# Flea Pills - Are they necessary?



## Agaribay805 (Jan 7, 2016)

Hi guys so Im really confused about flee medication. I have never found a flee or a tick on my pup. She is about 9 months old now, I had her since she was 2 months old. 

Are we suppose to buy those $60 flee pills every month? Even if you dont see any flees or biting/scratching? Thanks guys..


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

Yes, if you don't want to deal with fleas in your house....fumigating your house is not fun.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

You don't need to spend $60/month, but you do need some kind of flea prevention in a warm climate.

A 6-pack of Advantage Multi covers fleas, heartworm prevention, and intestinal parasites and costs about $80 on KVsupply.com for a 6-pack (6 months) with your vet's prescription. That's around $13/month. It's a topical all-in-one that works great, and it's considerably cheaper than Trifexis or Revolution. Even those two don't cost $60/month though--more like $20.

What is your vet selling you for $60/month?


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## Agaribay805 (Jan 7, 2016)

Magwart said:


> You don't need to spend $60/month, but you do need some kind of flea prevention in a warm climate.
> 
> A 6-pack of Advantage Multi covers fleas, heartworm prevention, and intestinal parasites and costs about $80 on KVsupply.com for a 6-pack (6 months) with your vet's prescription. That's around $13/month. It's a topical all-in-one that works great, and it's considerably cheaper than Trifexis or Revolution. Even those two don't cost $60/month though--more like $20.
> 
> What is your vet selling you for $60/month?


is the advantage a pill also?


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## Mudypoz (Mar 3, 2016)

For whatever it's worth, I haven't used any flea prevention on any of my dogs for many years. No infestations in our house either. We live in Northern Ca.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Advantage Multi is a topical applied to the back of the shoulders. I'd still like to know what your vet is selling that costs $60/month, though!


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## BrodyRoo (Aug 10, 2016)

Magwart said:


> Advantage Multi is a topical applied to the back of the shoulders. I'd still like to know what your vet is selling that costs $60/month, though!


Not the OP, but my guess is Nexgard. My vet tried to sell me some. 

I'll stick to K9 Advantix.


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## DutchKarin (Nov 23, 2013)

Do a little research and find out how bad the problem is in Santa Barbara. Ask your neighbors and friends. Ask people you meed on the street. If you decide that something is needed, you have your choice among, as needed sprays, monthly topicals, monthly or 3 month oral medication, flea collars (the good ones not the Safeway brand) and/or natural remedies that may or may not be that effective. Do your research and don't go with one person's recommendations. We all have different experiences.

I have a search dog and we go into some infested areas. I want very good coverage and Advantix was not working well for me. I am doing Nexguard. Our non-search dog does not have to be on anything because we live at high elevation. BTW, I think I get 3 doses of nexguard for 60 some odd dollars from Petmeds.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I don't use spot ons....my vet showed me the tick that causes lymes and it is the size of a pepper grind flake. I do give Ivomec regularly for heartworm and spray on a flea/tick holistic essential oil spray. Recently, one of my dogs showed extreme pain, and the vet thought it may be lyme disease. Negative thankfully, but it did make me re-think my pest protocol. I hate the less is more, because when we do this, we are shortcutting the protection. Yet the alternative could cause more problems.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Agaribay805 said:


> Hi guys so Im really confused about flee medication. I have never found a flee or a tick on my pup. She is about 9 months old now, I had her since she was 2 months old.
> 
> Are we suppose to buy those $60 flee pills every month? Even if you dont see any flees or biting/scratching? Thanks guys..


Mine are not on flea meds. They don't have them. However with the first sighting of a flea I will put them on these meds. Hasn't happened in 20 years.I am not giving them that poison for no reason.
The only time I used it as preventative was when a new foster dog came in.
Cats seem to bring them in mostly.


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## cloudpump (Oct 20, 2015)

Springtime bug off garlic. They've got a labor day sale going on....
Fleas love warm humid climates. So you have less of a risk.


