It is the season again it seems. What is the best stuff to keep my fury critters flea and tick free? They have started here with a vengeance already.

I remember back in the day an old guy giving his dog a bath in lime water.Said it was to get rid of fleas.

Ivermectin about once a month

Imidicloprid, which is in Bayer Tree and Shrub and the knockoffs, will kill the fleas. Ivomec will kill the ticks, mites, heartworms and roundworms.

Keith

Seresto collars

We use bravecto and interceptor.

NEX Guard Get it from the vet, dose is according to weight. Chewable type bar and last a month. My lab has taken it since she was old enough and in two years I have found one tick on her and it was dead. We have ticks here too.
I wish I could take NEX Guard,. I think I have used everything there is, this stuff works.

I get the pill from the vet. After asking the same question you just ask here on T-man I got a lot of answers and many recommended the Seresto collar. It did not work for my dogs. I’d get maybe three weeks before my labs would be covered in fleas again.

I got the once a month chewable from my vet and my dogs have been flea and tick free ever since.

Soresto didn't work on my aussie , she died of lime diseae while wearing it a year ago.

I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your dog Bob. Have you considered the Lymes vaccination? I don’t know if it works or not but I’ve been getting it for my labs the last four or five years.

With the pill, the flea or tick has to bite before being killed. I know they say ticks have to be attached 24 hours to transmit the disease and the pill usually kills yhem way before that. But I consider the Lymes vaccination an extra safe guard. I’ve lost one lab to Lymes disease in the past and I don’t wanted to happen again.

Simparica might be the chewable Lugnut was referring to. That is what I use with great results. However mine wanted nothing to do with eating it willingly. Seems like about 40 bucks for pack of 3, use 1 a month

The pills I get are marketed as Credelio. They work very well.

That’s the best thing we have on our dogs!!

Note:
As a topical for fleas, ticks and mites. Ingested for worms.

For a topical flea, tick and fly spray, we've used Absorbine's UltraShield EX for many years. $20/dog/summer. Spray on every two weeks, let dry, then forget about it. Cheap, waterproof and effective. However last year it didn't seem as effective. Tried two bottles, from two different batches. Not sure what I'll do this year.

I get a chewable from the vet that last 6 months that I will do in the next couple weeks and then in the late fall into winter I just use the liquid stuff that goes on the back.

Fleas are a real PITA! They can be difficult to control, so don't wait. Fleas lay eggs that hatch every 7-10 days which means you will have repeating cycles of the pests. The 30 day pills/treatment of Nex Guard is said to be fairly effective for the animal. Fleas will get into the sand/dirt around your kennel, lay eggs, hatch new fleas, so the life cycle repeats there also. I usually have to have my entire yard sprayed 2-3 times each summer to eliminate them all.

For a quick knock down on the dog use Dawn dish soap and give the dog a good bath. Soap up well leaving the soap on the animal for 5-10 minutes, then rinse off well. You will see lots of dead fleas in the soap suds. A few days of Dawn baths will get most of the adults and hatchlings. I bleach the kennel then spray the kennel, dog house, bedding etc.

Dave

As I said above, my experience with Seresto has been completely the opposite. In all fairness, my dogs swim almost every day during the warm seasons. I’m sure that limits the effectiveness of the Seresto collars. But they do advertise as an eight month preventative, five month if your dog is a frequent swimmer. I never got more than three weeks out of them before the fleas returned.

This was during the summer and early fall when fleas are at their worst.

I spray my dogs with Adams Flea & Tick Spray. It repels ticks and kills them. Downside is that you have to spray them every 3 weeks. More often if they go in the water a lot. Other than that, it really works.