Advice On Worming And De-fleaing Routine

[Nushie]

When we first got Jager we were advised by our vet to use Frontline Plus for fleas and ticks and Sentinel Spectrum for heartworm, intestinal worms and fleas. At the time we were in Sydney (now in Melbourne) and i just took the vets advice and have been using this routine monthly for the past nearly 3.5 years, never had any problems.

Just been thinking lately, with my other half loosing his job, that it might be overkill, and that we might be forking out for just doubling up on prevention. I am using 2 flea control programs. Is it work using just the Sentinel to cover all? Or continue using the frontline but change to interceptor or similar that only does heartworm and intestinal worms??

What do other people in the Melbourne area use? I always used frontline plus cause it covered ticks but i am not sure if this is a necessity in Melbourne, maybe i should just use the spectrum sentinal and only use frontline in the warmer months?

I am just so confused!!! I have just bought another 3 months supply of each so i have plenty of time to work out if i want to change at all.

[~Anne~]

I only use sentinel spectrum. I've never had a flea problem.

[pie]

Do you actually have fleas? If not, I wouldn't be putting chemicals on the dog if there is no need, my dogs haven't had flea treatments for years and haven't had a flea in that time despite always being at dog grounds etc.

[Sandra777]

Worming a normal adult dog every month is excessive and unnecessary unless you are in a position where the dog is going to have access to wild animal poo.

How about worming 3 monthly with something like Drontal, End... (all I can think of is Endone, oops!) or some other vet-quality pill. AFAIK you don't need to be concerned by heartworm in Melbourne but definitely check that out.

Fleas - depends on what the dog does honestly. If you live in a house on a concrete slab with no random cats or wild life wandering around then this seriously limits the opportunity for fleas to even appear. Flea-only treatment as and when required would be my choice - comfortis would perhaps even do the job if the dog has limited opportunities to be infested.

Once a month treatments for "everything" are crazy in most situations IMO.

[sandgrubber]

Do you have ticks in your area? Of all the pests, they are the hardest to treat, and if you have paralysis ticks, the most dangerous. If present, tick prevention should be the cornerstone and the other meds selected to complement the tick prevention program.

Btw. monthly heartworm is also overkill. The parasite takes about four months to get established and its lifecycle can be interrupted at any point during those four months. Every two months, therefore, is safe. And you may be able to drop the winter months if there are no mosquitoes in your area in winter.

[Erny]

Do you actually have fleas? If not, I wouldn't be putting chemicals on the dog if there is no need, my dogs haven't had flea treatments for years and haven't had a flea in that time despite always being at dog grounds etc.

This ^^

Same with worming. I do not worm regularly. In fact, have had fecal tests run every now and again with negative results. Haven't 'wormed' for 5 years. Have given natural herbal 'elimination' supplement at one stage.

Never had a flea issue. Never used flea preventative nor flea rinses.

I just remain vigilant and mindful (but not obsessively so).

Edited December 19, 2013 by Erny

[wire]

In the beginning I use to flee & worm regularly but I hated putting all those chemicals in their system. Haven't done any of that for years now but I am always checking them as they sleep with us..... if they get flees, so will we!

I always have flee & worm meds in the house in case of a break out.

I also vaccinate every 3 years now, would prefer titre testing but it's too expensive in my town.

Edited December 19, 2013 by wire

[Zug Zug]

We definitely get heart worm in Adelaide, so I would imagine you would get it in Melbourne as we'll...?

I use advocate on my dogs, but every few months rather than monthly, and less over the cooler parts of the year. That covers most things. Haven't seen a flea on my dogs for years, although they go to dog training regularly so there are many chances to become infected.

[DeltaCharlie]

We use interceptor only (and not regularly, but we do need to be mindful of heartworm and being on a property they have access to lots of wild dead things at times). I have never treated for fleas and have never had a problem with them either. Even bringing home foster dogs covered in them, my dogs still never got them. Someone suggested once that it's because they are on a raw diet and the fleas like the preservatives from commercial food but not sure how much truth is in that. We only use tick prevention if we travel to a tick area.

[Nushie]

Thanks all, really appreciate all the comments and you have given me a lot to think about and i am obviously over doing it.