Generally, unless I see a lot of fleas, I don't use anything. I do use Advantage on the cats, mainly because this is where the fleas come from. But I very, very rarely see any on the basenji's or the boxer. I might sometimes use the advantage on the Heeler mix-mainly because fleas are attracted to white and she is a white dog. I also shave her down so I can see what is going on with her.
I live in westminster Maryland, I have been putting advantix on my pup since ive had her Every month 1 year 3 months) IM not quite sure what i should be using or not using.
I have never seen a flea or tick on her, the meds do tend to make her coat dandruff-y and itchy. She is not around cats.
Do i need to keep this up? AM i hurting her? PLEASE ADVISE! this is my first and only dog and i cant trust my vet(s) I have moved 3 times this year and all 3 vets advise differently and usually make me pay WAY to much money. I feel like they just want my money and dont care for my baby…. but i dont know who else to trust!
i was giving her heartgaurd once a month as well, his new vet would not renew (perscribe) a new perscription for mee even though i paid for a "exam fee" twice even though she just went for shots they said she needed. they gave me a new medicine and retested her for heart worms even though se has already been through that at my last vet..... I hate not knowing who to talk to!
lastly, what food does everyone use? How is beneful wet and dry? good life? thoughts advice?
I only treat my b's one or twice during the summer.
I don't give the topical flea treatments in the winter at all.
Less is best with our dogs IMO.
I think a lot of the people on this forum use Advantix or a comparable product. We bought one month doses for each dog to start, to make sure they wouldn't have a reaction to it. I would say if your dog does fine w/ the Advantix, keep using it. We just gave them the second dose yesterday and Riley's coat does look a little flaky. I'll keep an eye on it.
Regarding the heartworm scrip, I'm not surprised that a new vet requires you to have them tested again. We just moved and have 1 yr scrips for our dogs and when we need to order it again our new vet may require the test OR I can ask her to verify with our old vet that they tested negative a year ago and that we've been giving them the meds ever since. I think it might depend on the vet… Our old vet required the test once every 2 years, provided you're giving the meds consistently, of course.
Another thing, our last vet didn't require a test for Riley b/c he was so young. They said they don't test them under 6 months. So I can see our pup needing the test before we can get another scrip. I don't know about our adult.
It must be pretty worrying feeling unable to trust your vet. Do you thoroughly research vets in your area before settling with one? You could start a thread asking about good vets in your area, in case anyone on the forum happens to be close to you. Also, with all that switching around of vets I think it's a good idea to make sure you have copies of everything important. I'm a big fan of filing just about everything. And each dog has 2 files: health, and registration/microchip/breeder contract/coursing/etc.
Regarding food, there are alot of different opinions on that. Check out www.dogfoodanalysis.com. They have an established method for how they critique dog food
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/how-do-you-rate-the-foods.html
We feed Innova and Zip gets a tsp of either innova or evo canned mixed in with her kibble. I might want to try Evo for Zip once her current bag is gone.
Good luck!
I use Frontline Plus with Dallas. I also live in MD & the fleas & ticks in this area are VERY bad, especially during summer. I would recommend sticking to a flea/tick treatment vs. waiting until you start seeing them only because this is such a bad area for them. I also would recommend using them year round because of where you live.
IMO Beneful is not a good food. There are many fillers in it & they add food coloring for consumers only [thats why they are multicolored]. There have been many great debates over foods on this forum actually. I switched from Purina to Blue Buffalo & couldn't be mroe pleased with it. Anyway, check out that website. It gives reasons why certain foods/brands are better than others…
lastly, what food does everyone use? How is beneful wet and dry? good life? thoughts advice?
IMO, beneful isn't good at all. Read the ingredients list and you'll see why. I don't feed my dog or cats anything from the grocery store. I spend a bit more on quality food, BUT I spend LESS time at the vet for skin issues, allergies, etc… to me, it's worth the extra pennies to feed a quality food. I use Solid Gold's Hundnflocken (lamb) kibble, and add in either home cooked foods, or quality canned (wellness or Merrick). My cats eat a blend of Chicken Soup for Cat Lover's Soul and EVO, along with Merrick canned foods.
as for flea/tick treatments, i use Frontline Plus on my dog and on the cats. I don't use it in the winter though.
that website doesnt have any information on the wet benefuls. they are singles food servings. Kiro really loves them. I mix 1/3 in with her dry food for dinner. It looks really good, real peas and carrots. I just havent heard anything so i just wanted some opinions. 
thanks guys i will aplly the advantix
that website doesnt have any information on the wet benefuls. they are singles food servings. Kiro really loves them. I mix 1/3 in with her dry food for dinner. It looks really good, real peas and carrots. I just havent heard anything so i just wanted some opinions.
thanks guys i will aplly the advantix
Actually it does have information on the wet, just no reviews. However, it still puts them at a 1 star dog food…which is a gift IMO. Read the reviews from the dry Beneful to give you an idea of the less-than-desired ingrediant in beneful food.
