# Best flea prevention Pacific NW/Seattle



## Oscar's Mom (Aug 20, 2011)

We moved from the mountains in Northern CA where we did not have fleas to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state where fleas are crazy! Can anyone who lives in this general area tell me which flea preventative works the best? Oscar seems to be very sensitive to flea bites and even one will give him a case of the itchies, which translates into hot spots. I am using Fiproguard Plus which is the same as Frontline Plus and I don't feel like it is working well enough. The vet wants to put him on Trifexis but I know too many people with dogs who have had severe side effects. And since the vet is so pro-Trifexis, he wouldn't tell me which topical products might be better than others. Please help us! Oscar is in for a lot of time in the cone of shame this summer if we can't figure something out.


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Maybe it is different on the peninsula but here in Seattle, I have had no problems with fleas. Molly is on apple cider vinegar and an herbal flea and tick powder that she takes daily. We haven't had any fleas or ticks. Next month we will be in California and I will be using K9 Advantix.. I have read about fleas becoming resistant to Frontline. My friend's dog in norcal has had fleas while on Frontline.


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## Oscar's Mom (Aug 20, 2011)

You are lucky that they're not bad in Seattle. I am surprised at the fleas out here on the peninsula. We're in Port Angeles and evidently they really like it here. Which is a huge bummer. I'm going to spray the yard as soon as we get some dry weather and hopefully that will help. I was just looking at Advantix II and am thinking we should try switching.


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## spruce (Mar 13, 2008)

we live a bit south of Seattle. We have had fleas, but Frontline does work for our dogs.


we live in a wooded area & the dogs swim daily


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## pshales (Oct 9, 2012)

We're in Seattle. No fleas here at the moment (I hesitate to even type that out for dear of having a plagues worth of fleas show up overnight).




Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Mirinde (Jun 8, 2011)

We're in Gig Harbor and we already have fleas. Comfortis (Trifexis without the heartworm guard) worked best but we can no longer use it due to neurological issues. Right now we are using Frontline on the dog and Advantage on the cat. My game plan right now is to alternate their dosage cycles so that someone has a fresh dose of something every two weeks (so dog would get it at the 1st of the month, cat at the 14th, dog at the 1st, cat at the 14th) and I'm hoping using two different brands will help with the frontline resistant fleas. Vacuuming daily. Diatomaceous earth in the yard. Gig Harbor gets hit hard when we get them, so I feel your pain. My mom has three dogs and two cats so she is really feeling the treatment costs right now.

Our daycare/training center is offering the seresto flea collar and we may try that once it's been on the market for awhile.


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## JBJ Goldens (Dec 16, 2012)

I do not recommend either trifexis or comfortis I used comfortis one time and my dog had a seizure with no prior seizure activity. I live on the coast of the peninsula and we use diatamacious (not sure on spelling) earth which is all natural on my carpets and yard will kill all insects. I also use if I need to a shampoo which is all natural called Natural Flea and Tick Shampoo for Dogs

and if I need a topical use Sentry Natural defense which is a all natural product also I haven't had a single flea in my house in over 8 months with this program and I groom dogs and have tons of client dogs who are covered in fleas. 

Jana


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## SammyinBC (Feb 19, 2013)

Heya -- we're further up the coast in BC. We're using Sentinel on our dogs and both have been doing great on it. However, you did say that even one bite from a flea causes issues for your dog, sentinel stops the flea infestation by making it so they cant breed, so you'll still get a few bites now and then if your dog picks up some outside etc.. but the good news is you wont get a huge infestation in the house. Sentinel also handles heartworms and other nastys -- might be worth talking to your vet about it anyway.

On our cats we're using advantix, We looked at using the dog version, but found between sentinel and advantix we've not run into any flea problems at all.. Plus, while they say it's water proof, our dogs are ALWAYS in the water which makes me think that the topical stuff can't last a whole month.


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## Oscar's Mom (Aug 20, 2011)

JBJ Goldens said:


> I do not recommend either trifexis or comfortis I used comfortis one time and my dog had a seizure with no prior seizure activity. I live on the coast of the peninsula and we use diatamacious (not sure on spelling) earth which is all natural on my carpets and yard will kill all insects. I also use if I need to a shampoo which is all natural called Natural Flea and Tick Shampoo for Dogs
> 
> and if I need a topical use Sentry Natural defense which is a all natural product also I haven't had a single flea in my house in over 8 months with this program and I groom dogs and have tons of client dogs who are covered in fleas.
> 
> Jana


We have some of the Sentry Natural Defense but unfortunately it burns Oscar's skin. However I've tried putting some on a bandana and having him wear that and I think it may have helped. We need to try Diatomaceous Earth as well. It's so frustrating that a little teeny tiny bug can cause so much trouble!


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## Oscar's Mom (Aug 20, 2011)

Mirinde said:


> We're in Gig Harbor and we already have fleas. Comfortis (Trifexis without the heartworm guard) worked best but we can no longer use it due to neurological issues. Right now we are using Frontline on the dog and Advantage on the cat. My game plan right now is to alternate their dosage cycles so that someone has a fresh dose of something every two weeks (so dog would get it at the 1st of the month, cat at the 14th, dog at the 1st, cat at the 14th) and I'm hoping using two different brands will help with the frontline resistant fleas. Vacuuming daily. Diatomaceous earth in the yard. Gig Harbor gets hit hard when we get them, so I feel your pain. My mom has three dogs and two cats so she is really feeling the treatment costs right now.
> 
> Our daycare/training center is offering the seresto flea collar and we may try that once it's been on the market for awhile.


I am curious about the Seresto collar as well, but I agree that I'd like it to be on the market for a while before trying it. I really like your idea of the two different products between the dog and the cat. We will try that. I just read that Fipronil (in Frontline) is a great flea killer, but it actually makes the fleas more active right before they die. So I'm assuming that means they are more likely to bite Oscar while they are dying! That is not a good thing!


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## Oscar's Mom (Aug 20, 2011)

SammyinBC said:


> Heya -- we're further up the coast in BC. We're using Sentinel on our dogs and both have been doing great on it. However, you did say that even one bite from a flea causes issues for your dog, sentinel stops the flea infestation by making it so they cant breed, so you'll still get a few bites now and then if your dog picks up some outside etc.. but the good news is you wont get a huge infestation in the house. Sentinel also handles heartworms and other nastys -- might be worth talking to your vet about it anyway.
> 
> On our cats we're using advantix, We looked at using the dog version, but found between sentinel and advantix we've not run into any flea problems at all.. Plus, while they say it's water proof, our dogs are ALWAYS in the water which makes me think that the topical stuff can't last a whole month.


I always wonder how the topical products can last a month too. It seems like they work ok for about 2 weeks, but then wear off. But since the directions say don't apply more often than 30 days and it's scary to begin with to be putting chemicals on my dog, I would never use it more often. I'm not sure how I feel about Sentinel or the other oral meds. I haven't researched Sentinel too much though.


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## JBJ Goldens (Dec 16, 2012)

Oscars mom I haven't had to use a topical in 8 months due to the diatamacious earth and the shampoo when needed and I am a high at risk house since I bring dogs in for grooming that are covered in fleas and I still have none that diatamacious earth is amazing stuff.

Jana


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## Mirinde (Jun 8, 2011)

Make sure diatamacious earth is food grade if you do choose to use it


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