Best flea treatment for a collie

fly_dragon_fly

can any one advice me the best place to get flea treatment?


just saw my dogs tummy and can see she has been scratching at it and it looks sore


so thought some of you may no the best place that isn't to pricey to get it.

Thought it may be the garden but am not sure as she has been scratching the last week ( but hasn't seen any dogs lately?) i know some collies aren't aloud certain things so was wondering if you people had any ideas on the best products .

Fire_Fox

What are you using at present and when did you last deflea and deworm? The most effective products are available on prescription from the vet, they may well not need a consultation they may just prescribe unseen. Flea eggs can be walked in on shoes or live fleas picked up from the grass, it doesn't have to be direct dog to dog contact. If the dog does have fleas you will need to thoroughly treat your home too, Acclaim seems to be well thought of.

fly_dragon_fly

Fire_Fox wrote: »

What are you using at present and when did you last deflea and deworm? The most effective products are available on prescription from the vet, they may well not need a consultation they may just prescribe unseen. Flea eggs can be walked in on shoes or live fleas picked up from the grass, it doesn't have to be direct dog to dog contact. If the dog does have fleas you will need to thoroughly treat your home too, Acclaim seems to be well thought of.

We have never used anything ( although she was dewormed and defleaed when we got her just over a year ago) as she has always been fine it's only the last week she has started to scratch hense the concern, our grass in the garden is long and she likes to go through the bushes so i think that is where she may have got them from so would like them gone asap for hers as much as our sake

~Chameleon~

fly_dragon_fly wrote: »

We have never used anything ( although she was dewormed and defleaed when we got her just over a year ago) as she has always been fine it's only the last week she has started to scratch hense the concern, our grass in the garden is long and she likes to go through the bushes so i think that is where she may have got them from so would like them gone asap for hers as much as our sake

The adverse weather we've had recently has had an impact on flea populations as people are continuing to use heating indoors etc therefore stimulating flea eggs/larvae that would usually have lain dormant until Autumn.

You need to treat your dog with a topical application such as Frontline or Advocate (both available without prescription) or see your vet for Advantage or Stronghold (prescription only). You would also be advised to treat for worms if fleas are present.

As well as treating your pets you will also need to spray your home if fleas are present. Again, these are available without prescription online... Acclaim or Indorex are the best products and offer up to 12mths protection in the house.

krlyr

You can have your dog tested for the MDR1 gene which would cause adverse reactions, not all Collies suffer from the problem.
http://www.collienet.com/breed%20club%20pageheadings/EACA/Multi-drug%20Resistance%20in%20Rough%20Collies%20%28MDR1%29.htm
http://www.laboklin.co.uk/laboklin/showGeneticTest.jsp?testID=8032

Fire_Fox

fly_dragon_fly wrote: »

We have never used anything ( although she was dewormed and defleaed when we got her just over a year ago) as she has always been fine it's only the last week she has started to scratch hense the concern, our grass in the garden is long and she likes to go through the bushes so i think that is where she may have got them from so would like them gone asap for hers as much as our sake

Well that means that you can treat immediately with whatever the vet prescribes. De-fleaing the house is a royal PITA but must be done at the same time, you need to do every square inch of all floors, your sofa and bed, under the furniture, all the corners and crevices, also hot wash all your soft furnishings.

Your dog can pick up fleas anywhere you walk her, likely other people walk their dogs there and cats can transport dog fleas around too. You might not want to deflea every month but you should do so regularly, especially now you know your dog is sensitive to the bites. They can even come in on your shoes or clothing: I found a flea on my last indoor cat yet I live in a city centre, no cats or dogs nor grassed areas nearby. :eek:

Hillbilly1

krlyr wrote: »

You can have your dog tested for the MDR1 gene which would cause adverse reactions, not all Collies suffer from the problem.
http://www.collienet.com/breed%20club%20pageheadings/EACA/Multi-drug%20Resistance%20in%20Rough%20Collies%20%28MDR1%29.htm
http://www.laboklin.co.uk/laboklin/showGeneticTest.jsp?testID=8032

Excellent advice - please see a vet before giving anything as Collies are sensitive to some types of flea treatments.

For parasites prevention is better than cure - please keep up to date, not just in summer months.

ka7e

It's amazing that some vets don't seem aware of MDR1 and it's implications for all the collie-type breeds! The drug sensitivity varies from dog to dog regardless of their status and they should just not be treated with drugs on the list. This includes Rough, Bearded and Border Collies as well as Shetland Sheepdogs.

lolarentt

We take our 2 collies to France 4 or 5 times a year and until this year had to get French vet to give flea/tick treatment for their passport stamp before they returned to UK each time.

The treatment given was always Frontline Combo, this is only available with prescription, but there is an alternative version, Frontline Spot-On which is available without prescription; you can get the weaker Spot On version from vets, pet shops and some supermarkets as well.

We found the cheapest way to get the Frontline Combo was to get a prescription from our usual vet (cost us £5 and lasted 6 months) and then buy from Viovet (or other mail order suppliers) quoting the prescription

uk.frontline.com

~Chameleon~

ka7e wrote: »

It's amazing that some vets don't seem aware of MDR1 and it's implications for all the collie-type breeds! The drug sensitivity varies from dog to dog regardless of their status and they should just not be treated with drugs on the list. This includes Rough, Bearded and Border Collies as well as Shetland Sheepdogs.

It's not a case of not being aware of it, all vets are perfectly aware of a predisposition to drug toxicity (e.g. ivermectin and milbemycin) in collies and shepherd breeds. It's only in the past decade that genetic research has shown why this is the case and testing for the mutant MDR1-1 gene is relatively recent.