Keeping away fleas and ticks

What do you do?

Ollie's gotten a few ticks and the odd flea or too. It's our climate and area, no way of getting away from it! :-|

I've heard the topical treatments are quite dangerous to a dog or cat's health. I use a topical 'worming/flea' treatment on my cat every month and don't want to be emitting dangerous chemicals into her!

Is a worming tablet the only form of worming we should be giving to our cats and dogs?

Ollie has his worming tablet every month and it says 'helps prevent fleas' so would this be dangerous to him? Ever since I read that topical flea treatments can be dangerous, I've been really worried!

I've heard rosemary added to water as a rinse is a good flea repellent, has anyone ever tried this?

Thanks in advance for any help! :flwr:

Hi Emily

We do live in tick central here in Oz, don't we.

I use Frontline top spot which has a very wide degree of tolerance & I believe is quite safe. Any small risk associated with the product is outweighted many times over by the risk of our horrible paralysis tick & by the misery & illness fleas bring to a dog.... in my humble opinion
I've heard people talk about rosemary & other "natural" approaches to ticks & fleas but this is one area I won't mess about with. I feel the same way about worming, heartworming & vaccinations. I've had multiple dogs all my life and (touch wood 3 times) I've never had one of my dogs get sick as a result of using "chemicals" to protect them from parasites & disease.

I don't know whether you can buy Shaw's shampoos over there, but lots of people swear by their Parapet shampoo that is insect repellant. It can be used as well as normal treatments like Frontline, as it's only a shampoo. I bought some because i liked the lovely fresh smell; like Savlon disinfectant.

We use advandage, we never had a problem with flee and ticks while useing it
judy

There are several brands of topical flea medication that are safe to use and they are the most popular due to their effectiveness. Stick with brands that are well known and well researched. Frontline and Advantage are really the way to go!

But there are other cheaper brands (like Hartz) which can cause seizures. No vet will recomend these products to you because of their high risk and low quality ingredients. If you do a google search on Hartz Flea medication, you will find dozens of articles explaining their issues in better detail than I can.

I have tried every herbal remedy known to man, and none of them are stand alone effective. Tea tree oil will help deter the fleas because they don't like the smell but it won't eliminate a preexisting problem, nor will it prevent them from biting. I used it when we had a REALLY bad flea outbreak and I put it on all of my pressure points. I didn't get bitten, but my poor hubby did!! I would use it in conjunction with a topical treatment. Good Luck!

Hi Emily,

I have used Frontline for keeping away fleas and ticks and Interceptor Spectrum worming tablets for all the worms on Chester every month for
9 1/2 years and the same on my German Shepherd (at rainbow bridge) for 14 years and both dogs never got sick from ticks and never had a bad infestation of fleas. I've only ever found about 10 fleas on Chester, he gets big hugs several times a day and i always check him all over when he's asleep on my lap.

So don't be too scared or worried about using these kinds of treatments on Ollie, has your vet mentioned using Frontline or Spectrum Interceptor tablets on Ollie?

Every vet i have been to has these treatments in supply. Although i now buy both these products off the internet because it's cheaper than buying them from the vet.

I hope i've helped in some way!