Are there safe and effective tick and heartworm prevention options?

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 :-)

Here is a selection of preventives: Spot-ons and/or chews: Advantage, Advantix Advantage Multi Frontline (ticks as well) Bravecto spot on (ticks as well) - for cats, in tablet form for dogs Simparica, Nexgard Revolution I hope you find something that suits you and your dog.

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.

I do not recommend any flea or tick shampoos, these are usually not safe products and not as long lasting as more modern preventive treatment for fleas and ticks. here is the list of the best flea products on the market. Spot ons: Revoulution Advantage Advantage Multi Frontline (ticks as well) Tablets: Trifexis/comfortis Bravecto (ticks as well) - for dogs Collar: Seresto ( (ticks as well) House spary: Indoorex

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.

Hi. Unfortunately there is no "all natrual" and effective flea/tick/heartworm prevention medications. It takes an actual medication and antiparasitic medication to prevent these. The natural products you see when you look in to these are not nearly as effective or studied as those recommended by your veterinarian. This is obviously completely your decision, but from a medical standpoint I do not recommend the all all natural medications or collars for this. If your pet is having reactions to vectra and interceptor, please discontinue them and speak to your veterinarian about other options such as revolution, heart guard, simparica or Brevecto. Good luck.

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