It's Springtime!
And with spring comes all the bugs: fleas, ticks and mosquitoes.
The warm weather of springtime brings with it all the blood-sucking insects that love to feed on dogs and cats. The veterinary industry has made millions of dollars selling flea, tick, and heartworm preventatives to keep these vampires at bay.
What are the safest options?
Do you need to use them?
And if so, how often—monthly? Only during the summer?
The answer to these questions depends on your local environment and climate. I live and practice in the subtropics of South Florida. We have these bugs all year round. It never gets cold enough to kill them off, or to kill off the heartworm larvae that live inside the mosquitoes.
For my local clients, who are typically fresh-food feeders, I recommend Heartgard (microdose ivermectin), a year-round heartworm preventative, and flea/tick preventative as needed. Do not use Heartgard if your dog is a herding dog—a Collie, Australian Shepherd, or Sheltie—or is positive for the mdr1 gene. In those cases, I recommend Interceptor instead.
Is heartworm preventative really that toxic?
Heartworm prevention has been blamed for all kinds of toxicities on the internet, to the point that people are scared to death of it. The oldest heartworm preventative that is still on the market is Heartgard. It contains literally a microdose of Ivermectin, mixed with a very gentle intestinal wrom dewormer, pyrantle pamoate.
Ivermectin is one of the safest drugs ever produced, according to the worldwide meta-analysis that came out a few years ago, UNLESS you are a Collie, Australian Shepherd, Sheltie, or other herding breed that happens to have a gene, mdr1, that makes your blood-brain-barrier leaky. For those breeds we recommend Interceptor.
When Interceptor came out, I remember learning in veterinary school, that the dog could have a bad reaction to it if they had a high load of heartworm microfilaria in their bloodstream causing a die-off reaction. I just wonder how many adverse effects from preventatives are not due to this issue.
FLEA AND TICK PREVENTATIVES
I have observed a very interesting phenomenon over the years. Dogs and cats on fresh food, usually meat and veggies, no carb/starch diets, attract very few ticks and fleas, while kibble-fed dogs and cats, with high starch, high carb diets, are flea and tick magnets. Personally, I would much rather spend my money on good food instead of toxic pesticides.
For fleas and tick prevention, because sometimes no matter what you do, they show up for dinner on your dog, I start with the least toxic and work my way up.
If you have a yard that your dog frequents, spraying it with nematodes can be highly effective. Nematodes are little worms that feed off of flea eggs and larvae in the ground without harming your plants or grass.
Second, I use flea/tick repellent sprays, usually essential oil-based and neem-based. Some brand names are Kin+Kind, 3 Moms Organics, Cedarcide, and Wondercide. You can also find recipes online for making your mixtures. You do need to spray their legs, belly, and armpits before going outside.
Products to stay away from:
Isoxazoline products: Bravecto, Nexgard, Simparica, Seresto
I have seen far too many severe seizure cases after using these products
Combination products containing flea/tick/heartworm
It is a lot all at once on the system, and if they do have a reaction, you do not know what they reacted to.
Only use them if you absolutely have to, then give your dog or cat a break, instead of applying every month all year long.
I recently did a 3 hour long podcast with a panel of veterinarians on the Inside Scoop with Dr. Karen Becker and Rodney Habib, which can be found here, although you may need to subscribe for $9.99:
For those PAID subscribers to my newsletter scroll on down for a PDF with lots of suggestions!