# Worming, Flea, treatment monthly yes or no? Healthy or Unhealthy



## ProSocDec (28 April 2018)

My puppy terrier currently 6 months old is signed up to a monthly flea and worming course I was a bit reticent about this constant giving of chemicals to my dog, I don't deny that vets of course know their business, but sometimes are they serving an agenda for the masses? What is really healthy for our dogs? Are there any people who "do not" worm and flea their dogs preventively throughout the year, every month? What is everybody's thoughts on this because I don't want an outbreak of fleas in the house I certainly don't want my dog to be riddled with worms but I also don't wish to give my dogs chemicals every single month unnecessarily I know there are more chemical free suggestions I just wonder whether there's anybody who hasn't done this monthly throughout the year for their dogs from a young age as puppies to a grown adult age of many years and how those dogs have been?


----------



## Aru (29 April 2018)

Depends on the risks in your area. 

I live in a heartworm and paralysis tick area. Most dogs here are treated with meds monthly to try and prevent the disease/paralyis tick toxins. Bar the occasional one who has intolerances to meds,as can happen with any drug, I've never found preventative treatments to do any harm and they are much less severe and low risk then the treatment for the diseases they are preventing.

I wouldn't be as worried about fleas and normal worms im a healthy adult dog.occasional fecal tests to treat as required would be the option there as well and just check frequently for fleas.We rarely wormed our animals when I was younger unless it was required-worms seen not thriving etc. The exception is of course puppies as they much more likely to be badly affected by having a worm or flea burden. 

However if your in a lungworm area I would be worming monthly-milbemax or advocate generally used for prevention. 
Simply because french heartworm or lungworm as its more commonly called has got a nasty habit of occasionally killing dogs before it can be diagnosed as it causes clotting disorders and theres often minimal synptoms before its to late. 

You can do preventative measures as well. Make sure dogs not eating snails slugs .never leave bowls or toys down outside and clean before use etc.but given it has the potential to cause such serious disease  it's cause for concern and worth trying to prevent and control in my eyes. Its also a relative new addition to the british isles,first case in 1975 but it's spread rapidly and appears to be becoming endemic.
 Its started spreading through Ireland over the last few years as well..used to only be on the east coast but more and more cases are being reported now.

It's a risk assesment...and tbh all depends on the risk in your specific area.

If your worried about longterm affects of medications you can use the short acting meds like milbemax-(milbemycin and praziquantel) as these do a kill of all parasites present at the time as opposed to the longer acting drug's that also repell fleas etc.
its the timeframe of giving these medication that really matters. Its about breaking up the lifecycle-monthly treatment stops any infestation by killing larvae present before they are old enough to be mature...


----------



## ProSocDec (29 April 2018)

Thankyou for your reply gave me alot to consider


----------



## Clodagh (29 April 2018)

I only treat when I see a problem. Young lab picked up a tick recently, so they were all treated with prinovax (spelling wrong but CBA to get up and look at the packet!). They are wormed twice a year with milbomax.
I have no cats and have never seen a flea on them.


----------



## tda (29 April 2018)

Unfortunately we live in/near woods and there are lots of ticks around, so I do use remedies fairly regularly.

For worms you could feed diatomatious earth 

Monthly is too much imo


----------



## Red-1 (29 April 2018)

I worm count Hekkie (dog) rather than worm indiscriminately, just as I do the horse. I also test before vaccination so he was only vaccinated with one this year, no wormer for past 2 years.


ETA - we did have to de-flea a couple of times as he had been a street dog, but not for the past 3 years.


----------



## ProSocDec (29 April 2018)

Thanks, how dyou tell when they've a tick though?


----------



## ProSocDec (29 April 2018)

If left until they catch something won't you have an outbreak at home?


----------



## PucciNPoni (30 April 2018)

You will see ticks.  They often go on the face, behind ears, up the legs - anywhere really.  I visually check mine daily, just when sat having a cuddle normally. 

As for fleas - yes you can have an outbreak but if caught quickly shouldn't create too much of a problem to get rid of.  I flea / tick control mine in the summer more for the ticks than the fleas.  I bath mine weekly so I will see if there are any parasites immediately.  But I have poodles and I'm a groomer, so that weekly regime is more than most people do.  However, I would love to think that most pet owners brush their dog daily (lol, I know I'm dreaming) or at least weekly.


----------



## Cahill (30 April 2018)

ProSocDec said:



			Thanks, how dyou tell when they've a tick though?
		
Click to expand...

a tick looks like a skin tag


----------



## ProSocDec (30 April 2018)

Thank you for the answer I wouldn't babe mine weekly because I just feel that the natural oils and everything would be lost but I do brush him regularly and I will keep my eye out for those things


----------



## ProSocDec (30 April 2018)

Thanks


----------



## druid (30 April 2018)

I treat for ticks as we're in a tick heavy area and Babesia is an increasing issue - I use Bravecto because it's the only one useful for killing ticks early enough to prevent Babesia infection, but I only use it twice a year to cover tick season. 

I don't give routine de-wormers but do worm count (make sure you take the sample over 3 days, they're not worm egg conveyor belts!) and when I had a pup who was awful for snail crunching he had monthly Milbemax to prevent French Heartworm


----------



## Karran (30 April 2018)

I'm experimenting with Billy No Mates this year, same as you I don't like treating all the time but we get a lot of urban foxes in our garden and she can pick up the odd tick while out and about.
I started her on it end Feb, she has a teaspoon daily and  *touch wood* so far all I've found is one dead flea.
Not a total convert until years out but so far, so good and it's all just herbs as well so all natural and no dodgey chemicals!


