Cheap flea/worm treatment for dog

smithers1981

My crossbreed dog is currently on PROGRAM PLUS from our vets at a cost of £45 every 6 months, can anyone advise a cheaper alternative? My dog is approx 27kg, current treatment is a single tablet taken once a month.

Ive been looking at Drontal for worms and Frontline for dogs but they seem quite expensive for 6 months worth.

Also how often should treatment be applied does he need to be wormed every month?

FatVonD

I noticed when I was last at the pharmacy in my local big Sainsbury's that they stock Drontal and Frontline there. I believe you can also buy them online much, much cheaper than the vets.

As to how often, just have a read of the packet?

krlyr

I would be wary about going for cheap - cheap is not such a good deal when it's ineffective, and many of the OTC flea treatments can be less than useless when fleas have built up a natural resistance. Some products are evven claimed to be harmful to animals, the Bob Martin's products get a lot of stick.
However, there are ways to get veterinary products cheaper - for example, your vet is obliged to write a prescription if you ask for one, they can only refuse on health grounds (and in that case they shouldn't be selling it to you themselves either), and although they're allowed to charge a prescription fee, it must not be so high that it puts you off asking for a prescription (RCVS rules - if you feel your vet is breaching those rules you could report them for it)
How frequently the dog needs to be wormed and flea treated is widely debated. Some will only treat on actual symptoms - so when they see a flea or spot worms/worm eggs in the dog's poo. Others believe a dog is so likely to contract worms from their outdoor environment, they should be treated all the time. Then there are others inbetween. Not to mention there's the more recent issue of lungworm coming into the country - unfortunately that one's much harder to spot because the worm lives inside the lungs, and symptoms generally don't show until the damage has started and this can result in permanent lung damage if not treated in time. There are some areas of the UK showing more cases of lungworm than others so it may be worth speaking to your vet and local vets, to see if they've had many cases in your area. There's been quite a few near me (including a couple of fatalities) so I choose to treat for it all year, which makes for a slightly more expensive regime - there's only a few products that treat lungworm, Advocate, Panacur and Milbemax (though Milbemax claim only to 'reduce' an infection rather than treat it completely).
I cut costs by getting a prescription from my vet (this was £6 every 3 months - unfortunately gone up this month though) and buying online (about £30 for 6 pippettes, 2 dogs so 1 per dog per month). My dogs need the XL dose though so they are more expensive to treat, but £36 a packet works out a lot cheaper than what my vet were charging! I then worm every 6 months, I was using Drontal but was then told about a generic version called Cestem which is half the price - so about £3 per dog or something.

Marisco

I get Frontline for my cat (I had 2 but one died ) I get it online and it's £11 for 3 pipettes. It must be working as I've not seen any this year - so far!! I put one on every couple of months or so.

Edwardia

Not sure if they still do it but ASDA used to have own brand version of Frontline at pharmacy counter.

Haven't needed to do my Labrador this year as he isn't walked in long grass or in close proximity to other dogs and hasn't picked any up, I've been checking.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

Sorry to resurrect an oldish thread but I've just been advised by my vet that Program Plus is not currently available due to manufacturing problems. You may be forced to find an alternative whether you want to or not.