Preventative Flea Treatments

Common Brewers Yeast, available on any vitamin aisle, given to the dog daily will make his skin DISTASTEFUL to fleas. Give it a try.

Hi L.,

I have one dog that is a coonhound and german shepard mix named "Doolittle" he is 8 years old and we have bathed him with Shaklee Basic H2 for flea treatments. I can send you a free sample to try and see if it works.

Hey there! Well, just to let you know...we have used Sentry Pro treatment that we bought at Pet Smart and it has worked for YEARS on our dogs. We haven't had ANY fleas in our home at all. Even our cat doesn't have them (we use a different treatment on her since she doesn't go outside). The cost I can't remember off hand but I am a penny pincher, too and I want to say it was definitely no more than $15 bucks (maybe $10). My vet said the same thing and I was like "NO WAY". They can push name brands on people who can afford them. :-) Hope this helps. Good luck!

Hi L.,
You are right about Hartz and Seargents products. I used to work in the vet business and they are both very dangerous. Now, what I use on our dogs is the Zodiac version of Advantage. It works, but at times I have found that with our Pekeingese, who has allergies to flea bites, I have to put it on him again after 2 to 3 weeks (closer to two if he has been out in the rain). I have not found that problem with my Shepard mix. I think I pay about $10 for either 3 or 4 months worth of the Zodiac as compared to the $40-$60 that you will spend for the Frontline. I, personally, did not like Frontline at all. I was still finding fleas and ticks on my dog with it. I did find that Advantix works however. But being on a budget, I have been using the Zodiac for a couple of years with no problems.

L., I ONLY purchase Frontline after a friend's dog had a severe reaction to one of those no-name brands.....I don't want to say the generics don't work, but maybe your dog had a reaction to one of the ingredients in it? I would listen to your friend and switch. By the way, there are a few good places on the internet that you can purchase those brands from and they cost you a lot less than through your vet.
Good luck, I hope your dog will be well.

Hello L.. I have three border collies and bewtween their food, flea prevention, and heart worm prevention it can get pretty costly! For many years, I used Frontline Plus and it definitely works great. We actually used Frontline consecutively only during the spring and summer months. We found that every other month starting in October worked fine for the dogs. I am not sure if it was the combination of the colder weather and the fact they were outside less frequestly... Just to see what other products were out there, I started shopping around. I am currently using BioSpot from PetSmart and so far, I have been pleased with the results. It is definitely less expensive. I also use their BioGuard shampoo which is not supposed to counteract any type of flea prevention. We have been using the BioGuard shampoo ever since my first dog was a puppy and have been very pleased. You can also sign up for PetSmart's Pet Perks club. They give you a card to be scanned with every purchase and we have received a lot of good coupons to help save some money! Just as with people, I wonder if some products work better on some dogs and vice versa... Good luck with the fleas and congrats on the new puppy!

We use frontline plus on our dogs and have never had a problem. I buy it off ebay to save money!

We are using Advantix for our dog. Our dog had never fleas until we moved to Virginia and now she gets them if we are only a few days behind on the treatment. I did use Hartz one after she had fleas for the first time and it didn't work and the Vet told us to wash it off right away because dogs died from that stuff. If you tip it in Google you can find more reviews on Hartz products. Don't even know why they are still allowed to sell there stuff. We haven't tried any other gerneric treatments so i can't help you with that. But when you think what you have to spend on your dog once he has fleas i rather pay more on the meds to prefent it. Where one more think. The first time we used Advantix our dog started scratching herself and i guess it gave her dry skin. Now i guess she got used to it. So maybe your dogs skin is just a little sensitive still since he is still a puppy.

Listen to your friend. Only Frontline and Advantix works. You can be a cheapskate though and instead of giving them to them on exactly the 1st of every month, give them to them every month and a half or so, or longer. I keep it in the house in case of any signs of fleas, then give it to them. Or I give it to them only in the warmer months. It really only costs about 12 dollars a month with regular doses. Thats really not much to keep the fleas and ticks at bay. Or, if you have multiple dogs, buy the larger size treatment and split it between them!

we have three cats and only have to treat them half the year when flees are "in season". that can save you money if you know when to start i just check them periodically and give them a dose as son as i see one. then one we have our firt frost you can stop. but yes i've tried generic flea stuff and it doesnt work. dont know why but it doesnt. i suggest rotating between frontline and advantix. go online and order 5 packs and save money...some places even have free shipping.

Typically, the cheap treatments for fleas don't work. Or, they run a danger of poisioning the animals. One little trick I learned though, is that the concentration of advantage is the same, regardless of the dose. Ie- it's kind of like kids tylenol, the bigger the kid, the more they get, but the active ingredient is the same. I've did some research, and started buying the huge tubes for 55+ dogs. Then pour it all into a vial, measure out the correct dose into a syringe, and *poof*. I have 20 puppy size doses in the 4 pack of advantage I bought. You'd need to do some looking around to find out the correct dosage for weight, but it's a lot cheaper.

We did the same thing for our dog and he scratched continually. We ended up putting him back on the Advantage and he was fine again. Hope this helps.

L.

L.,
Luckily, I never had to treat the dog I had for fleas but our vet told us to purchase the round ham bones from our grocery store meat dept. and boil them and use the "juice" and put it over our dogs dry food, this helps prevent fleas and it also helps make the dogs coat shiny and healthy. They also told us to let the dog play with/chew on the bone after we boiled it. I have had to treat our cats for fleas and we used a product from wal mart that was a small tube with meds in it and we had to put the meds on the back of the cats neck, the tubes were individual doses, I think they were gold in color but this may not be correct. Unfortunitly I cant remember the name of the product and I dont know if this product is also made for dogs or just cats. Sorry I did not have more info on the product we used but it worked well!!!

