Heartguard and Fleas

[Laceface]

We took my Quinn (who is UTD on shots, and now 10 weeks old) to my bf's mother's house to play with her dog, he's some white fluffy thing, can't remember the breed. But, I was unaware that he had fleas till we were leaving. My girly has had heartguard plus, which is supposed to prevent fleas and oher parasites, but she has fleas anyway. I'm not supposed to bathe her, as it will remove the heartguard stuff (according to the vet) So... how do I get rid of the fleas? I've only found like five of them, but I do not want more! She's a tiny little 3.4lbs, so easy to bathe at least... Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[AudreyElizabeth]

Wait a sec... LOL I haven't had my coffee yet. Are you talking about Frontline?

 

[AudreyElizabeth]

I ask because Heartguard is a heart worm preventative treatment, and is taken orally, while Frontline is a topical flea treatment. I wouldn't worry about any fleas that you might see, because the Frontline will kill them off. I've noticed recently that Frontline doesn't seem to work as well anymore, at least for my dogs, so I switched to Advantix. Hope that helps!

 

[german shepard]

I am confused as well!

Have 3 huge German Shepherds, and I am confused as I use both Frontline Topspot Plus (for fleas) and Heartguard for (hookworms etc...). As far as I know Heartguard has nothing to do with fleas & ticks. But like the previous post I have been having issues as well with the same problem. I wonder if dogs and or fleas (pests in general) build up an immunity to specific topical ointments/solutions. Might try that idea as well, a new flea & tick solution. Just looking for some input! I will definitely contact my personnal vet for his advise first. I don't want to change without confering first hand. Hey there might even be something new on the market!!!

 

[arachyd]

As already stated, Heartgard will be on the inside of the dog. It won't wash off. The "Plus" in Heartgard Plus is an internal parasite medication for worms and does nothing for a flea problem. If the dog was treated with Frontline, Advantage, Bio-spot, Advantix or a similar parasite preventative on the outside it is possible for it to be washed off but if the dog didn't have fleas it probably was not treated with one of them. If it wasn't, you should use one of those. A few years back a lot of people had problems with the fleas becoming resistant to the medications they had used in the past. This was not with any one particular brand. We used to use Advantage with great success. Even with 6 large dogs in the house at the time we only had to use it 1-2 times each year. A couple of years ago the fleas here became resistant so we switched to Frontline and it worked just as well. If it happens again we will go back to Advantage as the resistant fleas will probably have died out. Bio-Spot never worked on my dogs and we've never tried Advantix.

 

[Laceface]

I mistyped, she is on Heartguard multi. It goes on the skin, and is supposed to prevent fleas and ticks as well as the internal parasites, it does everything all in one. I think they are gone all ready, they were just temporarily on her and I panicked, lol. I still don't like the heartguard, it makes such a mess... All that liquid on her back and shes such a tiny dog. I'll have to grab the package later and check for sure, but I'm pretty positive

Edit: It's advantage multi, it's for parasites and fleas.

 

[PhilK]

Not likely your dog got fleas from the other dog, as fleas really don't like leaving their host! Advantix or Frontline topical treatment is the best thing.

Best treatment for fleas is prevention. Keep her bedding nice and dry and clean and the fleas will have a hard time breeding there. There's a million sites talking about flea control on the net if you need more info