Is Frontline & Advantage necessary? Or harmful?

[shandoggy1]

I never have had to use these products before but was thinking about putting it on my youngest pup for when we go hiking in the woods to protect against ticks. Do you think where it is a chemical that it is safe for our dogs? I mean doesn't it somehow get into there system or bloodstream to deter those little pests. I have never had flea problems with my dogs only the occassional tick but I found a deer tick on my pup which are the carriers of lyme disease. It was crawling on his face last night after our hike and I tweezed it off and gave him a flea & tick bath. Little buggers. What is your opinion of these flea & tick products.

[Pugdawg1]

I think that stuff is a necessary evil for many folks with pets in different areas of the country. I don't care if one can go on and on about how safe it is... any chemical or whatever that stuff is, on an animal's body gives me the creeps. Where I live now, it is not necessary. I have been in Nevada 19 years now, and have never seen a flea. I saw a couple of ticks on me, 15 yrs ago when I was out biking in the hills. Nothing else. So it's something I choose not to use on my pugs. My vet agrees. Just not necesary for us. I don't take them in the nearby mtns either..... they aren't that ambitious. LOL

[theGOOCH]

We use Revolution. I definitely wouldn't take my dog hiking without it (at least in this part of the country)

[Kade]

I dislike it as well, but Winston has to be on Advantix. I still give him the dose for 2-10 pound dogs (he's 11.5 pounds), and I usually wait to re-administer until I see a flea on him... But usually the way it goes is, on about day 35, he scratches, I find a flea, and by the time we get home and apply the stuff, I've gotten three or four fleas off of him.

That's just this area! Insects thrive. And Winston's coat will make it harder to see ticks.

I may slow down the application in the winter.

[feinwerkbau]

Gooch,

A vet which I respect highly told me that Revolution was no good against ticks, only heartworms and gave me a long explanation of biochemistry.

Alas, Frontline is a necessary evil here. The worst part is, with our tropical climate, mosquitoes and ticks are present all year round. Thankfully we don;t have lyme disease and Rabies is non-existant.

Some owners go the natural, organic route with garlic in the diet and neem oil sprays, but so far, the occurance of chronic tick infestations with these methods have been unreliable, so it's harmful chemicals for us.

It's a calculated trade-off; the risk of tick fever at any age as opposed to possibly shortening the lives of our dogs by a few years.

[theGOOCH]

Well, Revolution is for fleas, ticks, heartworm and earmites. Your vet may have questions about its effectiveness, but It has worked well for me. I don't think anything is 100%, but in spite of hiking on a regular basis, Blitz has only had 2 ticks ever. Maybe there are other areas of the country with higher tick populations where something stronger is recommended

P.S. Why can't they have something like this for humans? If I could put a drop of medicine on my skin and not be eaten alive by bugs in the summer I'd do it.

Last summer I was bitten by a brown recluse spider on my shin and in addition to the effects of the venom, I developed MRSA at the site (which is an antibiotic resistant staph infection) I was in the hospital for 4 days on non-conventional IV antibiotics and morphine. Luckily, I kept my leg and got better, but that was some pretty scary stuff. I still have what looks like a permanent bruise on my leg for a nice conversation piece.

[shandoggy1]

I live in Massachusetts in a city ten minutes from Boston and I don't thinks there is any lyme disease around where I live at least that is what my vet told me. But I know it is down Cape Cod Mass. I thought I was safe walking in the woods since we had our first frost and a little bit of SNOW already the ticks are usually gone after that, but we have had some 60 degree plus days and almost 70 degrees so the little creepy crawlers have made another appearance. I have always used melaluca and tea tree oil sprays which can be a natural deterant with my 11 year old GSD and we would go hiking all summer long and never had ticks but the reason why I was inquiring on these products is because of the chemical factor so maybe I will just go back to the natural stuff with my pup.

[Owned by Lucy]

I have lived in all types of climates and locales with my pooch. Starting with Tropical in the Cayman Islands, Far North as Maine, South Carolina and Georgia. I have never used any topical or oral form of flea, tick, parasite, heartworm, or any other kind of worm prevention on my dog. I have never had a flea infestations, never had any worms or other parasites infect her. I have had ticks on both the dog and the family but when in areas that we are likely to pick up ticks everyone, human and canine, is carefully looked over and they are proptly removed. Tick have to be attached for a long time (36-48hrs) to transfer disease so I figure as long as I am vigilant about it there is nothing to worry about.

[D.Schäferhund]

Originally Posted by theGOOCH

P.S. Why can't they have something like this for humans? If I could put a drop of medicine on my skin and not be eaten alive by bugs in the summer I'd do it.