----------



## ProSocDec (30 April 2018)

Thanks for answer, how do you do a worm count then?


----------



## ProSocDec (30 April 2018)

Nice one


----------



## ProSocDec (30 April 2018)

Why on earth at these vets like vets for pets promoting the People's dogs are wormed every single monster and claiming that they do it to their dogs!?


----------



## Aru (1 May 2018)

ProSocDec said:



			Why on earth at these vets like vets for pets promoting the People's dogs are wormed every single monster and claiming that they do it to their dogs!?
		
Click to expand...

If they live in lungworm areas it would be unusual for a vet not to be worming monthly. They see worse case scenarios. Advocate and milbemax are both licensed to prevent lungworm and are given monthly. They also happen to treat other worms and fleas in the
Case of advocate but the monthly treatment is for lungworm in the uk.

I worm monthly and I'm a vet lol

Prevention is a lot easier then cure in the cases of most of these diseases.


----------



## meleeka (1 May 2018)

Aru said:



			If they live in lungworm areas it would be unusual for a vet not to be worming monthly. They see worse case scenarios. Advocate and milbemax are both licensed to prevent lungworm and are given monthly. They also happen to treat other worms and fleas in the
Case of advocate but the monthly treatment is for lungworm in the uk.

I worm monthly and I'm a vet lol

Prevention is a lot easier then cure in the cases of most of these diseases.
		
Click to expand...

I use my vets product similar to Adviocate as we are in a lungworm hotspot and there seems to be a lot of ticks around. I tend to treat them monthly only during the spring/summer/autumn.


----------



## druid (1 May 2018)

ProSocDec said:



			Thanks for answer, how do you do a worm count then?
		
Click to expand...

Take samples and mail them off (or drop to local lab in my case) - if you google I'm sure UK based services exist, often the same labs doing equine worm egg counts do dog ones as well. 

If I was in a high lungworm risk area I would 100% worm monthly with Milbemax or similar, as we're not I'm happy to do egg counts. Egg counts are no cheaper than worming though - I'd just like to avoid contributing to dewormer resistance. I've never understood the "nasty chemicals"  train of thought - many drugs are derived from natural sources...it's difference between taking digoxin or chewing on some foxgloves!!


----------



## Moobli (1 May 2018)

I worm all our dogs religiously every three months - and alternate between Drontal and Panacur.  I haven't treated my dogs for fleas for many years as I would only do so if I actually saw they had fleas.  I live in a very low risk tick area but do go for walks in forests and woods that do have ticks, so check my dogs all over for a few days after a walk in these areas and remove any ticks with a O Tom Tick Twister (a cheap and fabulous little gadget) rather than treat routinely.


----------



## rara007 (1 May 2018)

Lungworm area here so monthly advocate 6 monthly drontal for the spaniel.


----------



## ProSocDec (1 May 2018)

Thanks for being open, able that, but just thinking about a dogs health from long term use, eg around here maybe fox poo for lung worm but I've not heard otherwise.. (PS sorry for typos in previous post)


----------



## ProSocDec (1 May 2018)

Thanks for the sharing and actually I do take my Pup on forest and treks, there also is alot of sheep poo he tends to get hold of at times, so maybe I should continue?!


----------



## ProSocDec (1 May 2018)

How do we find our what exists locally as a fact?


----------



## ProSocDec (1 May 2018)

Thanks


----------



## ProSocDec (1 May 2018)

Right, so most worm and flea ingestion tablets are from natural? For example the ones I get are not over the counter, I have monthly wormer and have switched to the monthly flea tab


----------



## ProSocDec (1 May 2018)

Thanks for all contributions


----------



## MotherOfChickens (1 May 2018)

deleted


----------



## {97702} (1 May 2018)

I never treat for fleas, my dogs never have them. Luckily I dont live in a tick area so dont have to worry about that. I worm every 6 months - it always used to be OK, Im not sure why it suddenly Isnt and has to be every 3 months?


----------



## ProSocDec (1 May 2018)

Thanks that's what I am wondering too


----------



## MissTyc (2 May 2018)

Lévrier;13767344 said:
			
		


			I never treat for fleas, my dogs never have them. Luckily I don&#8217;t live in a tick area so don&#8217;t have to worry about that. I worm every 6 months - it always used to be OK, I&#8217;m not sure why it suddenly Isn&#8217;t and has to be every 3 months?
		
Click to expand...

Ditto. 

In fact my older dog is only wormed once a year and we only upped her worming when we got the puppy as he was a bit of a scavenger. 

We've all seen what's happened with antihelmitics in the horse world, so probably shouldn't replicate our overworming mistakes of the past in dogs. Think there are fecal count services for dogs just like for horses now, although as always there are certainly things that you cannot, or can't easily, test for.


----------



## tobeeornot (2 January 2019)

Lungworm area here too, monthly advocate for the shepherd.


----------



## Mule (2 January 2019)

I deflea and worm every 3 months. Anytime I've been lazy about it, we've had a flea infestation. That's enough to make me vigilant. Bloody itchy things


----------

