Flea medicine for dogs

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Skinn81

So how do you get the license for your dog if you don't keep up with the vaccines?

Only rabies vaccine is required for a dog license, nothing else. The poster you responded to said that she gets the rabies shot because it's the law, but nothing else.

[MalteseJane]

Originally Posted by Skinn81

So how do you get the license for your dog if you don't keep up with the vaccines?

You only need the rabies vaccine to get the license. I keep up with it because it is the law. There is no way around it.

For the other vaccines I do titers. As long as the titers come back with enough immunity there is no need to vaccinate again.

If I go to an area where there is a chance to encounter fleas or ticks, I will use essential oils as a preventative. Same thing for mosquitoes. Having lived in Houston for 30 years I am well aware of the flea and mosquito problem. I rather treat my yard with chemicals than my dog. Each time I put my dog on heartworm prevention (when the mosquitoes were overrunning us), he developed a staph infection. After moving to Arizona and no more heartworm prevention, no more staph infection. Now I use essential oils as prevention in case it is necessary.

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by Zippyman

The brochure you posted doesn't say anything about animal diseases & ticks, in fact it mentions several animal treatments to prevent ticks. If you think your animal is safe without vaccinations & the like, that's your decision & I only hope it doesn't cost you an animal.

Based on my experience with living in a ground-zero tick part of the country with generations of dogs, it was my experience ticks pass pretty much the same thing to people or dogs. Though some tick diseases, like lyme disease, is actually more easily treated in dogs vs humans. The article was more to highlight the fact that many of the diseases ticks carry in other parts of country don't exist in AZ, lessening the risks for any animal, 2 or 4 legged variety.

I'm not pro/con against vaccines. To me it's all a matter of weighing the side-effects vs the benefits and I just don't see it weighing out well in the valley for tick medication. As for vaccines, not sure if you're aware that many mainstream vets now are split between the yearly vaccine thing that's been accepted for decades and the benefits vs the risks/costs. I've seen one of my parents dogs almost die with a bad reaction to a common vaccine. Her face blew up like a balloon and had trouble breathing. She had this vaccine for years with no issue and then all of a sudden that happened. Other dogs don't have an issue at all, at least not outwardly. Over the last 10 years, based on the science that I've studied, we have given our pups all the shots they need and for a few years after and stop, except for the rabies vaccine that's required by law. And we don't board our dog for various reasons. Never had an issue and our last dog just past at 16 yo late last year.

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by MalteseJane

You only need the rabies vaccine to get the license. I keep up with it because it is the law. There is no way around it.

For the other vaccines I do titers. As long as the titers come back with enough immunity there is no need to vaccinate again.

If I go to an area where there is a chance to encounter fleas or ticks, I will use essential oils as a preventative. Same thing for mosquitoes. Having lived in Houston for 30 years I am well aware of the flea and mosquito problem. I rather treat my yard with chemicals than my dog. Each time I put my dog on heartworm prevention (when the mosquitoes were overrunning us), he developed a staph infection. After moving to Arizona and no more heartworm prevention, no more staph infection. Now I use essential oils as prevention in case it is necessary.

Good advice. We also used Neem on our dogs if we were heading in tick infested places that worked well also. We also don't use heart worm medication here for our dogs and stick to essential oils, neem, etc externally that work well/with no side effects based on our experience.