Seresto dog/cat collar: anybody using them?

[muncybob]

We have major tick problems around here and it seems the drops(Advantix and the like) just are not effective any longer. Had our annual trip to the vet yesterday and he told us about these fairly new collars made by Bayer and said he found them to be much more effective. The online reviews I have read are also mostly positive. Anybody been using them long enough to say how long they are effective, are the 8 month claims realistic?

 

[fbelec]

we used them the end of last season. after using the drops that did nothing. we had to take both cats to the vet because of the tick that i just couldn't get out. i pulled two of the three that i seen and the vet pulled 3 more. the seresto we pulled off of them because one of the cats scratched his neck raw. must have been allergic. don't know what we are going to do this year. it's just about that time now.

 

[Bobbin]

We've had pretty good luck with Frontline over the years. I've never tried the collars, though. Spring and fall are the worst seasons for ticks, and as soon as the snow receded enough to show bare ground I found a couple on the dog (and couple of "jelly beans" on the floor, yuck!). We're pretty good about daily "grooming" (not unlike Baboons), and that seems to keep them at bay. But ticks are one "rite of spring" that I dislike.

 

[mithesaint]

I wouldn't expect 8 months out of the collar unless your dog NEVER gets wet or bathed. IIRC, bathing or swimming lower the effective period to something like 5-6 months. There's no perfect product for tick control. The collars tend to work a bit better than the spot on products, but I'll wager that you'll still see the occasional tick.

Ticks are a lot tougher to kill than fleas. Fleas get on an animal, run around a lot, and pick up a lot of the medication, which kills them quickly. Ticks typically climb aboard, hunker down, and do their business. Without moving around, it takes them a lot longer to acquire enough medication to kill them. Even after they die, if they've managed to attach to the dog prior to dying, they're gonna still be stuck to the animal, which results in an owner finding ticks on their dog, and being unhappy, despite the fact the tick is dead.

There is also a new flea and tick pill called Nexgard. Might ask your Vet about that.

 

[muncybob]

I was hoping the cold weather may ease the ticks this year but we have already pulled 4 off the part-time barn cats.Gonna give the collars a shot but will keep in mind the Nexgard if we aren't satisfied.