What do you use on your dogs and cats for ticks and fleas?

wheelsonthebus

I'm in Massachusetts and I'd like to know what is the best way to prevent fleas and ticks on cats and dogs. We were using Frontline on both, but someone said switching to Advantage was the way to go. Then we found out we can't use that on cats. The fleas were SO bad last summer because of the weather and I'd like to be proactive this year and be fully covered! What do you use?

mainerocks

If your dogs are on preventative and your cats stay inside, do you even need to put it on the cats?

wheelsonthebus

mainerocks:

If your dogs are on preventative and your cats stay inside, do you even need to put it on the cats?

My cat goes outside.

Mryan209

wheelsonthebus:

mainerocks:

If your dogs are on preventative and your cats stay inside, do you even need to put it on the cats?

My cat goes outside.

Keep him/her inside. 

marchbaby

I work at a vet in Massachusetts, so am well aware of how bad the fleas/ticks are!

For cats we recommend frontline for fleas and ticks.  For dogs there are three good products...frontline, advantix and certifect.  The advantage which you mentioned before only does fleas, great for fleas but wont touch ticks.  

If your dog and cat are close you can't use advantix. Meaning if they sleep together, groom each other I wouldn't use it.  But if they have a "typical" cat/dog relationship its fine.  Certifect is new, its supposed to be the best for ticks but just came out the end of last year so we haven't had much experience yet.  The downside to the certifect is it costs a little more and can't be used on dogs with diabetes or heart disease. So far we are only recommending that for dogs that live in a really high tick area and the other products aren't working, do field trials, etc.   

I'm currently using advantix on my dog, mainly b/c thats what the rep gave me and it was free  It seems to be working well so far.  If I had frontline I would have used that too.  I don't plan on switching to certifect unless I find a lot of ticks that the other products aren't taking care of.  

 

jen812

I'm in. MA & use Advantix on my dogs. IMO it works so much better than frontline. But, because you have cats, I'd be very careful/leery about using it.
Your best bet is to keep the cats inside. It's much much safer for them.

kellbell1919

We hve indoor cats so only treat the dogs.  We use frontline bc I am not risking advantix w cats around. New supplement with an all natural topical spray called vetri.  I think neem is cat safe too.

Caz1221

I'm in MA and use Frontline Plus on both of my dogs (I don't have any cats).  We've never had issues with fleas or ticks, but I live in Boston, so my pups are only in wooded areas when we go out to the Cape or up to NH/VT.  They are always on leash, and I check them thoroughly for ticks after any outings like that; so far, no problems.  I also keep them on Frontline year-round, especially in warm winters like this one.  New England bugs are hardy!

 

wheelsonthebus

Mryan209:

wheelsonthebus:

mainerocks:

If your dogs are on preventative and your cats stay inside, do you even need to put it on the cats?

My cat goes outside.

Keep him/her inside. 

Our cat loves going outside. We live in the country. This isn't an option.

wheelsonthebus

Thanks for the advice, ladies. It seems we may have to use Frontline on both animals as they are very close. I also want full tick protection. As for the cat going outside, we live in the country and only let him out during the day. If we tried to keep him inside, he'd be miserable. I know that it's safer, but I feel his quality of life is better when he can get outside.

PolarBearFans

We use Revolution for our indoor cats. It is easy to bring fleas and ticks in. It also prevents heartworms.

M6girl

I'm not sure how FL fleas/ticks compare to MA but we use Frontline Plus and it's been working well.