Efficient and safe treatment for a dog is a crucial aspect and task for any pet lover. In this article, you will find the best tips for dog flea treatment to boost their health as much as possible.

How Do You Pick The Most Effective Flea Treatment For Dogs?

Dogs are not the same, just like human beings. One treatment might be useful on this dog and not sufficient on the other. In choosing the specific type of flea treatment for your dog, consider the following factors.

The Age Of The Dog

A good flea treatment plan should be age-appropriate. Many of the treatments are not for puppies. To be on the safe side, always check the information on the product’s label.

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Dog Breed

The coat type of your dog will determine the kind of treatment to buy. In most cases, topical treatments are not ideal for thicker coats.

The Dog’s Health History

Before administering any treatment, consider the previous treatments to tick and flea reactions and your dog’s concurrent health conditions.

Residential Area

Different parasites live in diverse geographical areas. You have to be aware of parasites in your place of residence.

A vet officer will help consider these facts and assist you in deciding on the most effective and safest.

Types Of Flea Treatment

According to veterinary specialists, recommendations are on dog tick and flea collars, topical tick and flea treatments, and oral tick and flea medications or, at times, their combinations to protect dogs fully. Here are some of the safe treatments for dog flea and ticks currently in the market with all their advantages and disadvantages.

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Dog Tick And Flea Collars

In many scenarios, new flea collars for dogs are among the safe option for your dog to treat and control ticks and fleas. The earlier version of the collars was more ineffective compared to these new ones. Seresto collar is the typical example currently in the market that you can use on your dog.

Seresto uses the imidacloprid and flumethrin that kill fleas and ticks at many stages of their development. When you fully minimize the collar contact with water, it will serve you well for eight months. It offers an excellent alternative to the monthly dog treatments to prevent ticks and fleas.

It’s a challenge to use the seresto collar in a compound that has children. Measures should be put in place to avoid children accessing and playing with it or reflector clips included. The collars have traces of certain chemicals that are effective on dogs and their environment. The substances will cause problems with children whose mouths are always open to putting in anything they find.

Some dogs develop skin reactions when they use the seresto collar. You need to remove the collar to resolve the situation. It’s advisable always to consult your vet officer anytime you want to use the seresto collar on any dog for the officer to consider the breed, age, nursing, or pregnancy of the dog. The collar is beneficial to prevent all ticks and fleas.

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Topical Tick And Flea Treatments For Pets

Much of the safe tick and flea treatment for pets are there as spot-on or topical treatments. Many of them give broad protection more than fleas alone.

The Advantage Multi uses active ingredients moxidectin and imidacloprid in its treatment. The two components will kill hookworms, heartworms, whipworms, and roundworms. Fleas and sarcoptic mites also get tackled. This treatment is ineffective on ticks. Dogs should be restricted to lick application areas before 30 minutes elapse after application to avoid potential side effects that might be severe.

Another good example is the Frontline plus, an OTC product using (S)-Methoprene and fipronil to attack ticks and fleas at all life stages. It’s able to control the sarcoptic mange attacks, and it also eliminates the chewing of lice. Though surreptitious licks, which are few, won’t harm a dog, they shouldn’t get ingested.

As in the case of tick and flea collars, where it’s hard to keep children away from your dog or, at times, other animals while avoiding direct contact with the medicine before absorption by the pets’ skin or drying up, in this case, topical treatment won’t be an effective solution to ticks and fleas.

In case cats are in your homestead, always consult a veterinary officer before buying any of the above topical tick and flea medications for your pet. Some of the medicines have permethrin or pyrethrin that intoxicates cats.

The topical treatments are applied monthly. A dog should take several days before bathing after administering the medication.

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Oral Tick And Flea Medicine For Your Dog

There is a wide variety of oral prescriptions for tick and flea medications considered very safe and ideal for dogs. The oral tick and flea medications come in chew and pill forms where a veterinary officer will help choose your dog’s best, depending on the dog’s age.

Trifexis uses milbemycin and Spinosad to protect dogs from intestinal fleas and heartworms, and also fleas. It’s ineffective on ticks. In this treatment, a vet’s prescription is essential.

Bravecto chews that sometimes come as topical treatment also protect from ticks and fleas between eight and twelve weeks in a single dose. The active ingredients in bravecto are the fluralaner that kills adult ticks and fleas. Bravecto also needs a vet’s prescription.

Oral tick and flea medications are suitable for households with underage children and small pets that might be unsafe if they get into explicit conduct with chemical remains from tropical medications or flea collars.

The standard and mostly overall known side effect of this oral medication is pet vomiting. All medicines have side effects risks, but that should not derail you from using them since parasites are more dangerous if not treated. Use your veterinary advice to pick the best safe and effective tick and flea treatment based on the dog’s age, health, lifestyle, and other individual characteristics.

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Choosing The Best Flea Treatment For A Dog

Tick and flea treatments for pets arrive in different application types, ingredients, and duration for effectiveness. While choosing the best one for your pet, start with the essential one for you. Consider issues like the budget, protection duration, and ease of use. If you reside in urban centers, you will require sporadic covering, which is different from people in rural areas who need an all-year plan to prevent fleas.

Before opting for any medication, please seek advice from your veterinary officer to get their advice. For a dog with a sensitive stomach, chewable treatments for fleas will not be practical. Also, pets with skin problems can’t use topical treatments since they worsen the conditions.

The dog’s weight is also vital in selecting a treatment plan. When you use treatment meant for large dogs on small dogs, the little dogs will become sick or can even die. Most flea treatments aren’t suitable for cats. A household with mixed household pets will need a piece of vet advice before buying any treatment plan. Ensure you abide by the directives given on any medication plan. Going contrary to the orders can cost the life of your pet.

The best flea treatment for your pet is the one that will successfully kill all fleas. Though you will have to test different options currently in the market to get the best one, the good thing is that you must find the more suitable one from the many versions available in the market that will suit your dog.