Best wormer & flea treatment for dogs?

Bromley86

Time to buy some more meds for our lab. I've searched through old posts and am happy with where to get them.

Just wondering what we should be getting. We've had different brands of wormer in the past from our vet (and I can't remember what they were) and flea treatments have just been whatever we found in the pet shop.

I don't mind whether the wormers are tablets or liquid, although I'd rather not keep them in the fridge.

Any clear winners? Or is it much of a muchness?

snowman2_2

We recommend Milbemax as the wormer and Frontline or Prac-tic as a flea treatmant and that is what I use on my own dog

wuno

We would also recommend Milbemax tablets (prescription only) as a wormer. The main advantage of this over Drontal is the number of tablets you need to treat a particular sized dog will be less for Milbemax, meaning a potential cost saving; also, the tablets are smaller. Though for dogs, this latter advantage less important than for cats. We consider Milbemax a better, broader spectrum wormer, however.

Drontal is also a good wormer, and the advantage for you is that you can purchase it without needing a prescription.

We favour Frontline Combo Spot-on (prescription only) for fleas. Our experience is that "Pract-tic" doesn't work very well, particualrly for high risk animals like those living with hunting cats not properly treated for fleas. So we have decided we can't justify trying to sell it to our clients (even though there is more money to be made for us as it is made by the same manufacurer as our favoured wormer), and have sent our entire £1000+ stock back to the wholesalers at a cost of 15% restocking fee - we feel that strongly about it. However many practices rarely sell anything else. We also sell a fair bit of "Stronghold", particularly for clients taking their dogs abroad, because it also protects against heartworm - which causes a horrible disease. Price is very similar to Frontline Combo, though application is a bit messier. There are parts of the UK where heartworm is seen (e.g. the south east), though it is rare - ask your vet if they feel you live in a high risk area. Milbemax will also prevent Heartworm, but for reliable effects, you need to use it monthly

I hope you mean you have been using basic Frontline spot-on from your pet shop (some can sell it since it is now PML not POM). Anything else from your pet shop simply will not work. If you want to continue basic frontline, then fine. However, the advantage of Frontline Combo or Stronghold is that they also prevent fleas breeding, which can mean fewer fleas living in your carpets.

orlao

I use Advocate(POM) for my dogs and cat for a couple of reasons......
Very good flea prevention
It helps control ear mites ( one of my dogs is prone to ear problems!)
and my vet has just told me that I only need to drontal once a year because avocate deals with most worms including heartworm as well which will save me a fortune as I will be buying 8 drontal tabs instead of 32.I think the drontal is needed for tapeworm prevention.
It also prevent sarcoptic mange according to the package which could be useful if we get any mangy foxes in the area.

Ex Large dog is >£20 online, (£27 at vets) Cat £13ish online (£22 at vets) for 3 months supply and I use it all year round.

It would be interesting to hear if there are any cons to this treatment because I haven't found any yet!:D

wuno

Anything is better than nothing. Your vet is probably on a nice discount scheme with Bayer....

First problem - The flea treatment part is not as good as Frontline Combo, which only needs to be given every two months(for dogs), not every month as with Advocate. And Advocate won't break the flea life cycle in the same way, because it doesn't sterilise flea eggs.

Second-problem - the ear mite/mange effects are only as a treatment, not a prevention - though it is useful in these cases.

Third problem - The wormer part is not as broad spectrum as Milbemax, or even Drontal, which is made by the same company as Advocate and there is some worry about getting the dosage high enough. Tablets go right to the site of the problem.

Fourth problem - I have seen a number of adverse reactions.

Really, in dogs (where tablet giving is less of a problem than in cats), I can't see better than Frontline Combo spot on every two months and a Milbemax wormer tablet every three months.

Price comparison on vetuk.co.uk for a 25 kg dog for 1 year:

Your vet:
2 x 6 packs of Advocate 250 (i.e. monthy dosing): £53.04
2.5 Drontal tablets (i.e. an annual dose at 1 tablet per 10 kg): £3.97

total: £57.01

My proposed strategy

Frontline Combo Large Dog - 6 pack (i.e. once every 2 month dosing): £27.93
4 x Milbemax tablets (1 tablet does up to 25 kg): £12.84

Total: £40.77

Cheaper, and better protection for your dog..............

snowman2_2

wuno wrote: »

Our experience is that "Pract-tic" doesn't work very well, particualrly for high risk animals like hunting cats.

