flea and tick preventative

[D.Gross]

I ran my two 10 month old females yesterday morning. Second time out since I got them back from Steve Cellar's Red Briar Kennels in Ohio. Been hunting turkeys plus only place I have to run here in NW Indiana is on State Fish & Wildlife areas. Had to wait 'til after turkey season. Surprisingly they did real well. A little "fired up" at first but hunted hard and ran two about 3/4 circle.
They both had 5 ticks on them that I found after the run. My question is: I have used Frontline Plus but have read up on "Bio-Spot" Flea and Tick Preventative. It is so much cheaper than Frontline. Has anyone had any experience with this product? Does it work? Appreciate any comments.

[E.C.I. Rookie]

I read on here where some dogs got real sick from Bio-spot, I would do a search on it and read what DUKE and others had to say about it before using it. JMO

[Buckshot101]

10 years ago Bio-spot was a good product. Today, it's not as good as it once was.

About 3 years ago, CONSUMER REPORTS listed it as as one of the best-selling over-the-counter OTC remedies for treating fleas and ticks in pets

As with any dog medicine, some dogs will have an adverse reaction. No different than human adverse reactions with medicine.

I now use Frontline Plus since Bio Spot isn't as good as it used to be.

[Huntin54]

I looked it up and found this.

The main active ingredient in Bio Spot is a pesticide known as Permethrin (it is used in more than 18 similar products, including Bayer K9 Advantix, Defend EXspot, and Hartz Control OneSpot). It kills insects by paralyzing their nervous system (this is also how nerve gas works). However, it cannot distinguish between an insect's nervous system, a dog's nervous system, or a human's nervous system. That is why it is important to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after handling.

So even though people are using K9 Advantix it has the same chemical in it as Bio-spot.

Here is a link to where i got the info.
http://www.elversonpuzzle.com/biospot.html

[D.Gross]

Thanks for your input. I just checked with my daughter who is a vet -tech.
Her clinic has experienced a good number of dogs with a bad reaction to Bio- Spot. That makes up my mind very easily. Go with the good stuff.

[tdog]

I have used bio spot for three years now when I first started using it my dog had a reaction to it but I had no idea it was from the medicine. It was a month or so after I started using it she had a small seizure. Some dogs have them once in a while and I did not think anything of it. After reading reports on it a year later I think it may have been from the bio. I also used it on my other two dogs with no problems. I would suggest using a half a dose every two weeks for the first couple of months then to a normal dose. I have noticed that it does not last a whole month and I normaly treat every three weeks during tick season. Good luck with your choice.

[Cannon Hollow Hounds]

I was just reading an article in the Whole Dog Journal that said if you add a little apple cider vinegar to your dogs water every day, that fleas and ticks will stay away from them. It also said skeeters won't bite them and it helps with dry itchy skin and hot spots. It didn't say how much to put in a given amount of water. I don't know if this works but I'm gonna give it a try and I thought I'd pass the info along. good luck. CHH

[tiffinis]

Another "natural" preventative for field work is orange peels ground up and rubbed on the legs and stomach. Garlic added to their food helps too, as long as they dont live in the house (PU)

[Chaffin Crank]

I put cattle tags on collars of my hounds......Keeps them off pretty good....It doesn't keep them 100% tick and flea free but pretty close...

[Rico]

I wonder if skin so soft spray would work?

[FetchingPixels]

I don't use any flea and tick prevention for my dog, I probably should. I prefer more natural approaches then the mainstream meds. I do give him a HW preventative monthly...but I need to do something, I plan to take my dog camping a lot this summer.

[Chief Long Hair]

Orange peels sounds labor intensive and Skin So Soft would definitely make your dog smell good!!! I tried using Skin So Soft to rid dogs of ear mites. The dogs smelled good but no dead ear mites but they smelled good too!. I've been using cattle ear tags also for about 2 years now. I got this idea from a guy who has been using it for years with no advearse effects. They seem to work pretty well, not 100% effective though but good enough for me. They work for about 6 months and dogs don't get sick if they chew on them or eat them. Cut the ear attachment part off, cut 2 elongated slots about 1" each parallel to each other and weave the dog's collar through the slots. Bingo, your done for 6 months.

[tiffinis]

I was just trying to give some natural alternatives. I alternate between Frontline plus and Advantix. Plain Advantage or Frontline do not battle ticks and that is our biggest battle. Everytime we run we will pick off many many ticks. Upwards of 20 and more some days. I tried BioSpot once. Didnt even have an impact on the fleas and then we were stuck with it for 30 days. I also run Labs so I need to know something is water resistant. The Frontline Plus seems to be better for that on my Labs.

[keith2210]

where can you get the cattle tags? keith

[Huntin54]

Are these the cattle tags you guys are talking about? Also has anyone had any side effects with using them??

http://www.mytscstore.com/detail.asp?pc ... 2&zz=19374

Thanks,
54