I'm going from memory here and it's been a while since I asked about that so somebody correct me if I'm wrong.
The combo pills protect from fleas but do not kill them. The combo pills are more $ than both â¥guard and the flea applicators so you're paying for convenience.

Quirky is correct. The combo pills- Sentinel- are Interceptor + Program which protects against heartworms, many intestinal parasites, and are birth control for fleas. They do not kill adult fleas nor do they protect against ticks at all.

However, Revolution for dogs DOES prevent heartworms, kills adult fleas, kills some types of ticks, and prevents certain intestinal parasites. It is once monthly topical that you apply just like TopSpot.

Thanks for the information. I have heard of the Sentinal, but I had not heard of Revolution. I am definitely going to look into that med.

I just came back from the vets office and asked the question for you. What Meghane said.
But in addition there was a new product by advantix or one of those that he didn't recommend using if there were children in the household.

I think the combo pill would be hard on their liver. Im am a very hands on person when it comes to my dog, giving lots of petting and massage time, I use that time to go through my dogs fur and check for ticks. I use Advantage which has a resealable bottle, I find I dont need to use the whole bottle every week, and that way I save money. I also use heartguard for the heartworm. As far as intestinal parasites go, I think that if your dog is having symptoms, then treat, but I dont think regular treatment for intestinal parasites is as necessary as the heartguard, and if you are treating for fleas, there is less of a chance your dog will get tapeworm which is one of the most common intestinal parasties.

I'm not a big fan of the combo sets. It's just as easy for me to give a pill for heartworm on the first day of every month and a dose of advantix at the same time. I also buy the larger tubes of advantage and use one tube for my two shih tzus. You can't just divide them, there is a dosage to use and you'll need a syringe. But it is much cheaper to go this route than to use Revolution.

Mazer- what kind of advantage are you using? The only kind i'm familiar with is a small vial w/ a puncture top and is applied once a month but not weekly.

Actually neither milbemycin nor lufenuron are metabolized in the liver, so Sentinel will not be "hard on the dog's liver." Both drugs are excreted unchanged in the bile to feces.

Also, tapeworms, while common, are mostly harmless. I say mostly because a gigantic infection may cause disease in theory, but I have never seen nor heard of any disease attributed solely to tapeworm infestation. They are gross though.

Finally, if you are using Heartgard, Interceptor, Sentinel, or Revolution then you are deworming for intestinal parasites every time you give it. None of the products kill tapeworms, but they all kill roundworms and hookworms, plus Interceptor and Sentinel also kill whipworms. So the statement that "but I dont think regular treatment for intestinal parasites is as necessary as the heartguard" is incorrect because you are in fact treating intestinal parasites every month by using heartgard.

Advantage is to be used once monthly, not weekly.

Quirky, your vet may be referring to Preventic collar, which is amitraz. It only protects against ticks, but seems to be very effective even for dogs that are exposed a LOT. The major downside is that amitraz is a powerful CNS agent and that if swallowed can cause serious toxicity. I wouldn't allow the Preventic collar near children, and I'd be VERY cautious about cats in the household as well, especially if the cats are known to groom their canine friends. I do know one vet who puts Preventic collar on her dogs only when they are running around in the woods, then she stores it safely out of reach of her pets and neices and nephews. Right now, it appears that Frontline Plus is working well on my dogs, but I do like to watch out for ticks. I am lucky that we don't have a lot of Lyme disease here, but we do have Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and having had it myself once, it is awful. So I use Frontline Plus year round. I also use Sentinel, but only because I get it free through school. Once I have to pay for heartworm prevention again, I'll switch to just Interceptor because I think Sentinel plus Frontline Plus is overkill and a waste of money. But for now, free is free :)

I've used Revolution for several years for my two dogs, and it is very convenient and effective. It is applied to the skin once each month, from June 1 to December 1. No side effects and no fleas at any time during the year.

I used to use one of the combos, (I think Sentinal?; it's been a few years, I'm not sure anymore), and my dog managed to get fleas just fine anyway. So I switched; Interceptor year-round, plus Advantix during warm months, and she does much better.

I talked to my vet about the combo flea/tick/heartworm/worms and he absolutely did not recommend the combo application. He said that usually adding to many products in one , one area will suffer,, and they used it in the clinic and had problems with fleas. He said just to stay on the Fronline Plus and the Heartgard seperatly and that will cover my 2 dogs just fine. And it has worked fine for many years. And i dont buy it from him, i buy it online so I know he was telling me the truth.