.

Hey there is stuff, use a product with Permethrin, i just swear on permethrin, even use it on my bhorses.
But it is there for humans, too.

[CTDog]

Originally Posted by shandoggy1

I live in Massachusetts in a city ten minutes from Boston and I don't thinks there is any lyme disease around where I live at least that is what my vet told me. But I know it is down Cape Cod Mass. I thought I was safe walking in the woods since we had our first frost and a little bit of SNOW already the ticks are usually gone after that, but we have had some 60 degree plus days and almost 70 degrees so the little creepy crawlers have made another appearance. I have always used melaluca and tea tree oil sprays which can be a natural deterant with my 11 year old GSD and we would go hiking all summer long and never had ticks but the reason why I was inquiring on these products is because of the chemical factor so maybe I will just go back to the natural stuff with my pup.

Being so close to connecticut, where lyme disease was originally discovered, I can guarantee that mass. has lyme disease in it's ticks.

[CTDog]

Originally Posted by Owned by Lucy

I have lived in all types of climates and locales with my pooch. Starting with Tropical in the Cayman Islands, Far North as Maine, South Carolina and Georgia. I have never used any topical or oral form of flea, tick, parasite, heartworm, or any other kind of worm prevention on my dog. I have never had a flea infestations, never had any worms or other parasites infect her. I have had ticks on both the dog and the family but when in areas that we are likely to pick up ticks everyone, human and canine, is carefully looked over and they are proptly removed. Tick have to be attached for a long time (36-48hrs) to transfer disease so I figure as long as I am vigilant about it there is nothing to worry about.

You are very lucky. The ticks that carry lyme disease here in New England are very tiny. Even owners that check their pet regularly and are vigilant tend to miss the tiny deer ticks and have dogs that come down with lyme disease. Humans too!

[elegy]

i use frontline kind of hit or miss. when i see fleas i use it, when i don't, i don't. my dogs are rarely in areas where they're likely to pick up ticks. we do go hiking once in awhile and i've pulled dog ticks off them afterward, but i don't worry a ton about it. if i lived in the woods or they were coming up with ticks constantly i'd feel otherwise.

they get tested regularly with a three-way snap test for heartworm, lyme, and ehrlichia, and most dogs recover with no problems from lyme disease, so i don't worry hugely about it even though it's prevalent in this area.

[shandoggy1]

Originally Posted by CTDog

Being so close to connecticut, where lyme disease was originally discovered, I can guarantee that mass. has lyme disease in it's ticks.

Hi CT, there is no doubt that Mass. has lyme, but the vets I have spoken to said that it is more out by Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard. I live in Medford, Mass. and my vet has reports on dogs who haven't gotten it from here but from going away to Cape Cod.

[Hugo]

just did a little research on lyme disease - (according to the Lyme Disease Foundation, Inc)- - -
"How Widespread is Lyme Disease?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LD accounts for 90% of vector-borne infections in the U.S. From 1980 to 1998 about 112,000 cases have been reported from 49 states.

Montana is the only state having no federally reported cases of Lyme disease. Those patients who have acquired the infection in their state are not yet being reported past the state level.

Due to underreporting, the disease case count is likely to be 13 - 15 times higher. However, those are the cases that fit the government narrow case reporting criteria. The true number of cases may be significantly higher. One study estimates that there may be close to 1.5 - 2 million cases of Lyme disease.

Evidence of infection has been found on all continents - from positive cultures, to positive antibody tests with clinical signs, to infected ticks on birds".

we have tons of fleas and ticks in this area, luckily my dogs are never bothered by them.

at the grooming shop where i work, alot of customers are using frontline. after about 3 weeks the frontline is losing effectiveness and the dogs are being taken over by fleas. alot of customers are reporting that frontline is not working at all for their dogs. i have heard good things about the frontline spray though.
shellie~

[D.Schäferhund]

Hello
to the lyme disease and that estimate, from undetected cases. That is sadly true and a lot of times where symtoms persist, they are not discovered as Lyme.
A lot of arthritis and rheumatics are actually caused by Lyme, but are not discovered as such by the treating doctors.

In Germany there is a Doctor who vaccinated a little village for over 30 years for Lyme, he noticed that arthrities or rheumatic patiens got less and compared to other villages a lot less cases occoured.

So much for that.
I prefer permethrin, because it repells better. and if you have fleas (had it once my cat brought it home) it lets the fleas bite and kills them then, so you do not really have to treat the house, just let your dogs all over to pic them up. on the other hand, flea eggs are known to live over 30 years, so have fun....