Flea, Tick and Heartworm Prevention
Folks know I'm cheap, er, cost conscious, but try to use the best products available. Amanda has helped me understand which products are more effective; I've found ways to get them cheaper.
In the past, I've ordered stuff from Australia, and it was a good deal. The weaker dollar makes buying in the US about the same.
Start with Heart worm.
Heart worms are little worms that are transmitted by mosquito's. All heart worm meds work the same way. They do not prevent heart worms, they kill the young ones. You dose your dog every 30 days because if the worms get any older, the drugs will not kill them.
In addition, the "Plus" portion of the pill kills intestinal worms.
Iverheart Plus is just as effective as the #1 product at about 1/4 the price. It has the exact same active ingredients in the exact same amounts. It's just not chewy.
Fleas will ruin your life if they infest your house and if they don't, they will cost you money in the form of vet visits. Ticks are nasty and carry a lot of diseases, including Lyme. Of the two, ticks are the harder to control.
For a topical tick control, we use Advantix this year. The other products just don't seem as effective. This seems to change over time as ticks develop immunity to whatever the hot product is. This is not a cheap product when you have as many dogs as we, but shop around.
Advantix has a combined flea/tick/heart worm product that we'll likely switch to in the future, just for ease of use.
OK, now we also run with a Preventic collar during the dog days of summer, which is good for three months. Why? Because it is very effective against ticks and we don't want any. Poppy has come down with Lyme, before we started using the Advantix and Preventic.
Lyme Vaccine: You need to have it. It may very well be the second least effective vaccine on the market, but it isn't totally ineffective. Given a 50/50 shot at the vaccine working when you never find the deer tick on your dog, you may never know it actually worked. There's some anecdotal evidence that dogs who are vaccinated and get the disease get "less sick" and recover faster.
Testing: The new "Gold Standard" in blood test is the IDEX 4DX, which screens for Heart worm, Lyme, and two other tick borne diseases.
Where to shop: Lately I've been using KV Vet Supply, which is the exact same place Amanda's practice orders many of their supplies and vaccines. Usually, we're ordering some vaccines at the same time. The internet has a host of other folks too, some of whom might be a bit cheaper, but KV has good service.
You need a scrip for Heart worm prevention, but not flea/tick. Ask your vet in the exam room for them. Amanda's office doesn't make enough money on these products to warrant carrying them. The only reason to stock them is for folks who can't use the internet. They are happy to write a prescription, but not so keen on it when you call a week later.
In the past, I've ordered stuff from Australia, and it was a good deal. The weaker dollar makes buying in the US about the same.
Start with Heart worm.
Heart worms are little worms that are transmitted by mosquito's. All heart worm meds work the same way. They do not prevent heart worms, they kill the young ones. You dose your dog every 30 days because if the worms get any older, the drugs will not kill them.
In addition, the "Plus" portion of the pill kills intestinal worms.
Iverheart Plus is just as effective as the #1 product at about 1/4 the price. It has the exact same active ingredients in the exact same amounts. It's just not chewy.
Fleas will ruin your life if they infest your house and if they don't, they will cost you money in the form of vet visits. Ticks are nasty and carry a lot of diseases, including Lyme. Of the two, ticks are the harder to control.
For a topical tick control, we use Advantix this year. The other products just don't seem as effective. This seems to change over time as ticks develop immunity to whatever the hot product is. This is not a cheap product when you have as many dogs as we, but shop around.
Advantix has a combined flea/tick/heart worm product that we'll likely switch to in the future, just for ease of use.
OK, now we also run with a Preventic collar during the dog days of summer, which is good for three months. Why? Because it is very effective against ticks and we don't want any. Poppy has come down with Lyme, before we started using the Advantix and Preventic.
Lyme Vaccine: You need to have it. It may very well be the second least effective vaccine on the market, but it isn't totally ineffective. Given a 50/50 shot at the vaccine working when you never find the deer tick on your dog, you may never know it actually worked. There's some anecdotal evidence that dogs who are vaccinated and get the disease get "less sick" and recover faster.
Testing: The new "Gold Standard" in blood test is the IDEX 4DX, which screens for Heart worm, Lyme, and two other tick borne diseases.
Where to shop: Lately I've been using KV Vet Supply, which is the exact same place Amanda's practice orders many of their supplies and vaccines. Usually, we're ordering some vaccines at the same time. The internet has a host of other folks too, some of whom might be a bit cheaper, but KV has good service.
You need a scrip for Heart worm prevention, but not flea/tick. Ask your vet in the exam room for them. Amanda's office doesn't make enough money on these products to warrant carrying them. The only reason to stock them is for folks who can't use the internet. They are happy to write a prescription, but not so keen on it when you call a week later.
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