Prac-Tic is only currently available for dogs, not cats.

Our advice is Frontline for most dogs, Prac-tic for dogs that get wet (swimmers, bathed regularly or go out in the rain - it is wet here in Manchester!). Dogs can be washed about 4 times with Frontline before you will wash it off, Prac-tic can't be washed off. Stronghold for cats although we still sell a lot of Frontline Cat.

wuno

snowman2 wrote: »

Prac-Tic is only currently available for dogs, not cats.

Sorry, yes, thinking about something else with the cat thing.., no, definitely don't use it for cats! (this is why you should never trust anything you read on a forum like this - the poster could be doing about three different things whilst typing!). Cue edit of original post.

We bought a big load of Prac-tic on an offer from Novartis. Two grand's worth. But we had a number of clients complain about the extra cost, and the fact that it didn't work as well as Frontline Combo. So we all went away and tried it on our own pets, and low an behold we agreed with the clients. Cue complaints to our Novartis rep, and letters from HQ basically accepting they had an "issue". It's not a wash-off issue, just that it doesn't do its job in the face of a high challenge (i.e. in a houshold with hunting cats - which is what I really meant to say, I suppose). So we found it difficult, in all honesty to justify the 15% extra cost to the client and sent two thirds of our stock back. The rest we sold off cheap.

Not really thought about it as a better alternative to Frontline in swimmers. Good point. We just had such a bad experience with it (and lost a fair bit of money), I suppose I've written it off.

snowman2_2

I hope wuno would agree with me, but in summary, I think it is difficult to give just one best product. It will depend on the part of the country (we are a low tick area but very wet) and your pet's individual circumstance. We use a combination of 5 products to treat fleas on an individual basis based on certain criteria. Ask your vet to justify their selected product - I can justify mine in less than a minute.

wuno

snowman2 wrote: »

I hope wuno would agree with me, but in summary, I think it is difficult to give just one best product.

She would agree. And also accept that she can be resistant to change.

More and more new wonder "it does everything" flea products are coming to market, yet in most cases, I can't see what was wrong with the products I've been suggesting for the last 12 years. Sadly, I think I'm turning into my old boss, who I bought my practice from and who I laughed at for being so stuck in his ways.

KxMx

I'd get whatever you need from the Vets, they will reccommend the right stuff. Supermarket stuff really doesn't work in my experience!

orlao

wuno wrote: »

Anything is better than nothing. Your vet is probably on a nice discount scheme with Bayer....

First problem - The flea treatment part is not as good as Frontline Combo, which only needs to be given every two months(for dogs), not every month as with Advocate. And Advocate won't break the flea life cycle in the same way, because it doesn't sterilise flea eggs.

Second-problem - the ear mite/mange effects are only as a treatment, not a prevention - though it is useful in these cases.

Third problem - The wormer part is not as broad spectrum as Milbemax, or even Drontal, which is made by the same company as Advocate and there is some worry about getting the dosage high enough. Tablets go right to the site of the problem.

Fourth problem - I have seen a number of adverse reactions.

Really, in dogs (where tablet giving is less of a problem than in cats), I can't see better than Frontline Combo spot on every two months and a Milbemax wormer tablet every three months.

Price comparison on vetuk.co.uk for a 25 kg dog for 1 year:

Your vet:
2 x 6 packs of Advocate 250 (i.e. monthy dosing): £53.04
2.5 Drontal tablets (i.e. an annual dose at 1 tablet per 10 kg): £3.97

total: £57.01

My proposed strategy

Frontline Combo Large Dog - 6 pack (i.e. once every 2 month dosing): £27.93
4 x Milbemax tablets (1 tablet does up to 25 kg): £12.84

Total: £40.77

Cheaper, and better protection for your dog..............

Thanks for your input.....

Only problem I had with the Frontline combo was that I had to use it monthly at least during the summer as I had a cat with severe flea allergy, that may not be the case now as I lost her last year. Also I believe you need to dose monthly to protect against ticks? My dogs spend a lot of time hunting around in undergrowth and none of them have had a tick for a couple of years thankfully!

But I will price up Frontline & Drontal for a 40kg dog ( and have a chat with my vet!) and compare as we're due a routine visit in the next week or two so they can continue to supply prescriptions as I buy all my meds online:D

Thanks again