Tick & Flea Control

Ticks and fleas can be treated with any, or a combination of the following methods:

• Powders
• Shampoos
• Dips
• Collars
• Spot-ons / top spots

For the control of both ticks and fleas, we at Vet Hospital Port Shepstone prefer the strategic use of long lasting top spot products such as Frontline Plus, Certifect and Advantix.

Collars are an easy way to control ticks and fleas, but apart from the obvious smell, collars are also risky to use on chewers like puppies and for example Bull Terriers, Pit Bull Terriers, Labradors, etc. Some collars are expensive and are reserved for single or small amount of pets.

The 5 steps to managing fleas and ticks

1. Treat all the pets in the household
2. Treat according to the recommended frequency, not only when you see the problem
3. Follow the product instructions carefully
4. Use environmental control
5. Use a top up treatment as necessary

(1) Make sure to treat all your household pets! That includes dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, even if a pet does not "have fleas". When your close neighbours have pets, theirs should be treated too! When one animal is not treated it serves as a "blood reservoir" for environmental fleas to be able to reproduce.

(2) Strategic tick and flea control is aimed at a predetermined frequency of application. Take for example Frontline Plus (ticks & fleas). The safety profile and the efficiency duration dictate that the product should be applied every 3 to 6 weeks. By applying Frontline Plus every month irrespective weather your pet has ticks or fleas constitute strategic control.

Other safe strategic tick and flea control products include Certifect top spot (ticks & fleas), Advocate top spot (fleas), Advantix top spot (ticks & fleas), Advantage top spot (fleas), Comfortis tablets (fleas), Program tablets (fleas) and the Preventic collar (ticks).

(3) Common instructions that are not followed include incorrect application, bathing suggestions and frequency (or infrequency) of application. All top spot tick and flea treatment should be applied in one or two spots on the skin (not on the hair) between the shoulder blades. When long lasting products such as top spots are used, the animal should not be bathed three days before and/or three days after the application. These products need the natural oils of the skin to be absorbed into the bloodstream of the pet.
Oral tablets should generally be given with food.

One other thing that must always be noted is the indicated species. Pyrethroids and Pyrethrins (Advantix, Flego Aerosol, Ultrum Duration) are poisonous to cats and fish and Fipronil (Frontline Plus, Certifect) is poisonous to rabbits. Double check on the package insert or consult an experienced Veterinarian on the usage of certain products in certain animals.

(4) According to the life cycle of fleas, the adult fleas that you see on your pets only make up 5% of the total infestation. In addition to pet treatment, for an effective, holistic, flea control program it is advised to use an environmental spray such as Ultrum Duration Aerosol or Flego Aerosol. These products can be used to spray in hard to get places such as cracks and crevices, blankets and inside dog kennels. Caution must be taken not to spray directly on animals or their food and water or near fish.

(5) Tactical tick and flea control is aimed at getting rid of the problem as it arises. The next dosage, application or bath will then be anything from two days to two weeks when ticks and fleas are seen again. These products are usually used for their "knock down" effects, rather than their durability. These products mainly include Capstar tablets (fleas), tick and flea shampoos, dips and powders. Many owners give Capstar or bath an animal with a treatment shampoo only when they spot ticks or fleas. Tick and flea shampoos, for example Ultrum Plus Dog Shampoo are also often used for this purpose. Some of the strategic tick and flea control products like Frontline spray (ticks & fleas) and Certifect top spot can also be used once off for their "knock down" effect as tactical tick and flea control.

The safer strategic products like Frontline Plus top spot and Advantage can and sometimes should be used as a top up products.

Caution must also be taken when using tactical tick and flea control products when using frequently! Because of their short duration and necessity to do frequent applications one must always make sure to use the recommended application frequency mentioned on the product label or package insert. Certain tactical flea products, for example, might only be effective for 3 days, but the indicated application frequency might only be once a week or even once a month. By applying these products every 3 days might cause a, sometimes lethal, overdose of the active ingredient. On the other hand, by applying the product in accordance with the recommended frequency instructions, it might not supply constant flea management.

Thus saying, in the case where the tick and flea burden is too high for strategic treatment on its own, safe tactical treatment should be used fir a more holistic control program.

