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Over the many years we've had dogs, we've tried them all. Topicals (shoulder spots) work, the monthly pills work lots better. Here's a list, based on my experience, ordered by effectiveness. We currently use the Nexgard product, in large part because our dogs chew on each other's necks, much like yours. They are so mouthy I felt any shoulder spot or collar was just too risky.
All IMO, I'm not an expert. I'm just a consumer who's used these products. I'm not even going to list "natural" products like cedar oil or any of that stuff. They have some small impact, but AFAIC, it is so small it isn't worth bothering with for flea and tick control on dogs. You'll find people who will swear otherwise.
Least effective:
Collars (old-style, not Seresto, but Seresto collars have developed problems). The old-style collars often contained permethrin or similar. IDK if you can still get any of those. Pyrethroids and synthetic pyrethroids, like permethrins are quite effective when used properly, but they have issues. #1 issue is toxicity to cats. They aren't guaranteed to cause problems for cats, but they can.
Dips and dusts: yeah, some of these can be extremely effective - right after you've used them. They can also be toxic, and are a pain to use often enough to TCOB. I don't know of anybody who still uses them for pets. I think they still use dips for livestock - but that's a completely different sort of setup, eh?
Middle range:
Topical shoulder spots. Two major varieties here. One contains synthetic pyrethroids like permethrin. The other does not. IMO, and this IS subjective, the non-permethrin variety works slightly better. The chemical there used to be fipronil, IIRC. I've heard vets say it isn't as effective as it used to be 20-30 years ago. The permethrin variety IS a hazard for cats, WHEN IT IS FRESH AND STILL WET, OR WHEN THE CANINE STRENGTH IS APPLIED DIRECTLY TO CATS. After the product has dried it is very unlikely to be a hazard to cats, as the permethrin does not dissolve well back into water (or saliva).
Most effective:
The three variants of monthly pills, and the Seresto collar. All are highly effective. Until recently, some vets I knew preferred the Seresto collar, as it killed ticks pretty much on contact. However, Seresto has recently had some issues develop. Easy enough to google if you want more info. The monthly tablets that use chemicals from the afoxolaner/flurolaner/sarolaner family allow the ticks to latch, and then the ticks die. But those ticks die quickly - in minutes - which means the risk of disease transmission is close to zero.
Like the Seresto collars, the three monthly tablets are pretty new products. They all, I'm told, work extremely well. We've been extremely happy with the Nexgard's effectiveness. I recently discussed switching to a sarolaner product (Simparica) with my vet. She's heard (from the vet telegraph, I guess) that they are more likely to have issues than the Nexgard chemical (afoxolaner). Those two and Bravecto (flurolaner) are similarly effective. The fact that flurolaner (Bravecto), which is cheaper, is a 3-month dose instead of monthly freaks me out a bit, so I've not been willing to try it. These are new drugs, and sure, they did tests and studies and all, but I'm still cautious. I like to see some long-term history before I trust new pharma stuff. But you don't always have much choice. What with black-legged ticks (aka deer ticks), the risks from ticks are much higher than they were when I was a kid, and it was only wood ticks and dog ticks.
So, up until 5 or 6 years ago, we were using an old-style collar, having switched away from the shoulder spots. When those dogs passed, the collars we had been using had been taken off the market. So we switched to Nexgard, as my dogs are mouthy, and frequently chew on each other's necks. I didn't want another collar for these dogs. Nor a shoulder spot. We did use the Seresto collar for a cat we had at the time. She was an indoor outdoor kittie, and we were happy with the collar's performance. But that cat has since passed, and current resident cats are now indoor only. We've been very happy with the Nexgard performance, in spite of the pain of the cost.
Oh, and BTW, regarding permethrins, there are applications where that family is still the chemical of choice. Just not on pets. If you have black-legged ticks in your area, and you go outside, you should look in to treating your clothing with permethrin. I wear long pants in our woods, treated with permethrin. EXTREMELY effective at killing any of those little buggers that think I might taste good. Works for mosquitoes, too. Just google it - you'll find stuff.
Thanks for the explanation Hiero. Both pups are due for shots soon and I think I will switch to an oral medication. After the last round of liquid my JRT got very sick and had to visit the vet and get treated for an unknown intestinal issue with vomiting, bloody stool and loss of appetite as well as some nasty behavior. He has recovered but Im afraid he ingested some liquid from either himself or my other dog.
The last post was a couple of years ago and I was browsing Chewy today after finding a tick on my outdoor cat (who spent the afternoon indoors). I removed it, but now I know I have to step up my game. This is a feral/stray that I don't think I can get to the vet, so I need to know if anyone has experience with any of the stuff I can buy without a prescription. I was looking at Capstar?
Most of our property is dense trees and thickets filled with deer.
Our dog gets more ticks than you could shake a stick at.
He now gets a gummy candy for fleas and ticks.
This medication is stupid expensive.
It cost $85 dollars for one dose (for a dog that weighs 47 lbs) that lasts 90 days but it works.
My wife checked out chewy and they were only slightly cheaper so we will stay with our local vet.
I once told my vet that we didn’t have any fleas and she asked if we had deer because if we have deer we have fleas.
I would guess that a cat weighing 1/10th of that would be much cheaper.
I used Seresto collars bought from the vet (meaning I was sure they weren’t knock offs)
The Lab and the Weimaraner were fine with them.
Both of my Catahoula/mixes got sick. Their heads became very hot, I took the collars off right away and they were better within 12 hours.
I use Advantix II on the surviving Catahoula. It works great on him but he also has extremely short hair. Sometimes topicals don’t work well on dogs with thick hair because the meds can’t get thru.
Nexgard Spectra. Plenty of paralysis ticks around Sydney. Nexgard Spectra is as good as 100% effective at preventing death and serious illness from paralysis ticks.
I'm amazed how often people end up with their dog on a ventilator or dead because they didn't know paralysis ticks were a thing or, even worse, their idiotic vet told them you don't have to worry about them except in the bush.
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