Hi, L.,
I don't know about the generic vs. name brand, but we have been using Biospot (very cheap!) on our dogs for 10 years, as well as giving them brewer's yeast daily, and they have never had fleas. Our vet, who is also a good friend, told us "Biospot doesn't work" but since we haven't had fleas, I think it does work. Brewers's yeast is also supposed to help, so maybe it's the combination of the 2. Anyway, our dogs are indoor dogs, which also helps but we have deer, squirrels, rabbits, and birds in our yard so I'm sure there are plenty of fleas around. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Hi. Being in the veterinary field for over 18 years. I can say that you do not want to use anything but frontline or advantix. Nothing else works, and the worst thing in your home is fleas. Just because you do not see them does not mean that they are not there. There are eggs everywhere and it is almost impossible to rid them completly. I would spend the $12 a month (what frontline should cost you) and do it right. Because if you do not you will spend thousnads trying to get rid of them in your home and off your children.
Good luck.

It's a little worrisome that your friend the vet couldn't tell if your pup had flea bites ... ! That said, if you're not seeing flea dirt on her skin, it is likely allergies [my vet says they are getting more and more common] or possibly v. dry skin [my dog has this problem]. You can get her tested for allergies and put her on meds, but I assume that is pretty expensive. My solution for my itchy pup is regular baths using Johnson's all-over moisturizing baby wash -- my vet recommended it and it is much cheaper than the oatmeal-based Paul Mitchell moisturizing shampoo I was using! She still gets itchy but mostly when we've been to the dog park a number of days in a row w/o a bath -- which could indicate an allergy OR dry skin, depending on how you look at it.

So your generic flea meds may not be failing you at all. Usually if you have a real flea problem you can see the dirt on the animal's skin when you part the fur ... but I can't testify to the power of generics as I use the traditional Frontline [although only from April until first frost -- also recommended by my vet, who does the same for his pets, and also for heartworm meds].

Hi L.,

Your dog might have allergy to his food you should try a holistic pet food. Now if your dog is prone to pick up fleas, the best thing you can do is keep the fur well groomed and bathe every week with the following mixture: For every 2 teaspoons of Naturals Melaleuca Oil Shampoo add l teaspoon Jojoba oil. Mix well. Shampoo the dog, avoiding the eyes and rinse well. Apply Coat Conditioner between washes. Your dog should love the taste of Brewer's yeast and even garlic, but fleas hate it. Why not give it a try, some pet owners swear by it. It doesn't cost alot and it goes a long way. These are all natural products which are safe for family and pets. If you would like more information on either the Holistic Pet Food or Melaleuca Oil Shampoo please let me know.

M.

I will only use Advantage (or advantix) I have spent a lot of money on frontline (pets of various weights) only to find it didn't work consistently. One treatment worked, the rest didn't. We ended up with a full blown infestation, bombed the house and everything. Still didn't solve it. We were getting very desperate so I went and spent a bunch more to get advantage. Within a few hours it starts working and by the next day we weren't even finding them in the house! I swear by it now. Oh and my husband bought bio spot, again trying to save money. No good. It isn't really a deal if it doesn't work and you end up spending more than if you just get the good stuff to start with. It is one of those things that I feel you should just get what is proven. I think I may have been scarred by that infestation lol. I don't ever want to go through that again.

hey L.! I tried EVERYTHING to get rid of fleas on my dog and honestly, frontline was the only thing that worked. she hasn't had a single flea or tick since i gave in to it a year ago. i do order it from 1800-petmeds, which does save a few dollars, and is a lot easier than driving to the vet every 3 months. good luck! I hope you figure something out that works!

The cheaper brands can be harmful (even deadly) to your pet or your family! More of a concern w/younger kids, but still. Also, from what I have heard, they really don't work as well. Call around to different vets and see if any sell advantix or frontline in individual doses. I found one in my area that does it and my cat only needs treating 1-2 times a year. He is strictly indoors though. Good luck!

I LOVE IT! Another mom who isn't afraid to call herself a cheapskate. LOL! I too am a cheapskate and love a bargin. I KNOW that this product WILL work! Unless you have some kind of "killer flea" that's different from all the others around the U.S. LOL! It's called Sol-U-Mel. Please email me for more info. It's sooo good for so many different things. It's TOXIN FREE too so it won't hurt puppy or kids. Friends of ours in TN called Monday and said they were the only 4 people at vacation bible school that were NOT being harrassed by ANY bugs while outside playing! Like I told them, don't take my word for it. Just TRY IT and if it doesn't work (like you want it to) than get your MONEY BACK! How Cool is that?!!!! EMAIL ME ____@____.com
Take Care,
N. :) SAHM homeschooling 3 boys 12, 7 & 2yrs old. Happily married to Mr. Wonderful for almost 15yrs. Check out www.angelfoodministries.com for lots of money saving, good quality groceries.

Last year my cat had fleas. She was really infested. We tried everything before getting frontline. After one treatment I never saw another flea on her until this summer. So, we got frontline again, but this time it did not work! My two sisters both have cats and they both used frontline. It worked on one and not the other! I used some kind of flea shampoo from walmart that is supposed to last for 30 days on our dog. It seemed to work. He is still scratching but I think its just from the bites he already has. That is great info about the borax and salt for the rugs. What are the specifics of that treatment? My mom is having trouble with fleas in her rug right now and she is a big Borax fan so she would love that.