It must be said that because of the extend and the proliferative nature of ticks and fleas, especially on the South Coast, we at Vet Hospital Port Shepstone mainly promote tactical control as the starting point of a strategic tick and flea control program. In pets, tactical control on its own will always be inferior to strategic control. Very often your family Veterinarian will promote the use of a tactical product on the day, followed by monthly strategic control and sometimes top up treatments as necessary.

The Wrath of the Flea

Fleas breed in your dog or cats environment. This includes kennels, pet bedding, cracks, crevices and all sorts of dark, warm, moist environments. Fleas are not only an outside problem, they actually love the inside of your house, garage or covered areas. In fact about 90% of your flea problem is in the environment, not on your pets. Fleas only jump on pets in order to obtain food (blood) necessary to reproduce. A pair of fleas can produce dosens of offspring (once again hiding in the environment).

It must also be noted that ticks and fleas will be an ongoing concern. New parasites will always be entering the environment through wild animals such as birds, monkeys, strays or even from your neighbours property. When you go for a walk on the beach and your dog is greeting another dog, they will be sharing their fleas.

We at Vet Hospital Port Shepstone promote tick and flea treatment 12 months of the year!

Mode of Action

With long lasting systemic tick and flea products such as Frontline Plus, Fiprotec, Capstar, Program, Comfortis, Certifect (fleas), Advantix and Advantage, it must be realised that in order for ticks and fleas to die, they must first suck the blood of the animal. In other words, when using these products, the ticks and fleas that you see on your pet today are not the ones that you will see tomorrow. Those ones are new ones!

Contact tick and flea products such as Frontline Spray, Certifect (ticks) and Preventic collars kill those parasites whilst climbing on the pet.

All the products mentioned above have different times of onset.

Inefficiency Problems

The fact is that in order to be a registered tick and/or flea treatment and control product, it needs to go through extensive and in depth pharmaceutical trials to prove a high level (>90%) of efficiency. The most important aspect to consider when a product is "ineffective" is the environment and the mode of action (mentioned above). By seeing ticks and fleas on your animal(s) does not mean the product in not working!

A good indicator in my opinion is when you, in the case of fleas, see flea dirt with or without fleas. This indicates that fleas spend enough time on the animal to suck blood and to defaecate. When using a registered product this very often indicates that the control program is not effective.

In some cases it might be necessary to consult a Veterinarian on the matter as inefficacy can also be due to medical conditions for example certain skin conditions or diseases. A trained paraveterinarian can also advise the most appropriate product to be used for your pet(s). Sometimes it's not even ticks or fleas causing the problems in the first place, for example mange, skin allergies, sunburn, skin infections etc.

In our experience, when using top-spot treatments, the biggest inefficacy problems occur when incorrect dosages are used, the product is not applied correctly (i.e. on the hair) or when the animal got wet before the product could be adequately absorbed.

Broad Spectrum Products

Some products are effective in not only killing ticks and fleas, but also other pesky parasites. These include:

• Advantix for ticks, fleas and flies
• Advocate for fleas, ear mites, Demodectic and Sarcoptic mange, Heartworm, Roundworms, Hookworms & Spirocerca lupi
• Frontline Plus for ticks, fleas, Sarcoptic mange and ear mites
• Preventic for ticks, Demodectic and Sarcoptic mange

Combination Treatments

Sometimes due to various reasons a combination of products is indicated. Common effective strategic combinations include Advocate top spot (fleas) with a Preventic collar (ticks) or Advantix top spot (ticks). Capstar and Program and Comfortis tablets can commonly be used in combination with any strategic top spot product. The Preventic collar should not be used in combination with Certifect as they both contain a similar active ingredient.

When using two or more contact or oral tick and flea treatment products in combination, one must always consult an experienced Veterinarian on the safety issues.

Vet Hospital Port Shepstone carries en extensive range of strategic and tactical tick and flea treatment products including Advantage, Advantix, Advocate, Capstar, Certifect, Comfortis, Fiprotec, Flego Aerosol, Preventic, Ultrum Duration Environmental Flea Spray, Ultrum Plus Dog Shampoo, Frontline Plus and Program.

As mentioned above, in order to effectively control ticks and fleas, the minimum application frequency must be less than the maximum efficacy. Click here for an easy to use table with all the most applicable information.

Our Doggie Bag Vet Shop also carries various other, less popular, but financially more pleasing tick and flea control products.