What does everyone use to fight ticks?

[dadmomh]

Made the investment yesterday - with 6 doggies, it really is an investment.  There is a new product made by the Frontline folks, name starts with a C, but have already forgotten it.  Not Comfortis.  The upside is that it is so far working very well in our area.  The downside is that it is $$$ when you're doing 6.  Last year we used Advantix II and it worked well, so less $$ and we're going with that again.  If is doesn't work as well, we may have to upgrade.  One of those pricey things we hate to do, but to ignore it means we'll eventually HAVE to do it + set off a bunch of foggers 2 or 3 times to clear out the house.  Preventive. 

When I went to get the doggie basket to do all their med stuff, found some Advantix II left from last summer and also 3 Comfortis in the XL size for Mickey and Casey.  What a score!  This makes it possible to stretch the investment into 2 months instead of 1.  Woo-Hoo!!  Foxy is camping this weekend, so hope the ticks will steer clear or die.

For you folks having good results with the regular Frontline, Sam's is now carrying it at about $38 a pkg.  IIRC, that is a pretty substantial savings. 

[PlnGeek]

There is a new product made by the Frontline folks, name starts with a C, but have already forgotten it.  Not Comfortis.  The upside is that it is so far working very well in our area.  The downside is that it is $$$ when you're doing 6. 

That's Certifect. We were just talking to our vet about that. Over the weekend we found an engorged tick on our Border Collie, and ended up going to the vet to have it removed. We've been using Revolution for about a year now since it is Flea/Tick/Heartworm combined, but according to them, while Revolution is a good product for an average urban dog, if you live on acreage (which we do), or go camping (which we obviously also do), it just isn't enough.

We're probably going to replace Revolution with Certifect for the Flea/Tick issue, and go with our Vet's "Vethical" product for the worm side. On a side note, I was able to find Certifect on Amazon for $82.90 for a 6 month supply, which was about $40 less than our vet wanted for it. Of course our vet has said they will price-match any online price, so we're still going to be buying it straight from them.

[AzTeam]

Please be cautious using Flea and Tick Collars, most don't work well and as a Vet. Tech for the last 23 yrs I can tell you so many horror stories about dogs and cats becoming seriously ill or losing their lives from ingesting a bit of collar, even from playing with another dog.  Save yourself and your fur kids a lot of grief and spend a few more dollars on safer products.  Hartz supplies are the worst, we see a tremendous about of toxicity from their stuff.  Owners figure if it's on the shelf at Petsmart it must be ok, that is not true.  A lot of stuff comes from other countries, the biggest sham of course is from online pharmacies who get inferior stuff with the same label and market it as "the same stuff as the vet's only cheaper".  What a racket and at the cost of lives all to often.
Talk to your vet, even if you don't want to buy from them they will at least tell you what you can use safely.  A few dollars saved at the cost of life is not worth it.

[dadmomh]

Certifect is it!  Our vet is very aware that we do not have a money tree, but we do have 6 dogs to care for.  They go out of their way to help us stretch every vet-dollar.  I didn't ask the $ for the Certifect, but they said it was "considerably more" than the Advantix II.  Agree on the knock-off meds....you can't be absolutely sure what you're getting.  I use a product for heartworm prevention that my old boss, the vet, suggested for our herd.  I am not even going to mention the name, because I don't want anyone getting the idea of "trying" it.  If you have a collie or a collie mix, it's lethal.  I do try to buy from our vet because they keep their prices very reasonable and they give our babies excellent care, but they didn't go to school all those years to not make a decent income.  I'm a big believer in buying from your vet whenever you can. 

BTW.....Do you know the difference between an MD and a DVM?? The MD only had to learn about 1 species. 

[Luvin Life]

Our vet just changed our golden, Max, from Frontline to Revolution. We had a very mild winter here and I believe we will have to be extra vigilant regardless of what we use.  I will be sure to share our experience with Revolution. Max is a service dog which requires a daily grooming and atleast weekly bath (nobody welcomes a stinky dog  who thinks the compost pile is a great place to lay!) so we tend to catch any problems very quickly. We will be keeping our yard sprayed with something we bought at Home Depot which seems to keep ticks, fleas, ants, and mosquitos to a minimum. I would like to hear any experiences others have with Revolution.

[Shelbs]

I am surprised nobody has mentioned K9 Advantix. We switched from Frontline to. Advantix about five years ago and have been very pleased. We are currently camping fulltime is a fairly wooded are and the ticks have been. Really bad. We are finding ticks on the girls but are mostly being repelled from digging in. And if they bite, they die.

[austinado16]

About a week ago, we had the worst tick "attack" I've ever seen.  My DW took the 2 dogs for a hike up one of the local peaks.  The trail was all closed in with tall grass on either side.  A couple hours later, I get the, "Can you come look at the dog?  I think I found a tick."

An hour later, and I'd pulled something like 30 ticks off both dogs.  None were really dug in, and only a handful needed to be twisted out, but what a nightmare.  Needless to say, they won't be hiking with us for a while.

[dadmomh]

K9 Advantix is the earlier version of Advantix 2.  I believe the Advantix II beefed up the tick control part of the med.  The Advantix II did a great job for us last year and we're pleased so far this season. 

I remember "back in the old days" when Adams Flea and Tick spray was just about the top line.  All our dogs had to do was see a blue bottle and they were outa here!  The good news was, and maybe still is, that Adams is compatible with many other flea and tick products.  DO NOT ADD ADAMS OR ANYTHING ELSE TO WHAT YOU'RE USING WITHOUT TALKING TO YOUR VET.  Mixing chemicals of any kind is a recipe for disaster. 

Also remember, without any fond memories, at a time when our doggie population was at 10, we had a major outbreak of fleas and seed ticks - those are miniscule little creatures that come in the millions.  Every Saturday for several weeks was bathe, dip, fog the house, treat the yard & and pray.  Thank goodness those days are over - I hope.  Which reminds me, tomorrow is Advantix II day.  Got it on the calendar.