down with 5-10 permethrin, pyrethrum, precor.

Don't allow dogs in the house either. Fugg that.

DE (Diatomaceous Earth) used for flea and tic control for pets.

Link


runs about $28 for a 50 pound bag at local feed store... make sure you use food grade ( big difference) can also be used in kitchens and pantry's for ants and around parameter of house.

Use frontline once a year nearing summer, spray dogs bedding with DE and have never had a problem.

Phil

If anyone is interested, a great book on a raw diet for dogs, and its benefits, is Give Your Dog a Bone, by veterinarian Ian Billinghurst

That link states it isn't effective in wet environments. Seems that wouldn't last long around the perimeter of the house. Or does it dry out and become effective again after rain? Would be hit or miss if so in areas of high rainfall.

True, but unless it is washed away it is just as effective once it dries out... and here I don't have to worry about it getting wet often. The stuff is non toxic and is even edible (the FOOD GRADE) and used in restaurants on shelves and in cabinets.

This is probably a better link for information on it:

Link


Phil

Seresto collars are amazing and kills those bastards before they bite your dog, thus helping to prevent tick born diseases. My dog is currently on Bravecto, a 12-week flea and tick protection tablet. It is expensive and can take up to 36 hours (my observation) to kill a feeding tick. It has however prevented any flea bites or infestation, as far as I can tell. I have decided she is getting a Seresto collar ASAP.
Because she swims daily, it probably won't last the 8 months but for $70, it is the absolute best I have found for flea and tick prevention.

.....Dr. Ian Billinghurst

holy smokes, it looks like he gets a better rating and review then paddler.

Trifexis is the best we have used bar none. Fleas tick and heartworms in one pill.

Sevin dust on dog (keep out of eyes) and spread in doghouse .

Hang one of these on the collar. My dog has no fleas anymore. They are cheap and last a LONG time.

cattle ear tags

That's an interesting thought.

Saresto collars work well provided they don't fall off. Bravecto and/ or Nexguard work great. I have no experience with Trifexis, but I see it is not labelled for ticks, just flea and heartworm.
If you use stuff off-label, like orchard spray or cattle tags you are on your own. I'm not saying they don't work but you're guessing at a safe and efficacious dose. Guessing wrong can have some pretty bad consequences.