Flea (and tick etc) prevention for adult dog

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GirlFriday

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In a similar vein to the vaccination question - what do people recommend these days for flea prevention?

Doggie had NexGuard spectra chewables when he arrived (no sign of any parasites before but he was rehomed from a house with other dogs and hadn't previously been taken to a vet for anything beyond microchipping).

Was a bit itchy in spring (in retrospect I suspect this was due to coat regrowth & heat but wasn't sure) so gave him another 4 tablets all spaced out.

As far as I can tell this means he has been treated for pretty much everything except tapeworm.

I'd rather not treat randomly for parasites he doesn't have and at no point have there been any clinical signs (I've picked up three poops a day for over a year now so would probably notice all but the smallest tapeworm segments?!?).

Both my local vet practices would recommend constantly medicating but this seems a little ott when there are no symptoms... Is there anything herbal/otherwise gentle (needs to be safe around both kids and small furries) people find effective as a preventative?

We have smooth floors hoovered and washed weekly and all bedding/blankets/rugs he sits on are laundered in the machine periodically. No other dogs visit at present and we don't visit other doggie households right now, although we do meet plenty when out and about.
 
Same. No point adding stuff to their bodies they don’t need and in any case doesn’t work. You only think it works because you don’t see fleas and there’s nothing to say they wouldn’t be flea free without the stuff. If you ever see fleas then you treat them at the time.
 
I worm once a year for everything and that is it (drontal historically although vet said something else this last time, can't remember what it was!). They have actually all got pour ons at the moment as pup had bald spots round the eyes, although knowing me they will go out of date and be thrown! Adults had one each and pup has had 2.
 
Ok, this is reassuring - I was concerned that everyone would come straight back saying they flea/worm/etc every 4 weeks regardless and that my gut feel that was unnecessary was just crazy hippy talk. I said to both vets I wouldn't treat a child for head-lice unless it had them, but they didn't quite get the analogy as I suspect neither have been around kids much.
 
Mine bought three bloody zeppelins back from Europe last year despite extensive parasite treatment on both sides. Boke. They were dead when I found them but they were obviously able to attach. Boke boke boke.
 
Lovely :-) I think they have to attach to be killed by some of the treatments (I've been reading a little fun stuff tonight!) but would be better if they had the good grace to drop off on demise!
 
No, heart worm touch wood isn’t in the uk, often the first sign owners notice of lung worm is the coagulopathy by which time you have a battle on (presumably they do cough first but I’m not going to risk it thanks!)
 
Ah, then we've not treated for those either - in fact I don't think they were mentioned... the NexGuard leaflet says fleas, ticks, roundworms, hookworms and whip worms. Plus heartworms if used monthly (and why it was suggested I use monthly if heartworms aren't in the UK I don't know - but both vets said that!)

ETA: what do you use (and how frequently) for lung worms? Is it possible to cover those and tapeworms at the same time?
 
Nexgard Spectra covers lungworm too (was licensed for that purpose in May of this year IIRC, the data sheet might not be up to date yet in your packet), leaving a need for a standalone tapewormer (Droncit, Quantex etc.)

Milbemax for lungworm, roundworm and tapeworm together, needing a separate flea and tick product

Does my crust in that there's not one true all-in-one product. I also don't see the need to treat monthly for everything, with the caveat that it is far easier to prevent fleas than it is to treat them once established, and lungworm can be asymptomatic.
 
Thanks again all. Went to the vet today and picked up some Milbemax as doggie won't be left alone even for a few moments over Xmas so we'd notice any reaction straight off and be able to get him to out of hours vet np.

Thanks to the magic of HHO that now means he's had doses for all relevant parasites since rehoming (from a home with many animals, inc horses as it happens, not via a charity so no previous history of treatment at all). And I'm confident that with more spaced out worming (say, annually - doggie won't pick up toys let alone slugs and snails - although occasional bits of sandwich are another matter - and only eats cooked food (nothing against RAW, just not what we do)) I'll be following a reasonable routine.

Thanks (and parasite free holidays!) all,

GF
 
I'm going to test for the vaccines I think but I'd have wanted doggie to have the wormer for everything at least once anyway (like the vaccines) and it seems more likely he'll pick (the less scary sorts of) worms up/the worming seems less risky (he was fine with the Spectra and thus far the Milbemax too).
 
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