What heartworm pill do you use??

[Bingasmom]

We have been giving the dogs Sentinel since we got them... Its also supposed to prevent the development of flea eggs.

Riiiiiiiiight.

So that is why we are going with the garlic chewables. Got them today and dogs got one and they loved them so thats good. Going to work our way up to 4 a day.

So what heartworm pill do you guys use? Since we don't need the flea preventive is there something better??

TIA!

[LynseeC]

Honestly, Kelli, if you are seeing flea eggs you need to contact Novartis, they should refund you completely since they're product insists that it renders fleas unable to reproduce. Where are you seeing the eggs? On the dogs? Even if you are seeing eggs, they should not get past the egg life stage. I would contact your vet that you purchased it from, and ask them if you can have their Norvartis reps info. If you purchased it online, I would be suspicious that it was a pirated product and unfortunately Norvartis will not help financial if that is the case.

Interceptor is identicle, just doesn't have the flea component. So, it prevents against intestinal parasites and heartworms. If you're giving Garlic Chews, I would go with Interceptor instead.

We too have major flea issues here in Oregon and have never had a problem with Sentinel, unless she goes somewhere, where there is indeed a live/adult flea infestation. At that point I give her Capstar and vacuum REAL well!

[Bingasmom]

Thanks Lynsee... I have been doing some reading and had pretty much decided to get Interceptor. Heartgard didn't cover all the different types of worms and Interceptor did.

I just don't know what the deal is with Sentinel. Damon said he saw eggs on Bear AND I found a teeny tiny flea on me. Its really pissing me off! But we got the Bugoff in today (YAY!) and will be starting them up on that.

What is Capstar?? I need to do something about the house. I want to put the DE in the carpet but Damon was griping because it dried our skin out. I will just do it when he is at work.

I just want to get this crap taken care of. BUT since we are doing the bugoff I saw no need to continue with the Sentinel anyways. Oh and I order it off or 1800petmeds. It was cheaper than getting it at the vet. Would what they give us be different??

[LynseeC]

It sounds like Interceptor will be your best bet, honestly. And for the carpet DE would be a good option, DE just scares me a little bit, I can't get over the, "Don't breathe while applying" part.

Capstar is another product by Norvartis, an oral pill that takes care of Live/adult fleas. And only lasts for about 6-9 hours. For my carpet I just vacuum, vacuum, vacuum and wash her bedding like CRAZY. But I've only had to do that twice. And this was because she was going to play at a house that had a NASTY infestation in their carpet and they didn't even know it. Once I figured it out, we stopped playing there....and she stopped getting live fleas

I usually don't recommend online pharmacies (don't hate me everyone) for products like these, because they don't come directly from the manufacturer. Therefore, the manufacturer will not guarantee a product from an online pharmacy. Nor will they compensate you if the product is not working effectively. Alot of times, the product online pharmacies sell can/and often is a pirated product, that isn't even REALLY what the package says it is.

So, let's say you had gotten it from your Vet, and Bear had gotten a hot-spot, Norvartis would have reimbursed you for your medical expenses(i.e. Exam, Clip and Clean of the area, Treatment of area, Meds to go home for the area.) and refunded you/given you more product at no charge.

At the clinic I work for, we've just recently reduced our prices to the online-pharmacy's because we're tired of our clients getting something that could potentially be a big WASTE of their money.

[grammie]

lynsee thor was on Sentinel and vetty too since thor was a pup... until a couple years ago. when it failed, we bought SO many capstars to kill the live fleas on them (vetty would HOWL gettem off grammie!) we even had fleas on the bed! it was horrible.

so i switched to revolution and then advantage. we used advantage for years on our cats and dog in years past with excellent results.

my vet said fleas become immune to a particular flea med after while. other ppl had the same problem with Sentinel, but it worked great for a couple years.

last year, i only had to put flea meds on them once all year, and that was only b/c i saw a few fleas. could have been the garlic paul uses in his doggy stew and raw, but i'm thinking it's because i started using an e-cigarette. if i have residue on my hands and pet them, minute amounts get on their fur.

All flea meds have nicotinic receptors or inhibitors (i forget) and maybe the e-cig juice works the same way? I wash my hands all day long and have a wet washcloth handy to wipe my hands. Nicotine is water soluble, so my hands are always safe to touch them, but like i said, maybe the minute amount that gets on their fur is enough to piss the fleas off?

oh BTW, i haven't smoked a cigarette since last June and grampie and adam still smoke around me. no temptation for me at all

For HW prevention, I use Ivomec. Bought a bottle about 2 yrs ago for $38 and I still have it. Glad I finally went that route. With 3 dogs it was costing me $25 a month for HW preventative pills. The savings has enabled us to use the $ for other needs they have. I get them all tested annually and they are HW negative, so we are dosing them correctly.

warning: don't anyone use Ivomec without knowledge of the correct dose and the correct size needle! Heather (hanna banana) and vetties breeder, and red dirt boxer rescue gave me the dose. I was too chicken to try for a couple years. all the rescues use Ivomec for HW prevention too. Andrea may know the dose.

