Flea and tick medication come in three main options: collars, oral chewables, and topical and spot-on treatments. While collars and oral chewables are fairly easy and straightforward to use on pets, you should pay some special attention if you do decide to apply a topical or spot-on treatment on your pet.

Choosing a topical or spot-on treatment

The four current market leaders for topical flea and tick prevention treatments are Bravecto Topical, Revolution, Frontline Plus, and Advantage Multi. Your unique circumstances will influence which one to use for your pet. These include the type of protection you would like the treatment to have, the frequency you would like to reapply it, and the cost of the treatment.

Revolution

Advantage Multi

Bravecto Topical

Preparation

Before you apply the flea and tick medication on your pet, ensure that they have clean and healthy skin. This can sometimes be a challenge as fleas can cause dermatitis, but there are a number of things you can do to improve the condition of your pet’s skin. A few weeks before application, you can:

• switch to a canned diet
• give them fatty acid supplements, such as Omega 3 fatty acids and flaxseed oils
• bathe them in medicated shampoo
• obtain medication from your vet for your pet

Applying flea and tick medication on your pet

1. Choose a spot to apply the flea and tick medication. This should preferably be at the base of your pet’s neck or between their shoulder blades, to ensure they can’t reach the medication to lick it off. (Remember to remove your pet’s collar before application.)
2. Remove applicator from the pack and ready it for an application.
3. Part your pet’s hair so that the applicator tip comes into contact with their skin (the product needs to touch your pet’s skin to be effective). Ensure your fingers are kept away from the applicator tip.
4. Gently squeeze the applicator and empty the entire contents, but do not rub the product in.
5. Allow the product to fully dry before letting your dog or cat get wet, and before you let young children or other pets near them.

Don’t forget

Flea and tick medication should be used regularly all-year-round to ensure they effectively protect your pet. This means they need to be applied monthly (or 12-weekly for Bravecto). Otherwise, your pet is just as vulnerable to infestation in winter as they are in summer.

If you are using flea and tick medication because you are trying to get rid of fleas on your dog or cat, you will need to pay attention to your house and yard as well to be completely successful.

Oral chewables

Oral flea treatments are fast gaining popularity because they are easy to administer and are highly effective in getting rid of fleas and ticks in pets: all you need to do is feed your pet a pill, chewable, or tablet. If you are considering trying chewables, oral treatments such as Bravecto Chews, Nexgard, and Simparica are good ones to consider.

Bravecto Chews

NexGard Chewables

Simparica