# Flea Medicine



## diane0905 (Aug 20, 2010)

My vet just prescribed this for Luke today. We'll see how it works. I prefer an internal over topical flea/tick medicine as Luke swims 2/3rds of the year. Living in the southeastern U.S., there's no way I'd go without a flea/tick medicine.


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## HoneyQ (Dec 27, 2013)

Thanks Diane....appreciate it....


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

To me, Nexgard is still too new and I will not try it unless it has been on the market for at least a year and proven not to make dogs sick.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I'd like to hear your feedback about using the Nexgard.

I'm currently using Sentinel and not happy with it at all. 

I'm hesitant about trying Nexgard until it's been on the market for awhile, I'm concerned about any side effects.


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## diane0905 (Aug 20, 2010)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> I'd like to hear your feedback about using the Nexgard.
> 
> I'm currently using Sentinel and not happy with it at all.
> 
> I'm hesitant about trying Nexgard until it's been on the market for awhile, I'm concerned about any side effects.


I just took him off Trifexis because I didn't like what I was reading about that at all.

Nexgard is made by Frontline. Hopefully, it will be okay. It is scary giving him meds for me. I try to use as little as possible.


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

I've never even heard of Nexgard- so it must be REALLY new- I've only been out of a practice for 6 months. I just checked the website- so first off, it ONLY does dog ticks- which are not the ticks that carry Lyme disease. It also says it kills adult fleas, but nothing for any other stages of their life cycle. I agree with above- I feel like it is just too new on the market for me to use. Plus, if you are in an area with lots of tick diseases (like where I was in Virginia), you'd still have to use something else for ticks (and potentially for fleas, if you have a flea problem). 

Here is the safety information at the bottom about it:


*'NexGard is for use in dogs only. The most frequently reported adverse reactions include vomiting, dry/flaky skin, diarrhea, lethargy, and lack of appetite. The safe use of NexGard in pregnant, breeding or lactating dogs has not been evaluated. Use with caution in dogs with a history of seizures.'*


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

diane0905 said:


> I just took him off Trifexis because I didn't like what I was reading about that at all.
> 
> Nexgard is made by Frontline. Hopefully, it will be okay. It is scary giving him meds for me. I try to use as little as possible.


You're like me, living in a Southern State, fleas must be a huge problem for you as they are for me where I'm at. 

I've tried every topical flea preventative on the market with absolutely no luck, it was like throwing money out the window. 

I use to give my two Comfortis and HG+, then when Trifexis came out, I switched to that and had them on it for several years. They didn't have any problems with it. After reading some threads here on the forum and other reports on various websites, I decided to take my guys off the Trifexis. 

I've been giving them Sentinel for close to 6 months now, not happy with it not killing the fleas. Fleas and mosquitoes are more or less a year round problem where I'm at. Ticks aren't that bad where I'm at, haven't really had a problem with them. 

We've had a colder winter this year than we've had in past years, hoping it will help with the bugs, but can't say for sure. We won't really know until Spring.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

Rainheart is right, this is brand new. My vet just told me about it last week. And yes, exactly, it only kills the American dog tick, so for me in this area, it is of no use. And killing only adult fleas is not serving any purpose either for anybody I would think. 

So, my thought, 'it makes no sense to put this out on the market'.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I'm really unhappy with the Sentinel, not sure what to do. 

I switched my guys to the Sentinel when my area was not in the peak of flea season. 
Summer is the worst here and I've got to find a preventative that is more effective.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

How do topicals work in your area, Sandy? Advantage is for fleas only if that would work for you. 
I am still using Frontline Plus, I have not found another product that is better. I tried the Frontline Tritak - I think that is what it was called - it worked great on ticks but my dogs were miserable and very itchy on it and I switched back to Frontline Plus.

Forgot, there is also the Seresto flea and tick collar which shows promise. I am just not a person that likes to keep collars on the dogs 24/7.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

cgriffin said:


> How do topicals work in your area, Sandy? Advantage is for fleas only if that would work for you.
> I am still using Frontline Plus, I have not found another product that is better. I tried the Frontline Tritak - I think that is what it was called - it worked great on ticks but my dogs were miserable and very itchy on it and I switched back to Frontline Plus.


Topicals do not work at all in this area, I think it might have something to do with the High humidity levels here. It's always very damp here. 

I've tried every topical on the market without any luck, it's been like throwing money right out the window.
I'm not a fan of the collars either, have used them in the past and they didn't seem any better.


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## HoneyQ (Dec 27, 2013)

Thank you everyone for all your responses. Appreciate it.