It's cheap, effective and the same ingredient that's in HW preventative pills. Just depends on your budget, comfort factor using a needle to dose (not shoot the dog up!!! ==== you use the needle to draw out the solution and then squirt it into their food), and convenience, which method you use.

[Zhanna]

I thought Sentinal was just for heart worms, didn't know it was for fleas too.

[Jenentonik]

We use interceptor on our dogs, thats what the vet has had them on since they were pups. Good luck Kelli

[Bingasmom]

Thanks for the info guys! This has been such a huge headache. I have no idea if they are in the carpet.. not sure how to find out!

Grammie that would be nice to save money using the Ivomec. I could ask the vet about that also. I am going to call the vet in my prep period and find out how much he charges for Interceptor. Should they have a problem us switching from Sentinel to Interceptor??

And do you get Capstar at the vet? That may be something to do this summer.

I would REALLY REALLY love to rip up our carpet. That would make me feel better too

Thinking about fleas gives me the itchies!

[LynseeC]

They should not have an issue with you switching, since it's essentially the same product just one ingredient short: Lufenuron. Unless you haven't had an exam in the past year, then they might fuss.

Yes grams! I've heard of that, people needing to rotate their flea preventative because the fleas have become immune. Fleas are just the BIGGEST PITA.

Honestly, I'm thinking about switching to just Interceptor and Garlic chews because I hate LIVE fleas a ton. So, Keep me updated Kel on how you like the chewables!

[Super Heros]

We use hearguard...I don't use any Flea preventative and in 4 yrs(Hulk is 4) only had to use it 2 times on him and 1 time on Storm bc we had neighbors that weren't taking care of their yard....

[grammie]

kelli - to see how bad of a flea problem you have in the carpet, take a shallow bowl like a pasta bowl and fill it 1/2 way with water > put a lit tea candle in it or a large candle, making sure it can't tip over. you can use a bright lamp over the bowl if you're worried about the candle with the dogs.

put a couple around the room, or in the area where you think there's a problem and shut off the lights. maybe do it at night when the dogs are in bed.

a little dish soap in the water or a drop of oil will trap the fleas so they can't get back out. basically it's a flea trap.

we set one up years ago when my son's siamese was tortured by fleas (i mean tortured) while we were away on a trip for a few days. the poor cat was hiding in the dark under the couch to try to get away from them. when i bathed him the water was brick red.

if you have fleas, the bowl will alert you to how bad it is. we had an exterminator come spray and treated the cat and he was fine.

here's some pictures of a flea trap. after that experience we bought a flea trap so we could see if the fleas were back. it wasn't worth the $ and the bowl and tea light worked the best.

How to Make a Flea Trap - wikiHow

[LynseeC]

That's a really cool idea grammie. It works because fleas are blind. They jump on animals as they pass, cause a change in the light, and cause vibration. In this case, they're jumping towards the light.

That is REALLY sad to hear about that siamesey...good thing you were there to take care of that baby!

[Kaite]

We are having a heck of a time with flea / heartworm meds. Wyatt will throw up the day after both with interceptor, sentinel, and one other brand I've forgotten. We're at a bit of a loss what to do because I hate to make Wyatt sick, but he needs the flea prevention!

Any ideas?

[Bingasmom]

Grammie - I will for SURE being doing this this weekend! I am really curious about the carpet. BUT I know its not even comparable to what the poor kitty went through.

Kaite - Sorry Wyatt keeps getting sick! None of my three were ever bothered by the pills, so I really don't have any advice. Hopefully someone else will chime in!

[grammie]

thor threw up from some new flea med. i forget what it's called but we discussed it on the other forum when it came out. i think it was a new monthly pill made by the same company that does Capstar?

Kaite, what i did was give him 1/2 a pill - wait a few days and give him the other half. it cured that problem. maybe squeeze 1/4 tube on wyatt and wait a few days doing another 1/4 at a time?

that poor cat almost died. we had no idea adam didn't have him on flea prevention and when we got home, he had lost so much weight. skin and bones and flea crap everywhere. it took him awhile to gain the weight back.

kritter was a good cat. he's the one that died 2 decembers ago and i got marley for adam so he wouldn't be so sad.

fleas are more than a nuisance that's for sure. between tape worm, stress that they cause the animal, and in kritters case, he was probably heading for anemia from blood loss, fleas are something that you have to protect them from.

my neighbors cheap out and buy that sargeants worthless spray and i see their dogs suffer with fleas. doesn't matter how many times i drill home the point, they'll let their dogs lose hair from skin infections, etc and not buy the right stuff.

i've been known to buy a capstar for ppl's dogs to at least give them temporary relief.