How to Choose The Best Flea And Tick Treatment?

With evolving medical technology and growing demand for effective flea and tick treatments, pet product development companies bring in varied types of advanced treatments for eliminating fleas and ticks. However, with such a huge influx of multiple flea and tick treatments in the market, it’s not surprising that the pet owners in South Africa are often put into a great dilemma.

Which Treatment Works for which parasite?

Which treatment is more effective? Does advanced treatment means the better result, or

Which are the best and safest for my pet and a lot more...

To answer these various sections of pet owner queries, our panel of vets and product analysts has come up with three major factors that can help you easily figure out which is the best treatment to opt for your furry pal.

Want to treat fleas and ticks, or just fleas?

First and foremost aspect that pet owners need to consider is which parasite they are looking to treat? Which parasite is actually dangerous for your pet? Analyzing the geographical aspects of the South African region, you will find that ticks are more prevalent. However, fleas have not to be ignored as some regions are the hot spots of these external pesky parasites.

Moreover, different parts of the country have a varied risk of fleas and ticks. It is always better to check with your vet office in which region your area falls and what type of ticks and fleas are more prevalent in your area.

Falling in flea infested region, you can opt for flea treatments like Advantage. However, if your residence dwells in tick prone region then it is always better to choose flea and tick control products such as Frontline Plus or Nexgard.

Topical or Oral?

Normally pet owners are quite aware of topical and oral treatments. However, for a newbie here we go once again.

Topical attributes to spot-on treatment that has to be applied externally on the pet.

WHEREAS

Oral points to chews or tablets, which have to be given orally through the pet’s mouth or mixed into the pet’s meal.

So, it’s often a tug-of-war, which is better oral or topical.

Well, again it all depends on your pet. Some furry companions go very well with topical treatments as they are quite fussy about tablets or chewables. Moreover, the topical solutions work better on them as they are not allergic to the ingredients of the product.

On the contrary, the furry pal whose skin is quite sensitive to topical treatments would get easily irritated if they are treated with spot-on products. For such animals, tablets work best. Furthermore, these furry pals are not so fanatic about taking those flea pills, they readily accept them. These tablets or chews also come in different flavors especially beef and meat, which are normally liked by pets. 

Therefore, according to your pet’s acceptance, you can choose oral or topical treatments.

Frequency – Monthly or Quarterly?

The third major factor that helps you choose the apt flea and tick treatment is - at what interval you want to treat your pet companion. The new genre of treatments provides you with a whole suite of varied schedules to pick from. Whether you’re looking for monthly treatments or 3-monthly protection or moving further a quarterly parasitic prevention program, companies have made it easier by supplying the whole collection.

Treatments like Advantage, Frontline Plus, Advocate, Nexgard, Ultrium line-up are monthly preventives whereas if you are looking at 3-monthly, the selection of products includes Bravecto chews, whereas a product like Seresto works for more than 4 months.

 However, according to the severity of infestation and how infested your region is, it better to choose the treatment.