Anti-flea things for dogs

[PossumGirl]

[quote user="Christine Animal"]

Clever of you to have noticed that Ian.  That explains why they don't send to France!

Thanks Possumgirl, I shall have a look at your site.  (I hope Ian investigates first!).

 

[/quote]

The reason so many of my friends order from them, Christine, is that Australia apparently does not require a prescription.  The U.S. is like the UK and does.

PG

[SaligoBay]

I put the Advantix on a week ago, and today I found a tick on him!  [+o(]

I thought the Advantix was a deterrent, but visiting ma-in-law says that all is normal.  The tick will drink the poisoned Advantixed blood and will die.

Smothered the horrid thing with Vaseline until it suffocated, then it came out easily with tweezers.

So what does the Advantix actually do?    I didn't expect this!

[Deimos]

Different treatments work differently. For example, Frontline does not have its effect until the tick has attached, then it will die and drop off (before it has had a chance to spread disease to your dog. However, Advantix is meant to be one of those that repels as well as kills so I would not expect you to find a tick attached. However none of these things are 100% - -for a given “exposure” to ticks, only a certain (low) percentage will attach. I’ve not used it myself so cannot comment of how effective it is. I have found Frontline pretty good (though still check my dogs pretty regularly, even though, unlike Advantix, Frontline does require them to attach to be killed.

Once a tick has attached, there is a delay of more than 24 hrs before it will spread disease (maybe longer – I cannot remember). With all these treatments, collars, inspections there is always a risk that they will miss one or two occasionally. I guess that in addition to everything else one needs to keep inspecting the pet and being very ready act quickly should symptoms of Piroplasmose show.

If you are really worried, you can get vaccinations against Piroplasmose and Lyme. They are quite expensive annual vaccinations and offer a degree of protection but are not 100%. Around me most pet owners do not vaccinate but hunters do tend to. Merial used to publish a map of France showing incidence in different areas – but seem to have removed it from their “new improved” web site (and I’m in a medium’ish risk area). Check with your vet or check with other local dog owners.

If you are likely to be troubled by ticks it may be worth getting a tick hook (called something like O’Tom (or there are probably loads of different types – the “pair” I’ve got are green and I got them from my vet). It makes removing ticks really easy and a lot safer than tweezers. The risk with gripping the tick is that you can squeeze out its stomach contents into your pet if its attached – which can cause spread of disease. Also, there is the risk of leaving the mouthparts in the animal (or yourself) which can then become infected. These hooks sort of grip the tick round the head and you twist it out – no squeezing and really easy. There tend to be two sizes in a pack (for small and larger ticks). “Dirt” cheap things but really useful.

Ian

[PossumGirl]

SB, this is why I use a Preventic collar as well as the K9 Advantix.  Several sources have told me that neither Frontline nor Advantix are 100% reliabe against ticks, although both seem to work really, really well on fleas.

PG

[Christine Animal]

We've already mentioned this somewhere that Scalibor is supposed to be one of the best collars against ticks, and look, buy two, get one free !

http://www.croqnet.com/index.cfm?V=03&idnieuws=14

 

[PossumGirl]

Scalibor is excellent, Christine.  We use Preventic because Maggie has had severe itching problems in the past, and strangely, when I first put a Preventic collar on her, it stopped.  I finally started wondering if she doesn't have a small problem with demodectic mange, (caused by an immuno deficiency) which is treated with the same stuff that's in Preventic.  So, two benefits from one product.

PG

[Christine Animal]

That's interesting and good to know Possum.  It must be the amitraz.  I seem to remember our vet once saying a collar with amitraz could be used against mange.

 

 

[PossumGirl]

Yes, it is the amitraz, Christine. When I noticed how much it helped, I was amazed.  Since Maggie has always been bothered by allergies, I think it's a sign that he immune system doesn't function quite as well as it should, and that explains the mange related itching as well. Even our vet was surprised by the results.

PG

[Christine Animal]

Good, and the Stronghold says it does the sarcoptic mange, though they don't seem to say what is in their product.

