What's the best flea and parasite protection for my dog's health?

I typically recommend Vectra 3D. It covers fleas, ticks, mosquitos, biting flies, lice and some mites. I like it as it can repel these pests. So your dog doesn't have to be bit for the medication to work. This helps to prevent the spread of disease. Vectra 3D also adds another layer of protection against heartworm disease by repelling mosquitos. It can be applied in additional to oral heartworm prevention.

Unfortunately we do not have "shots" that cover all these problems. The only injections I am aware of that offer some protection are the Program shot, which lasts 6 months and will prevent fleas from reproducing but doesn't kill fleas on your dog, and praziquantel which is an injection for tapeworms. There is also an injection to prevent heartworms called Proheart that is once every 6 months. Most people choose to do topical or oral products for flea/tick/intestinal parasites. My favorite product is Nexgaurd for fleas and ticks, which is a chewable once a month flea and tick preventative. There is a newer oral product called Bravecto which covers fleas and ticks, and lasts 3 months. I haven't used it but have heard great things. For heartworms and intestinal parasites I like the products iverheart, heartgard, sentinel, and interceptor. They prevent heartworms and the more common intestinal worms, and must be given monthly.

Congratulations on your new dog! I like Revolution if you are looking for a topical product. It consistently works well and is well tolerated. If you like the idea of an oral product better, I like Trifexis (it’s another all in one product). Sometimes though the pets can smell the Trifexis and they won’t eat it. In that instance, I like Simparica and Interceptor. My personal preference is oral products. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Advantix is not protecting you dog against heartworm so it's not a very good option, you would want a product that covers also for heartworm such as Revolution or Advocate (although heartworm is not a real concern if you live in Bosnia). here is alink that will provide you all the information you need regarding heartworm: https://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources/heartworm-basics

The dog should be heartworm tested and then started on a prevention, if negative. Heartgard, Interceptor, and Sentinel are all oral medications that work well with preventing heartworms. You should also treat him with a flea/tick prevention. I like oral NexGard, Bravecto, or Credellio instead of the topical spot on solutions.

Great question! You are correct there are a lot of options out there, and there isn't a treatment that covers all of them. I will give you my opinion on the best medications for many of these things. Because Arthur spends time running in the woods, tick protection is quite important for him, so I recommend giving him NexGard. It protects against three different types of ticks as well as fleas, and because it's a chew, you don't have to worry about it washing off if he gets wet within 24 hours of giving it to him. It's safe to give along with heartworm protection, and for that I recommend giving Arthur Heartgard. It's an excellent heartworm preventative, and when I lived in the US, it's what I used on my dogs (there's no heartworm in New Zealand, so no need for me to use it now). Be sure to have him tested for heartworm first before giving him this medication. The test can be done by your vet. As for worms, I recommend Drontal. It's available by prescription only from the vet, but it kills roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, and tapeworms.

Great question! Nexgard kills the deer tick as well as fleas and American dog tick/rocky mountain tick, and lone star tick. It is an oral pill as well, so I would us that for your dogs. Because Nexgard doesn't protect again heartworms, you will have to give your dogs Heartgard as well, which is available by prescription only from the vet. Advantix is a spot on treatment that treats the same things as Nexgard, but you would also have to use Heartgard as well for the heartworms. These two medications (Nexgard and Advantix) are for dogs only. As for the cats, Simparica prevents five types of ticks, so this may work for your cats :-)