It's the season of the flea

[Cliffh]

Year before last our Aussie Shepard didn't have problems with fleas.  Last year she did.

Both years she's been on Heartgard for heartworms and wore a flea collar.  Talked with the vet last year and she said the Heartgard didn't have a component for fleas - I'm sure she'd said the year before that it did.  So she sold us Bravecto for flea & tick prevention.  The drawback to Bravecto is the cost, $98 for one pill good for 3 months.  Since we've added a second dog, that's ~$65/mo.

Neither of us are up to giving the two dogs a bath every week or so.  We've also tried Frontline; it didn't work well and her entire coat felt like she'd been covered in oil.

I'm hoping y'all might have some ideas.

[lupinus]

I had bad luck with Frontline also. Seemed to work ok for the first few months and then didn't keep up.

Best luck I've had has been with Bayer Advantage ii. Works great and keeps the fleas from setting up shop and quickly killing any that try to hitch a ride.

Pro tip, notice the pretty wide weight ranges and that all the sizes cost the same? Buy the extra big doggo size and some syringes, shake the tube and empty into a suitable container (I use an old pill bottle), and then dose it yourself using the syringe. Simple chart here- http://startcowdog.homestead.com/Advantage-Dose-Chart.html . If you've got leftovers store in the fridge and just bring up to room temp and shake before dosing. There's no difference at all other than the size of the tube. If you've got any cats to treat you can still use the dog one and they're on the chart as well. There's no difference but the tube size, concentration and everything else is the same. For the chart I posted and if being used on or imo even around cats make sure it's the GREEN advantage ii and not the red advantix, which supposedly covers some more creepy crawlies but is highly toxic to cats. Personally I've never had an issue on dogs with the stuff supposedly covered by advantix but not advantage.

Also if you've got a bad existing population in the house, yard, etc you can apply every seven days while getting it under control so it's always at it's most effective. Personally whenever I've felt it necessary to do more than once a month I found every two weeks to be more than sufficient and I'd hate to think how bad it'd have to be to require going weekly to get things under control.

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[bedlamite]

FYI, I get sheep drench from the local Fleet Farm. It's Ivermectin, the same drug that's in Heartguard only in liquid form, and it's $25 a bottle that will last a couple years before it expires. Dosage is 0.1cc per 25lbs of dog monthly.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Seresto collars are the only thing I've had luck with. They are pricey, but they are cheaper (especially for multiple dogs) than most monthly pills or topical.

[lupinus]

Seresto collars are the only thing I've had luck with. They are pricey, but they are cheaper (especially for multiple dogs) than most monthly pills or topical.

These are the only collars I've ever tried that worked a damn and if I only had one or two animals to treat I might be inclined to stick with them. But for my needs I've found the cost works out better breaking up the big doggo dosage of advantage, and I think it actually works a smidge better.

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[Calumus]

How big are your dogs?  Mine rings in at about 45# and his size Bravecto is about $50. $98 seems pretty steep. The Bayer Advantage is the only other thing I've tried that works for ticks in the northeast. Unfortunately it left blisters on this dogs skin. My old dog was fine with it. That's the only reason I switched. For me, the cost of one pill was less than 3 months of the drops.

[BlueStarLizzard]

These are the only collars I've ever tried that worked a damn and if I only had one or two animals to treat I might be inclined to stick with them. But for my needs I've found the cost works out better breaking up the big doggo dosage of advantage, and I think it actually works a smidge better.

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  My one dog gets the biggest dose there is, so that trick doesn't really work for me.

[lupinus]

My one dog gets the biggest dose there is, so that trick doesn't really work for me.

Yeah well, we're not all treating a carnivorous horse 😂😂😂

What's he weigh anyway? Never know, dosing it out by weight may get him and the small doggo. Or a hamster. Or....something.

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[Cliffh]

The older dog's a bit over weight at ~30#, the young one's about where she should be weight wise at ~30#.

So far this year we don't have any fleas in the house, we have an exterminator come by every 3 months.  The exterminator does spray outside too, but we've got 5 acres the dogs can run on - he doesn't spray quite that much.  We do have ticks to contend with, but they haven't been that much of a problem.  IIRC, we've only had to remove 2 in the last 8 years or so.

I've been thinking that this vet isn't the least expensive source around.

We've kind of been staying away from dogs that a kid can ride

[BlueStarLizzard]

Yeah well, we're not all treating a carnivorous horse 😂😂😂

What's he weigh anyway? Never know, dosing it out by weight may get him and the small doggo. Or a hamster. Or....something.

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150

[Pb]

Frontline stopped working here, so we got a a Seresto dog collar.  It got rid of her horrible flea infestation!!!  It lasts 8 months.

[Cliffh]

150

Damn!!

Seriously, way back when, in my teenage years, we had a miniature pony who weighed less than that!

[BlueStarLizzard]

Big is beautiful. 

[Calumus]

The older dog's a bit over weight at ~30#, the young one's about where she should be weight wise at ~30#.

I've been thinking that this vet isn't the least expensive source around.

We've kind of been staying away from dogs that a kid can ride

https://www.1800petmeds.com/Bravecto+Chews-prod11638.html

Chewy.com and everywhere else I looked are selling it for this. Same as I pay at my vet.

[Cliffh]

It does look like my vet's been overcharging on the Bravecto. 

Think we'll see how the Bravecto works this summer.  There should still some fleas around when it wears off mid-Aug'ish, if so I'll give the Seresto collars a try.  The winner will be next years' go-to.