Flea and tick treatments

I didn't want to muscle in on Bessy's thread with a question that is at a slight tangent to hers.

After Jimmi's very distressed reaction to Frontline a couple of months ago I was reluctant to use that again. This morning he was sporting three ticks on his neck (bleuuuughhhhh ) so it was clear that something needed to be done again. The vet nurse removed the ticks, and I used, on her advice, a different spot on treatment (Pro something or other)........result was once again a desperately unhappy dog for about 7 hours. I just hated to see it and it is depressing to think that we have to put him through this once a month.

With our last dogs, I used a flea and tick collar to no ill effect whatsoever, and they were very effective in spite of the fact that both dogs were avid rabbiters and regularly ran through livestock fields.

I think that I have rather bowed to the pressure of advertising which convinced me that nothing but spot on treatments would do, but what do others think of collars?? I know that one or two of them are under suspicion for causing problems, but there are lots on the market. There is one in particular which claims to be odour free, and lasts for six months.

I've just been through all this myself, because I don't like putting toxins into them, so wanted to do some proper research into what to use and what not to use.

Out of all that research, I decided on the Stronghold, 1. because it does the job I wanted, kills, tics, fleas, mites and heartworm, and 2. because it is the safest along with Advantage. Anything that contains permethrin is NOT deemed to be safe, and has caused "death in some dogs", and one of those is the Advocate that my vet prescribes and I've used in the past, but never on Zena only Georgie.

There's a really good article on here written by RoyV, which I stumbled on whilst Googling, and I will try and find it for you, it really helped me a lot.

Another good site I found was one listing all the ingredients in ALL of them, and then another column stating what had happened to dogs when using it, and that's how I found out that the Selamectin (as opposed to permethrin) is THE safest and would not cause any problems whatsoever, and have to say, it hasn't, and I did them last week-end with the Stronghold. I couldn't get the Advantage from my vet, but thankfully, they did the Stronghold which is the same.

Also, when I was researching, the site that listed the ingredients and the problems some of these flea treatments caused, said that the flea collars caused LOTS of problems, and again, I'll try and find that for you if I can.

As to whether or not these applications actually work, I have my doubts with the tics, because I'm always finding one on Georgie, and he's the dog who's been regularly de-flead with something, unlike Zena who I'm yet to find a tic on!

Here's the Dogsey Royv thread I found which is excellent!
http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=20146

Okay Helena, so from your research either Advantage or Stronghold are the safest and best. I have been googling like crazy and it is so difficult to weed out the advertising blurb and get down to the nitty gritty.

I am tending to agree with your comments about flea collars, having spent half an hour looking them up on tinternet, so my question is answered really.

It is plain that ticks are rife around here though, so some measures are called for, and I will look into Stronghold for when he next needs a dose of something.

Yes, you can't go far wrong, plus it does the heartworm which is also very important nowadays, even though we never used to have it in the UK.

If you Google selamectin, and then that permethrin you will see where I'm coming from!

Can I ask where you are getting this from? The active ingredients in Advocate are Moxidectin and Imidacloprid.

I would get back with the vet. There are a number of safe, effective products, spot on, pills, injections, and maybe something else. Most products have no reaction with most dogs. Yes, they all kill a few dogs and milder reactions. Let your vet help select one safe for your dog. I think my vet's arsenal includes collars.

I personally have used Stronghold on my dogs and found it works a miracle without any bad reactions.
My dog had ear mites and suffered a haematoma which has given him a cabbage ear, but the ear mites never came back.

Yes, there are many effective products but my problem is the reaction that our dog has to them. My vet is trying to help but the products they have are limited, and that is why I am seeking help and advice.

Helena's posts have given me something new to try next time.

Well I would certainly double check the information you have been given with your vet.

I don't think that I have been very clear in my posts perhaps. The two spot on flea and tick treatments that I have used so far on Jimmi have caused him to have several hours of great distress.......running around constantly with his tail down, whining, digging in corners, trying to rub the stuff off etc. etc, for hours and hours. Now - from what others have told me, this is far from unusual and results from the dog disliking the smell of the treatment. However, I don't like to see him like this and don't want to put him through it once a month.

Hence this thread.

Many people just accept this reaction, but I am hoping to avoid it in future.