# Flea Application/Heartworm Prevention?



## TiffanyK (Apr 23, 2010)

Our vet recommends (and sells) Heartguard and Advantage. Are these the best or is there something better? I never really trust doctors or vets completely. LOL. So I research everything myself too. What are your thoughts on these? 

I've heard about another heartworm prevention that also helps protect against intestinal worms?? Is that true? Is it good? 

I've also heard about something that protects from heartworms and fleas in one?


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## LeftyGinger (Sep 2, 2010)

Heartguard is for heart worms and since you, much like me, live in the mosquito capital of the whole world.....absolutely the heartguard without fail. Heart worms are extremely easy to prevent, if not caught early, can be fatal and ALWAYS expensive to treat. 
My vet also sells advantage for the fleas and ticks and whatnot, I used to use it on my other GSD and my chihuahua because I lived in an area where there were almost none (high scale neighborhood where yards were constantly treated for pests) I now live in an area further out of town closer to the woods where fleas and ticks are a problem. I realized when I moved out here the fleas were unbearable. I had to have the yard & house treated to get them out of here and I switched from Advantage to ADVANTIX. You can now get it at most major petstores and have found decent prices at Amazon and other online retailers. 
I love advantix more than the others because it has yet to fail me in an area I know is inundated with fleas and ticks. It also protects against other pests but most of them I have yet to run into. It's just my experience that I've had but it's been a great one so far. Some people use the Comfortis and Capstar for fleas, but personally, I'm a little leery of giving a pill to a dog that I don't have to simply because of unknown allergy problems. 
I have not had any experience with the multi-coverage flea, tick & heartworm preventatives.


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## Taylor (Apr 7, 2009)

We use Interceptor for HW/parasite preventation and Advantix. I love the advantix and like the pp said, it hasnt let me down.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

I use Interceptor for HW. But for fleas, ticks, etc.-I use organic neem oil and Springtime garlic daily-never had a flea or tick and we live in a heavy wooded area.


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## rjvamp (Aug 23, 2008)

Courtney said:


> I use Interceptor for HW. But for fleas, ticks, etc.-I use organic neem oil and Springtime garlic daily-never had a flea or tick and we live in a heavy wooded area.


I just read this Neem Oil MSDS and it says it is toxic to pets, fish, etc... Can you point to the one you use? Maybe it is a different concentration of Neem Oil and different delivery method.

Organic Neem Oil <--- MSDS listed here

Thanks!


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## rjvamp (Aug 23, 2008)

Use Interceptor for HW and Frontline Plus for fleas and ticks.


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## EJQ (May 13, 2003)

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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

I don't always go for what the vet recommends. My vet's office pushes Sentinal it also kills fleas, I don't have a problem with fleas just ticks. It is twice the price of of what I use. I use Interceptor for heartworm, it covers some common worms. For the first time in many years I went to Advantix tick collar, the spot on didn't work good for ticks.
I also use Ark Naturals Pet Protect spay & shampoo that has neem in it. I have a dog that has siezures so I try to be extremely careful what I use on her. I have also used the spay on myself. I started using it around the end of May.


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## Cluemanti (Jun 25, 2010)

Use Frontline Plus and Springtime during the summer. Just Springtime tablets the rest of the year. 

And Heartguard about 30-45 days.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

I worry about Frontline application over a long period of time. My last dog died of cancer and I don't know if it has anything to do with 12 years of Frontline. Current dog has had no application of anything except spraying with organic compound that contains some neem (can't remember the name of it, keep it in the car). She has not picked up any ticks or fleas and she has been running in the woods almost daily for over a year.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I switched from Frontline to Vectra and it's been great!  Works on fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, mites. And the applicator is much better than Frontlines, no mess and easy to get down to the skin. I use Heartguard too.


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

You have to decide what you want to use personally. 

I prefer less medications, I have concerns about over medicating. I use Ivomec liquid ivermectin instead of heartgard because it does not have additional wormers in it. This is actually an injectible used in livestock, but is given orally to dogs. There are chewables for dogs with just ivermectin, i believe iverhart is one of them. The original heartgard was just ivermectin, but now it seems in the US you can only get heartgard plus. 

My dogs get diatomaceous earth daily supplemented in their food, so I am not concerned about the intestinal worms that heartgard plus and other combination meds work against. 
Diatomaceous Earth - Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth Health Benefits

I've used Springtime Bug Off and currently use Flea Free. I don't use additional flea medications unless there is a flea problem, in the spring I used frontline plus and then comfortis because I was staying with someone who had a flea problem. I haven't used anything since I left there, and also had not used anything in years before that without ever having fleas.


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## Island Dog (Sep 26, 2010)

We always used Frontline Plus for our Black GSD (80 lbs), and had good results. When we moved to the British Virgin Islands we found quite a number of ticks, still alive, on Nikki. We switched her to Comfortis tablets, taken monthly. We have had excellent results with no live ticks at all since starting that.

Heartguard is an excellent preventative product, and nearly every dog I've met considers it a great treat once a month. Our 16-week GSD puppy is no exception, so we use on the first of the month as a special training treat.


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Ticks? Comfortis? Are you sure, because Comfortis doesn't kill ticks.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

rjvamp said:


> I just read this Neem Oil MSDS and it says it is toxic to pets, fish, etc... Can you point to the one you use? Maybe it is a different concentration of Neem Oil and different delivery method.
> 
> Organic Neem Oil <--- MSDS listed here
> 
> Thanks!


Sorry for just responding!
http://www.tattvasherbs.com/servlet/-strse-66/organic-neem-oil,-ayurvedic/Detail 
I use this one http://www.tattvasherbs.com/servlet/-strse-66/organic-neem-oil%2C-ayurvedic/Detail

I use a few drops and mix with warm water and spray as needed. I also use it on myself and children as a bug repellent.


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## EJQ (May 13, 2003)

PaddyD said:


> Current dog has had no application of anything except spraying with organic compound that contains some neem (can't remember the name of it, keep it in the car).


Could you check it out and tell us what this product is?


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