If there's not a review you can always follow their guidelines and look at the ingredients yourself:
Water sufficient for processing, chicken, wheat gluten, liver, meat by-products, corn starch-modified, pasta (wheat flour, egg whites), carrots, spinach, natural & artificial flavors, salt, soy flour, potassium chloride, tricalcium phosphate, added color, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, choline chloride, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, Vitamin A supplement, niacin, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, Vitamin D-3 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, potassium iodide, folic acid, sodium selenite, biotin.
The first meat product in all of the beneful prepared meals is inclusive of water content so once that is removed the meat is much farther down the list. Basically the first ingredient is wheat gluten (not a whole grain). Meat by-products raises a red flag. Corn starch modified is a filler….you get the idea.
What to feed seems to be the Great Debate on the forum.
Everyone seems to have very strong opinions, which isn't a bad thing.
You have to looks at ingredients, true. It's always best to try to feed the highest quality possible to your pet. But you also have to look at your budget and keep a level head about the amount you can afford to spend on dog food.
Do the best you can; I'm sure your dogs will be fine.
I've always fed Purina, which is on the forum dog-food-from-hell-list, LOL but I've always had healthy, happy, fit dogs who only go to the vet IF I remember to take them for annual exams. Gypsy, {non-B}now 14, was on it for her entire lifetime until I changed ….maybe one year ago, if that, because I just decided to try moving up the feed scale a bit because I can now.
Read the ingredients, feed what you feel is best, bur don't kick yourself if you can't afford $50.00/bag foods.
:o I have used Frontline Plus, and Advantage, and still see fleas on Sahara. She gets bit and the area swells up and she scratches, and scratches. I think she might be allergic to fleas, I have also found ticks on her maybe 2 times. I live on the coast of NC and it is hot and humid, I have been told that is great weather for fleas. I can detest that is true, we have the darnest time with them, I have to treat my B, Sahara, and 2 cats. I have not had good luck with anything except shampoo for fleas and Adams flea spray. I do like the Adams products, and Wal-Mart sells them. Recently my cousin told me about a pill for fleas that the vet sells, I had her mail me one for Sahara. I just gave it to her a few days ago and so far so good. It is for 1 month and cost about the same as Advantage and cheaper than Frontline Plus. The name of the pill is Comfrontis, and it has great reviews, check out the website, www.petmeds.com, as far as food, well there are lots and lots of opinions here. I fed my B the Beneful food, dry mixed with the wet. I did change b/c I did not like the ingredients, lots of by products and fillers. I now feed Merrick's dry mixed with a little wet. It is quite expensive and going up soon, but I have only 1 dog, and no kids home or in college. Good Luck and remember do the best you can and your B will be all the better.
http://www.comfortis4dogs.com/_layouts/downloads/comfortis-product-label.pdf
Note that this is no different then the topical "frontline, advantage. etc".. in that it kills the fleas, usually after they bite… as it says within 20 minutes and before they can lay eggs...
In reading previous replies, some writers noted they use Advantix or Frontline…I assume they use the formulas for dogs rather than cats? I'm asking because when we were blessed with basenjis 20 yrs ago, we were advised to use only products that were safe for cats. I usually applied Skin So Soft as needed. After all these years, we now recently adopted an older basenji, & am wondering what's best to use. She's not outside playing with the kids as often as our German shepherd is, so I don't need the same level of protection (use Frontline on the shepherd). Plus, it's easier to spot fleas & ticks on the b-girl. If I decide to try a topical, is there a brand (dog or cat formula) that is preferable for basenjis?
I think many of us here have used Advantix or Frontline. I have used both on a number of Basenjis and not had a problem.
In the 15 years that we had Maxx, we never used any kind of flea product…and he never had fleas.
We haven't used anything on Gracie or Blaze, either, and neither of them have fleas. If we ever do see fleas, our first line of defense would be a natural product of some kind. Only if the natural products didn't work would I resort to chemicals. Of course, YMMV.
Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats has information on natural flea products. I'm sure there are other books and/or websites that do, too…just do a Google search.
