Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Does that mean they'll still have to have the Seresto against Leish and you'll use that with Advantix? Ugh, so many things to think about in Spain!
Fleas!!
- Thread starter HAH
- Start date
When you vacuum, make sure you get rid of the contents of the vacuum bag immediately. Some people put pesticide into the vacuum bag to kill any fleas. If you don’t throw out the vacuum contents and you’ve vacuumed up eggs, the eggs can hatch and the fleas will come back.
You can sprinkle salt on your carpets and in the floor/skirting cracks and leave a while before vacuuming. Apparently kills fleas but is harmless to dogs.
You can sprinkle salt on your carpets and in the floor/skirting cracks and leave a while before vacuuming. Apparently kills fleas but is harmless to dogs.
Just to say that I don’t use any flea preventatives and Snowie has no fleas. Haven’t used the stuff in about three years. We believe it caused his seizures, because since stopping he’s not had a seizure, and he’s no longer medicated for epilepsy.
But we vacuum three times per week. And wash his bedding weekly.
But we vacuum three times per week. And wash his bedding weekly.
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
The Advantix protects against sand flies. Apparently. I don't want them wearing the collars and the Seresto, so I'm going to use a spray on them morning and evening as another barrier against the little bastards. It's such a ball-ache trying to work out what's "best". Nothing is 100% against sand flies, apparently. We're (royal "we") making a fly free zone for outside the house, which will have very fine mesh to stop sand flies coming through, so they will be able to sit "outside" but still be protected in the evenings.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
That's a good idea. I'm looking forward to going back to Spain next year but already wringing my hands about Leish exposure. Any new ideas welcome.
"Little bastards" is right.
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
It won't be long until they're detected elsewhere in Europe, I'm sure. The Leish ones are noted as "anticipated absent" (or simply "no data") for the UK at present, but with climate change, they'll undoubtedly be making their way there soon.
Phlebotomine sandflies maps
- Location
- Buckinghamshire UK
I absolutely agree. With the climate changes we are experiencing and the increase in insects I'm surprised we haven't got them already.
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
When Ella had Bravecto it was a spot onUgh fleas and ticks terrify me
We use bravecto.. it’s much easier to get greedy Stanley to gobble down a tablet than to get something on his neck.
.We decided not to give her Bravecto again when we went in for her vaccinations. We're in a low tick risk area (she's had a couple of ticks on her once - when we did the Bravecto- but that's because we'd been into a remote bush area). Also, we thought we'd been using a flea treatment since we got her but apparently the wormer we were using didn't actually contain flea treatment. This means she's gone 4 yrs with no fleas and no treatment.
Given that, the cost of Bravecto (about $240 per year), the slight hesitation to use a product like Bravecto etc. we gave it a miss. I really hope I don't end up regretting that one!
Re Bravecto and other chewables, please do your research. More and more cases of death and sickness are being reported after dogs have ingested these products. There is currently a class action being taken against the manufacturers of Bravecto for not fully disclosing all side effects on the product packaging. If you want to read about it, Google “Snoopy Bravecto class action”—Snoopy is the name of the dog.
My plug to echo M.F. - we have used no pesticides on Poppy at all this year, since she has had really bad reactions to both Bravecto AND to the Scalibor collar. Yes, she picks up the odd tick - but that happened using the pesticides as well. So far, we have been amazed how well this is working. She is sooooo much happier this year - last year she had a cluster of fits a week after we fitted her with the Scalibor collar, but then she seemed to settle down with it. However, she was very upset by the heat, and was quite depressed all summer, really quite down. We thought it was just the heat, but I suddenly realized this week that despite it being every bit as hot this summer, that she has been so much better, not depressed at all. In retrospect, both I and OH are certain this is due to the lack of flea/tick treatments.
Every dog is different, and we do use the Scalibor collar on Merlin during the high tick season, as he seems to tolerate it very well. I never bother otherwise about flea treatment and would just treat any infestation as and when it came up (none of my dogs has had fleas). It is a balancing act and not an easy decision to make, I think. It's important to weigh up your circumstances, where you live, and your dog's health.
Every dog is different, and we do use the Scalibor collar on Merlin during the high tick season, as he seems to tolerate it very well. I never bother otherwise about flea treatment and would just treat any infestation as and when it came up (none of my dogs has had fleas). It is a balancing act and not an easy decision to make, I think. It's important to weigh up your circumstances, where you live, and your dog's health.
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
If I lived in an area with no fleas and no (or very few) ticks, I wouldn't treat for them, either. There seems little point spending your money on preventing something that isn't going to happen anyway! Beyond that, it's all about weighing up the risk to benefit ratio, which is different for everyone's situation. The lady I've been visiting with Shadow uses Diatomaceous earth on her dogs and is very happy with it.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Agree wholeheartedly. I don't like topicals and never used one on Brogan, but for Carbon it is part of his heart worm treatment. I'll go back to oral wormers as soon as we can. The chemical of the topical stuff is ick. I've never lived in a high flea area so wouldn't do a treatment just for fleas. Ticks I'm kind of on the fence about. I'd just pull them off Brogan when he was young and didn't think about it, but now I know they carry disease in the own right.
I religiously use Scalibor collars in Spain because of Leish. There the risk of Leish is much greater than the collar. Side effect is that it protects against fleas and ticks as well (or it is supposed to).
I’ve used it on Snowie. It was awful! Made his fur feel dirty. But I’ve seen it work firsthand: a cockroach walked across our floor. I doused it in DE and it eventually died (took about a minute to keel over, but I forget how long it took to finally die).
I’ve sprinkled DE on the carpet and left it there before vacuuming. And I’ve poured it into the cracks in the wooden floor and skirting. It works by dehydrating the insect.
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
I've heard it said repeatedly that Seresto are more effective than Scalibor - worth reading up on it, maybe? I've not looked into it much personally, so it may be nonsense that is just amplified over time (as nonsense often is), but worth checking
My Mum used to use "flea powder", which I assume was DE, on our cats when we were young. I agree, it's horrible stuff and I wouldn't want to use it myself because of the mess. But, for people who are interested in that sort of thing, it's a more "natural" solution than some of the other options, and is known to be effective at killing the nasties. Not to be used on any animals with skin conditions, though.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Sorry, brain fog! I meant Seresto. I used to use Scalibor but you're right, I've heard that Seresto is better and switched over a few years ago.
Lisa
Moderator
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
We had Bravecto here and I used it for Simba with no issues. This year the vet switched to Simparica which is the same idea as the Bravecto as an oral pill but you give it once a month. He’s had no issues with it either.
We switched from Bravecto to Nexgard Spectra this year, a chewable for fleas, worms, heartworm and ticks. I have a hard time with using tick preventative, since I live in the middle of a city and have never seen a tick on Quinn (or anywhere) we are on her 4th "tick season". I really think it's fear mongering here...there are areas within 1-2 hours away that are heavy tick areas, but we avoid going those places with Quinn anyway.
Some people report problems with the chewables soon after ingesting (in our case, Snowie had seizures within weeks of ingesting). Others report problems a year or more later, where liver damage has become chronic. It stays in the system and can cause damage over time.
I guess vets see mostly sick dogs and dogs with diseases. It might well be fear mongering, or they might really believe that they have your best interests at heart. Whichever, I always recommend do the research and question if your dog really needs it given your environment.
I guess vets see mostly sick dogs and dogs with diseases. It might well be fear mongering, or they might really believe that they have your best interests at heart. Whichever, I always recommend do the research and question if your dog really needs it given your environment.