How to protect my dog from heartworm, fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes?

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.

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.

Flea and tick products: Spot-ons: Advantage, Advantix Advantage Multi (Advocate in the UK) Frontline (ticks as well) Bravecto spot on (ticks as well) - for cats, in tablet form for dogs Revolution (stronghold in the UK) Tablets: comfortis (will only kill fleas once) Collar: Seresto (ticks as well) Heart worm : Here is a comparison chart: https://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?articleid=580 Usually there are no long term side effects.

Great questions! There are no medications that covers mosquitos or flea eggs, but dogs can be protected from heartworm by Heartgard (heartworm is transferred via mosquitos). As for flea eggs, flea medications will kill fleas to prevent them from laying flea eggs, but you should disinfect the environment if Pumpkin has fleas. I personally highly recommend Revolution. It kills fleas, ear mites, and roundworms. I hope this helps :-)

I like Advantage. I use it on my dogs with great success. Keep in mind as well you have to disinfect the environment, as fleas live there and not on the animal. They only jump on the animal to feed. Wash Mocha's bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home. I hope this helps!

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.

Treatment with drops which are effective against heartworm are not recommended if you are unsure of possible infection (these are generally effective against fleas and worms such as revolution, advocate or nexgard tablets). There are many flea/tick only preparations which kill and/or repel insects only and will not affect heartworm - such as advantix or frontline drops, simparica or bravecto tablets and seresto collars.