flea and tick medication

[myboys]

My boys have always (always) had a bad reaction to the flea and tick liquid that you apply to their skin.
When I mention it to my vet....he seems to think it is a coincidence!
Well today in our local paper they are saying that the poison that kills the fleas and ticks is causing injury and sometimes death in our pets. Some pets drool, some shake, some loose control of their legs, some viciously scratch themselves...etc. etc. It said they were going to be investigating this more closely but put warnings on the packaging.
My question is: What do you currently use on your pets for flea and tick prevention?
I was using frontline.

Jean

[Tippsy'smom]

I haven't ever used a product on Tippsy or Jasper. I check Tippsy over frequently(very long process) because she's allergic to fleas, and she gets baths with a madicated shampoo and a flea/tick shampoo every other week. And Jasper gets a bath with a flea and tick shampoo once a week(he gets extremely dirty in the span of a week). But we use frontline on our cats.

[Michael's Maggie May]

I have owned dogs for over 40 years and NEVER wanted a topical pesticide on any of my dogs. I hug and pet and kiss my dogs and I certainly do not want some topical pesticide on my hands and face. Anytime you pet your dog you have an insectcide on you. I had a flea problem with my Maggie May just recently and My vet had no clue why she was pulling out her hair. She wanted to try steroids which I said no way, find out whats wrong before we try these hits and misses. I insisted she get me an appt. with University of Georgia Vet school {your vet must reccommend you for first visit} and I wasn't in there 5 minutes when student vets found fleas and eggs on my new puppy. They sent me home with a rx for confortis, that was 3 months ago and maggie's hair has all grown back, there has been no more scratching or itching, it has been a pleasure. Maggie is a black dog and it was very difficult finding fleas on her.You would think I'd see fleas in the house, I never did. Needless to say I found myself and Maggie a new veternarian who I feel has his act together. As far as ticks go I am all over Maggie and I would find a tick. I can feel a tick and remove them with tweezers carefully, head and all, make sure. As far as some of you washing your dogs in insectcidal shampoos as often as you say, I don't think that is such a good idea.Dogs are not supposed to be washed so often all you're doing is washing the natural oils out of their skin. Dry skin is just leading to more problems.

[myboys]

So, I'll check for ticks...that should be easy enough but what should I do to prevent fleas from attacking their bodies?
I don't want to shampoo too often...what other choices are there for flea prevention?

[vicster605]

I use Advantix on mine because it kills mosquitoes, ticks & fleas. Have never had a problem with it. I live in the South and we have problems with all of the above. Use to use Frontline and didn't have a problem with it either. No way flea shampoo would work down here.

[Victory]

I tried to do this yesterday, but it didn't work, don't know why. Anyway, I also have never used any flea/tick product on my chows and have never had a problem with them. Of course I live in Minnesota and we don't have a huge flea problem, we do have a tick problem in the spring, summer and fall, but they only time I've EVER found a tick on any of my chows is when they have had end stage terminal illnesses.

I also have had three black chows and they are the hardest to see fleas on but it's not impossible, just takes a certain grooming technique called "combing to the skin" Here's how you do it, you'll need a good pin brush or an undercoat rake, (or both) and a steel comb, one with medium tines on one end and fine ones on the other. 1) get you and your chows comfortable because this takes a while. On the floor is best. 2) using the brush or undercoat rake groom a section of their fur backward completely, all the way until it is laying backwards, this take a while and will remove a lot of the old dead fur so it's good for them. 3) taking small sections at a time, comb 1/4 sections of fur back in the right direction from the skin to the end. This will allow you to see the skin and see any fleas, flea eggs or flea dirt or attached ticks in the fur and/or on the skin. Like I said this particular type of grooming takes a long while, especially if you haven't done it in a while or every. The rewards are worth it though, you'll see an irridescent quality in their coats in the sunlight from it, and you'll know that they have no fleas or ticks, and you'll have a good idea of their skin's condition and the true condition of their coat. You'll also get a pretty good upper body workout for yourself.

It might take you a couple of hours do to this per chow, I usually plan a day of grooming when I do mine like this, put on a couple of movies and get on the floor to work on the chows while the movies play in the background. This technique must work pretty good too, 'cause like I've said my Firesong hasn't had a bath in years and Dreamdancer has never had a bath, yet when they go to the vet, all the vets always ask if they just got bathed, people comment on being able to pet them and not getting their hands dirty, and that's even after the mud and dirt fest they enjoy every spring...Firesong is digging holes right now, like she does every spring and Dreamdancer is finding all the mud he can get into...

[Sirchow]

Someone I know uses a spray made with lemons. Fleas don't like citrus or lavender, so cut 6 lemons in half, boiled them and leave them to steep overnight. then put it through a sieve to get rid of all the lumps and put it in a spray bottle. Spray your chow twice a day and there you go. Her chow was allergic to fleas and the rash cleared up quickly with this remedy much to the amazement of her vet! Trouble was her chow grew rather partial to lemons. I would use organic ones to avoid spraying plant pesticides on your chow.

[Sylvia]

I've never had a problem with fleas where I live; however, I really don't want Sweetie to get any either. So as a kind of preventative, I've been giving her this vitamin supplement that is supposed to help http://www.fleaaway.com/. I can't say for sure whether it works, since we really don't have fleas here, but so far she hasn't gotten any either. The one issue that I am aware of with this supplement is it contains brewers yeast, and some chows have problems with that. Fortunately, Sweetie doesn't have this problem.

[phoenixrizing13]

I adopted my chow two months ago from the local SPCA, where they use Revolution for heartworm/flea protection. I live in FL where flea prevention is a must and I found out the hard way that Revolution isn't a very effective method of flea control. He's now on Comfortis and within an hour of giving it to him, he stopped chewing on his tail area. There are risks with ANY medication we give our beloved chows, but the benefits have to be weighed against the risks and we do what we think is in the best interest of their health.