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## Dotbat215 (Aug 19, 2015)

We're using nexguard. I think it runs $15-20 a month depending on the quantity you buy, if you have a coupon etc.

We've also used k9 advantix ii. I might do nexguard in the winter and advantix in the summer. The latter is supposed to also repel flies that bite

Sent from my R1 HD using Tapatalk


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## rammykhan (Aug 19, 2016)

of course you need flea pills, i use nexgard/Seresto collars for that matter.


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

Our vet said Advantage is not working and recommended a pill. We tried it and it works so far. We don't have much heartworm but they want to give pills for that. I'm resisting until I have more proof it's a problem because I don't want to over medicate. I know we have fleas. I get bites.


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## gsdluvr (Jun 26, 2012)

Living in a warm, humid climate all year long, I need EVERYTHING lol! I use Sentinel, and Nexgard. The best results ever. Their lives are not long so why not make them comfortable? My vet uses the same on his own dogs!


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## Mesonoxian (Apr 5, 2012)

I don't like topicals, and they weren't always reliable when I did use them. For the past 3 years I've been using Springtime's Bug-Off Garlic Granules (added daily to food), and we have had zero problems with fleas (even when other dogs in the house had them), and have only had two ticks - crawling, not attached. I also know many people who prefer to give a monthly pill, and have had success with that as well. On top of the prevention, I use an essential oil based flea/tick spray for whenever we go out hiking or on walks in areas that are more likely have nasty bugs.


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## Agaribay805 (Jan 7, 2016)

So yesterday we finally found a flea lol I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. We live in So Cal and its pretty much warm here year around. I cant remember what brand the pill was. Ill have to ask my vet when we go in to switch the kind of flea treatment. I can see that there are tons of options. Im a new dog owner and Im just learning about everything as we go. Thanks everyone.


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## Mareesey (Aug 25, 2016)

Even with flea pills our dogs still had fleas really bad the last couple years. This year doesn't seem so bad but the previous 3 years they were terrible. We tried using nematodes and a natural flea powder we made on top of everything else. Sometimes I feel they aren't avoidable.


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## valb (Sep 2, 2004)

We use something called Capstar, when needed, which has turned out to be not very often. Only toxic to the fleas, not the animals. I have gone as much as a year w/o needing flea meds, cats are a closed set so to speak... but Lillie sorry to say, will pick them up at day care a lot of times. And yes, apparently fleas are building up tolerance to the usual topically applied treatments.


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## Irie (Aug 31, 2016)

Comfortis, but it can have side effects, and is not safe in very young dogs. I have given this and trifexis to my dogs, no issues though. I also only give these during flea season (I used trifexis last year)

I use some natural cedar product spray, that I now cannot find to check the brand of. I spray my yard and brush my dogs with it. 

Capstar pills are great, I have never seen a bad reaction from them. They really only work to kill infestations on animals, and the fleas drop off and die within 30 minutes. Kills maggots too. They are not used as general flea control.

Environmental control is a big deal with fleas - they are a real annoyance.


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## SammyS778 (Oct 31, 2018)

I would say "it depends"! Do you have fleas or ticks where you are? Some people just use treatments if they see fleas, which is understandable. Though you can find some info on flea prevention on Pet Express . Hope this helps


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## Bramble (Oct 23, 2011)

SammyS778 said:


> I would say "it depends"! Do you have fleas or ticks where you are? Some people just use treatments if they see fleas, which is understandable. Though you can find some info on flea prevention on Pet Express . Hope this helps



This thread is 3 years old. The OP is no longer an active member.


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## saintbob (Jul 14, 2018)

We've had dogs since the '50's and remember well our poor dogs cursed with flees. With that in mind we gladly pay the vet for the monthly pills. 

As far as I'm concerned that invention is up there with sliced bread, electronic ignition, and anti-lock breaks.


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