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## diane0905 (Aug 20, 2010)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> You're like me, living in a Southern State, fleas must be a huge problem for you as they are for me where I'm at.
> 
> I've tried every topical flea preventative on the market with absolutely no luck, it was like throwing money out the window.
> 
> ...


We have a place at Kiawah Island and I have worried about ticks there. It won't be as much of a concern soon as we're selling the house. Luke has only had a few ticks and that was when he was on Frontline and they all occurred around the same time. He's not had any since, so hopefully that will stay the same. We like to hike up around Asheville, but so far he hasn't been getting ticks.

I've never had a problem with fleas -- so far -- knock on wood.


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## diane0905 (Aug 20, 2010)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> Topicals do not work at all in this area, I think it might have something to do with the High humidity levels here. It's always very damp here.
> 
> I've tried every topical on the market without any luck, it's been like throwing money right out the window.
> I'm not a fan of the collars either, have used them in the past and they didn't seem any better.


I'm not a fan of topicals either. Luke swims almost every day in the summer.


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## diane0905 (Aug 20, 2010)

I will let y'all know what I think of the Nexgard after we've used it through the spring and summer. I'm not a vet and try to do what I think is best for Luke. It's hard to know what to take -- even for people -- because there is always a list of side effects.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> I'm really unhappy with the Sentinel, not sure what to do.
> 
> I switched my guys to the Sentinel when my area was not in the peak of flea season.
> Summer is the worst here and I've got to find a preventative that is more effective.


 Sentinel isn't really for fleas.... 

What it does is stop the circle of life as far as the fleas coming in on your dogs, supping on the dogs, and laying eggs on your dogs, in your carpet, in your furniture, etc.... 

I do think if you live in a high flea type area (seems the urban areas or some cruddy places even in cold areas are bad too)... you have to do Comfortis, at the least.... 

Where I live - Sentinel is enough. That's going to class, going to shows, stores, hiking, swimming, etc... 

The only time we had a flea problem was back with our first golden. He'd been treated with Frontline before overnighting at a kennel. He came home fully loaded. And it took us a while to get those fleas in the house wiped out completely. Sentinel came out on the market about that time (or our vet picked up on it - I don't remember) and we haven't had a single flea since. <- Our dogs don't ever go to kennels either though. 

If there are a lot of ticks out - that's the only time I'll put anything topical on my dogs.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

From Sentinel's website-










Megora, are you using Sentinel basically for the parasite prevention?

I know Sentinel does not kill fleas, that's why I'm not happy with it. I also knew how it worked before trying it. I received some information in the mail from Sentinel and I also spoke with my Vet clinic before trying it. 

There have been so many negative side effects with the Comfortis and the Trifexis, which I've used both before. My two Goldens didn't have any problems taking either and it's the only thing I've found that really works in this area. I may have no choice but to go back with either one. 

Ticks have never been much of a problem in my area either. I can count on one hand the number of times I've found a tick on my two current Goldens as well as my Bridge boy who lived to be 15.5.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> Megora, are you using Sentinel basically for the parasite prevention?



@Sentinel - Yep. I'm primarily concerned about the guys picking up heartworm or other worms during the warm months. That's the only reason they get any prevention at all during the year. 

I was just pointing out that sentinel alone is probably not the best idea if you live in a warmer area or area where you do have a lot of problems with fleas. Just in case anyone was thinking about just using sentinel for fleas.

With trifexis.... we didn't have any problems back in 2012 when we were forced to use it. And even Bertie got Trifexis for a couple months. We had no real complaints or problems. 

I went to heartguard only because the ladies at the vet did not want any doubling up with both Trfiexis and Vectra when we had a couple bad months for ticks. 

And I went back to Sentinel simply because it works for us and we've used it happily for many years....


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Most likely I'll be going back to the Comfortis or Trifexis since it's the only thing I've found that works and since both of my guys have never had any problems with it when they were on it. 

I asked my Vet clinic if they had any clients who's dogs had problems with being on the Trifexis. They said no one reported any side effects, but some clients had gone back to giving Comfortis instead because some owners were seeing fleas on their dogs usually around the third week of their dog being on the Trifexis. 

I too had noticed this a few months with my two.

Here in Southern or Coastal states, especially in the SE, you have to give year round HW protection and it normally never gets cold enough to really kill off bugs. 

