Fleas, worming, and vet prescriptions

[Widgeon]

I'm seeking the wisdom of the collective on this - I know similar questions have almost certainly been asked before but a) I couldn't find them and b) pricing information goes out of date quite quickly so I felt justified in starting a new thread!

Our puppy (about 5 months now) has been on a "puppy starter pack" with our vets'. This has included a pipette of Advocate flea & wormer each month, with this month being the last. I'm unsure what to do re. fleas and worming from now on - the vet charges £100 per year to continue with the monthly Advocate spot on, or I assume I can buy them elsewhere. However our vet is quite cunning and charges about £18 for a prescription, plus a £20 check up every six months for animals on repeat prescriptions. So by the time I've coughed up for all that I might as well have just paid for the £100 per year package.

So:
- Is Advocate prescription only? (I assume yes but am not sure)
- What are the other options? Bearing in mind that the combined spot on is incredibly easy to do, which is worth something.

I will probably just pay up the £100 per year for the package - out vet has always been very helpful and considerate, including in emergencies, and I realise that providing a good service costs a lot of money which they have to pay for somehow. I don't begrudge them the money, but being quite cheap I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing some kind of obvious budget option.

Thanks!

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Advocate is prescription only. You could choose to buy Advantage and Drontal online (eg Hyperdrug without prescription) etc which will cover you for worms and fleas. If you are in a lungworm area you will need a script for the drugs for that. I dont think Advocate does tapeworm anyway although it does fleas (most tapeworm comes from fleas).

 

[Widgeon]

Advocate is prescription only. You could choose to buy Advantage and Drontal online (eg Hyperdrug without prescription) etc which will cover you for worms and fleas. If you are in a lungworm area you will need a script for the drugs for that. I dont think Advocate does tapeworm anyway although it does fleas (most tapeworm comes from fleas).

Thank you. I'd forgotten about tapeworm - I think you're right that Advocate doesn't cover it. I'll have a word with the vet as it may be that they will supply something else for this as part of their package. Anyway, it sounds like the vet price is not a bad deal so I'll probably just go with that. It also means it's one less thing for me to have to remember - I get a slightly sinister sounding little text every month saying "It is time to administer ADVOCATE to Douglas...."!

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Thank you. I'd forgotten about tapeworm - I think you're right that Advocate doesn't cover it. I'll have a word with the vet as it may be that they will supply something else for this as part of their package. Anyway, it sounds like the vet price is not a bad deal so I'll probably just go with that. It also means it's one less thing for me to have to remember - I get a slightly sinister sounding little text every month saying "It is time to administer ADVOCATE to Douglas...."!

lol-thats keen. my vets pointed out the tape worm thing to me when Quarrie hit 5/6 months I think. I had a problem in that he's very sensitive to spot ons, I did use Bravecto once with him. I now dont routinely treat for fleas with the dogs (although I do the cats) and havent had a problem in over a year (before we moved here I hadnt treated for fleas for several years but we inherited a flea problem with the house). Threating the cats with Advantage and worming them regularly and the dogs seems to be working for us. we also dont seem to have a tick problem, which is weird seeing where we live and go walking but I'm not complaining.

 

[Widgeon]

lol-thats keen.

It is rather, isn't it....I think we've been lucky in that Doug doesn't seem to have any kind of reaction to spot ons, AND he doesn't even try to lick them off! Interesting that you don't have any problems with ticks despite living in an area where you might expect them. Our friends give their cocker a special tablet when we go on walking holidays - I think it makes the dog's blood poisonous to ticks so they drop off. Expensive but it seems to work, he is out in tick areas regularly and has never had a problem.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

its bizzare-they are walked in long grass, moorland and forest and I've not have a tick in four years with 4 different dogs. It was way worse where we lived back east and in parts of England- we don't lack deer or sheep either. if we ever went to the Highlands I would probably give them something.