My apologies to Mrs. Mad Dog Woman, I saw you already mentioned Scalibor on the first page of this thread.  [:$]

Mrs. Dog Mad Woman

 

[Maddie]

No need to apologise Mrs Dog Mad Woman [;-)]

 

Mrs MadDogWoman

 

 

[Hotspur]

You're discussion here has got me to join the forum!

Back in the 1980's I was part of the research team that developed amitraz use for small animals and in particular collars for dogs.  Amitraz has a unique action that we described as expellent, in that it made attached ticks detach in a short space of time and hence prevent disease transmission.  The collars were effective for about 3 months and we even had 'jumbo' versions that worked on cattle!  As you rightly say amitraz is also very effective on mange.  Our old rescue dog came complete with demodectic mange, and a course of amitraz baths cleaned her up a treat.  In fact amitraz is active against most mites (including those on fruit trees) but persuading the old MAFF that it was effective against conditions like sheep scab was an uphill task as the wanted a demonstration of toxic activity rather than the expellent effect of amitraz.

Nowadays, I use Frontline (a former colleage is the product manager) as I think it is the most effective treatment.  This is despite having worked for Bayer for the last 3 years.  I buy Frontline and Drontal from Pets Megastore  http://pets-megastore.com.au who ship to anywhere in the world.

[Christine Animal]

Thank you for the site Hotspur.  I see they have Stronghold, under the name Revolution.  It's expensive stuff, for example a pack of three for large dogs is AUS£50.50 (anyone know how much that makes?) and on the site I mentioned on the previous page http://www.animalmedicines.co.uk/ (but they don't send to France and you have to have a prescription), the same pack is £22.50.

Here's some more information on it all :

http://www.rpsgb.org.uk/pdfs/vpgfleatickbwguid.pdf

 

 

[PossumGirl]

Christine, here's a great currency converter from the International Herald Tribune.  It helps with all this kind of thing.  I converted the Australian amount and it comes out to 29€, which doesn't strike me as outrageous for the product, based on what I've paid for Advantix, etc.

PG

[Christine Animal]

No, I agree,  you've brought the price down Possum!  That's more like it, which makes about €10 per spot-on for a large dog.

Thank you for the "translation" and for the currency converter. 

 

[PossumGirl]

I'm always converting things from one country to another, so the currency converter is a must have link!

PG

[Christine Animal]

[quote user="PossumGirl"]Christine, here's a great currency converter from the International Herald Tribune.  It helps with all this kind of thing.  I converted the Australian amount and it comes out to 29€, which doesn't strike me as outrageous for the product, based on what I've paid for Advantix, etc.

PG
[/quote]

... and your site is even cheaper Possum, €25.60.  But Hotspur's site say they have reductions for animal shelters, so I'll see what they can offer.  I see there is also a spot-on called Advocate which seems to do the same as Revolution.

 

[Christine Animal]

... five per cent   [:(]

 

[Christine Animal]

I ordered some goods from Hotspur's Pets Megastore and the service they give is excellent.

I mainly ordered the Revolution (Stronghold), but also Advocate, which, in case you are interested Possum, is also supposed to control demodectic mange.  It's amazing what Advocate is supposed to do according to the box : kills fleas, kills flea larvae, prevents heartworm, controls intestinal worms, controls intestinal worm larvae, controls demodectic mange, controls sarcoptic mange, controls ear mites, controls lice.

Hope it works and thanks again for the sites!

 

[PossumGirl]

[quote user="Christine Animal"]

I ordered some goods from Hotspur's Pets Megastore and the service they give is excellent.

I mainly ordered the Revolution (Stronghold), but also Advocate, which, in case you are interested Possum, is also supposed to control demodectic mange.  It's amazing what Advocate is supposed to do according to the box : kills fleas, kills flea larvae, prevents heartworm, controls intestinal worms, controls intestinal worm larvae, controls demodectic mange, controls sarcoptic mange, controls ear mites, controls lice.

Hope it works and thanks again for the sites!

 

[/quote]

This sounds like a great product, Christine.  I notice, however, that it does not control ticks, so make sure that you also use a Preventic or Scalibor collar!  If you're in an area with leismania, than you probably need the Scalibor, which protects against mosquitos as well.

PG