This year has been colder than usual, but I doubt it will help much come flea season.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Nexgard is an internal dog tick preventive, which bothers me. We cannot use Trifexis on our dogs due to horrible reactions so we are using a very effective topical that stays on even after bathing. Activyl Plus. I do not like the oil slick that lasts at least 21 days despite bathing, but this really works.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## diane0905 (Aug 20, 2010)

To be honest, the only one I've had any noticeable problem with is Frontline and Luke had a few ticks while on it towards the end of the time he was on Frontline. Frontline worked just fine for a long period of time. He's almost four and has had three ticks and has never had any fleas. I suppose Frontline worked at first and then a resistance was built up over time for it, like antibiotics.

I had no problem at all with Activyl, but the vet cautioned me about using it alone because Luke swims 90% of the summer. It's hot here and he's in the pool or in the ocean and the vet suggested both an internal and external preventative during the summer. 

Luke has a very high allergy to flea bites, based on his skin allergy tests. 

Right now I'm using NexGard and Heartgard. During the summer months when Luke is swimming a lot, I may also use Activyl.


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## sdain31y (Jul 5, 2010)

We are in coastal GA & been using Trifexis on our 2 for a couple for years now. Since we divided the dose over 2 days (at the Vet's recommendation), we haven't had any problems with it either. We can't use a topical since the pups go in and out of the pool when its warm. Recently our Vet is also offering NexGard, but since its so new we aren't comfortable switching. We are staying with TriFexis. Its worked well for us and we haven't seen any adverse affects.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

I'm trying the Seresto collar this year, just ordered one and will start with it in April, depending on the weather. Hank hates topicals so I did use Trifexis for a couple of years. We had no side effects from the Trifexis but worry about possible problems from long term use and stopped last fall. I have 2 more Frontline applications for our cat then will get Seresto fo him as well. I usually only do flea preventative April - Oct.


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## HoneyQ (Dec 27, 2013)

Hi Carolina Mom - just wanted to circle back as you asked to let you know how we're progressing using Nexgard. So far so good. No side effects other than some some itching.


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## cmhall001 (Mar 27, 2014)

I live in the NC coastal plain where it's hot and fleas are rampant. We started our puppy on Trifexis 2 months ago without any ill effects. However, while Callie seems to be doing well, our HOUSE is INFESTED! 
Any suggestions? Help?! The fleas are eating my 8 year old son alive and continue to reproduce. I don't have the money to buy bomb after bomb trying to get rid of them and I worry that they may leave something bad for my dog on a hard surface or elsewhere. We don't allow Callie access to the whole house and I wonder if that's a mistake? Would she potentially "pick up" the fleas in our household and once bitten they'll die? Call me crazy, but at this point I have reached desperation.


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## Merlins mom (Jun 20, 2007)

Merlin's been on trifexis for almost 3 years with no problems, but I decided to move on to something else. Going with Nexgard and Heartgard. I used to use Heartgard back when frontline still worked for us so I'm not worried about that. I'll give the Nexgard a few days prior to the Heartgard so if there are any problems we'll know which one is the culprit. 

I'm also going to stick with the "give after food" even though it's not required.


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## EChoe88 (Jun 1, 2014)

cmhall001 said:


> I live in the NC coastal plain where it's hot and fleas are rampant. We started our puppy on Trifexis 2 months ago without any ill effects. However, while Callie seems to be doing well, our HOUSE is INFESTED!
> Any suggestions? Help?! The fleas are eating my 8 year old son alive and continue to reproduce. I don't have the money to buy bomb after bomb trying to get rid of them and I worry that they may leave something bad for my dog on a hard surface or elsewhere. We don't allow Callie access to the whole house and I wonder if that's a mistake? Would she potentially "pick up" the fleas in our household and once bitten they'll die? Call me crazy, but at this point I have reached desperation.


If you have any beds or bedding or anything of that sort that Callie sleeps or lays on, wash them in very hot water. For any carpeted areas, vacuum then sprinkle borax powder on the carpet. Sweep it in with a broom so it gets into the carpet and let it sit for as long as you can. Vacuum very very well afterwards. My vet uses it on his own carpets and he actually leaves in the carpets 24/7. He says its very safe to leave in the carpets, but I'm a bit wary so I always vacuum it up after a few hours. If it is a bagged vacuum, take the bag out of the house ASAP. Do not let it sit in your vacuum. If bagless, empty and take outside. You don't want the eggs/larvae to sit in the vacuum and hatch. Also if you can vacuum as much as possible. Fleas can be just awful. Good luck!


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## Pdljmpr (Apr 4, 2015)

Just started using this on our 2 dogs Addy and Cody. No side effects at all so far, they took it the 20th. They also take heartguard plus.


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