I can't stand topicals. Just my opinion lol. They're greasy, they're messy, if you bathe your pet you decrease the efficacy. I just don't like them. We have the same problem here in South Carolina, the fleas and ticks are out of control!! I used Trifexis for a little over a year because it does fleas/heart worms/intestinal parasites all in one go. After I discovered a tick on Dom I knew I was switching, I hate ticks with a fiery passion. Luckily we had just had a lunch and learn at work about the Nexgard and I was pretty impressed with it. It was tested at 5 times the recommended dose with no side effects, and since it's a completely new drug (Afoxolaner) the fleas and ticks have never been exposed to it before. Since putting everyone on that for fleas and ticks and Heartgard for heart worms I haven't seen a single bug and everyone is doing fine on them. Nexgard is a little pricey, but it's the only chewable that does fleas AND ticks. Hopefully this helps and doesn't sound too much like a commercial lol. Trifexis is also a top notch product so long as you're not having a tick problem. It does a very good job with fleas, heart worms and intestinal parasites. Frontline is one of the biggest names we get complaints about it not working. Most of our Frontline customers have switched to either Trifexis/Comfortis or Nexgard. 

Cassie and Domino

oh my! With all this talk about flea , tick and heartworm prevention, my guilt is working overtime. We have not had a flea problem at all. I have found 3 ticks on Chandler and one on Lucy this summer. I have not used any protection at all this summer. I have to put it on them to go to doggy hotel. Where my guilt is coming in is heartworm protection. They were all NEG last Aug. I always test because we have cold freezing winters and I take them off for the winter. Less exposure to chemicals. The problem lies in that I did not put them back on this year. I was adamant that I was NOT putting chemicals into my dogs. I felt so bad because Ty ,for some reason, hated having Frontline applied. I used to pick on him and say Oh come on, it is not painful. Then I blamed myself for putting that crap on and in him. Now I am petrified they have heartworms. Chan is being tested next week. They want to do his vaccines then also, but it is the day before I go away, and I am afraid he will have reactions from them. He is not due till the end of next month anyhow. I am scared that something will happen to him while I am away from him. I think I am just having a big pile up of emotion from what happened with Ty. I don't think I could do it again with another one. He is turning 11 and in good health, as far as I know. I always hate leaving them anyway and thus year seems so much harder.I am afraid that in being overzealous in protecting them from chemical exposure, I may have exposed them to something far worse. Oh the guilt and confusion. The one good thing is tat they are pretty much "couch critters" they go outside if I am out and to go to the bathroom and they cry at the door to come right back in. They were out for hours the other night because we had a picnic, but pretty much laid at my feet on the patio all night. Velcro pupsSo anyway, that is my NOT doggy Mom of the year confession. Lori and Ty...Chan & Lucy too!

Sally, you are the best!

I posted on that other thread about flea and tick preventatives, too, but I'll throw my two cents in here as well.

I suppose it's due to my time in animal hospitals and at a humane society that I swear by vaccines and parasite preventatives. I can understand being trigger shy due to cancer in a pet, but I've seen pets treated for all of the diseases caused by not vaccinating and not using parasite preventatives.

I've first hand taken care of puppies with parvo who are on death's door, dogs with heartworm going through the painful treatment, cats and dogs with roundworms and other intestinal parasites who have it coming out both ends in liquid form, dogs with Lyme disease who can't walk because all of their joints hurt (not to mention both my fiance and my dad have Lyme disease), cats and dogs with tapeworms literally crawling out of their rears because they have fleas, and a kitten with rabies who went from sweet and cuddly to vicious and insane in 10 days.

Sorry to be graphic, but this is the reality of trying to have chemical free pets. I will always put Frontline (safest flea treatment out there as far as I'm concerned, and I've sat it on a lot of vet pharm rep talks) on my dogs and cats because dead fleas and ticks and slightly greasy pets for a couple of days are better than any of the alternatives. I will always give my dogs a heartworm preventative because the chance I take with the chemical is far less than the alternative. I will always vaccinate by recommended standards (every 3 years for rabies, every 3 years for canine distemper/parvo, every 3 years for feline distemper, every year for Lyme) until the day my pets die. 

I recognize the risk I take as far as vaccine related sarcomas, but I also recognize the greater risk I would take by not vaccinating. I've seen what rabies looks like. I've seen what distemper looks like. I've seen what parvo looks like. No thank you.