Hi, has anyone used the Bob Martin Dog Spot On at you can by in the supermarket. I have in the past just got all my stuff from the vets, each application lasts 3 months though and the Bob Martin states it lasts 4 weeks. The price in the supermarket was £2 something with 3 applications in the box therefore lasting 12 weeks which for £2 something i thought was very good, but i was wondering if anyone has used this and is it ok before i buy it and dont continue to get my stuff via the vet

It's not great.

The Cat product has had appalling reviews on the web, but I can't (yet) find reviews for the dog product.

Do you have cats as well?

Which spot-on have you been getting from the vet?

Hi, no i don't have any cats, just my 2 daogs. Usually get from the vets Prac-tic, apparently the vets moved to this from the frontline stuff as it's a bit cheaper for the customer but the same stuff  etc

I was made redundant a few months back so things were really tight and i tried this, its really false economy may as well have put water on them for all it did. Had to go to the vets in the end for my frontline.

The Data sheet for Prac-tic] says each application lasts 4 weeks, not 3 months - or did you mean that each pack lasts three months?

thanks for that, i was thinking to myself it was too good to be true. I have always got my wormers and my frontline stuff from the vets, it was only really that i went down the pet isle this morning that i saw this because otherwise wouldnt of bothered looking to be honest as i always get my dog food delivered etc aswell so dont really go down the pet isle in the supermarket

yeah sorry each prac tic pack lasts my dog 3 months, think i last paid less than £20 for it but it's always been good, before that the vet used the frontline stuff - with the bob martin only being £2 something i did think it was too good to be true. I only have one pipette thing left in the pack for each dog you see and they are due to have the last dose next week so was just casually looking in the pet isle this morning. Must admit it's just so easy to go the vet, they check the dogs weight for me, give me the prac tic and wormers when needed and off we go, so at least the dogs are getting a quick look at aswell

If it is because you are looking to save money then perhaps it would be better to buy your frontline from elsewhere, our local countrystore scats sells it much cheaper than what we (vets) can sell it for. Prac tic is good though.

Hi, i will be honest and wont deny that it is always good to save a bit of money, but money really isnt an issue, i would never cut corners for the health of the dogs and as people have pointed out it probably is false economy because it doesnt work as well anyway. I never cut corners with the cost of stuff for the dogs i have my Arden grange dog food delivered and it suits my dogs great and wouldnt swap that to save the pennies. I dont think i have anywhere local that sells the frontline etc without a prescription, i have looked quickly on the internet etc but i think if i cant find anywhere that just sells the frontline or prac tic then there is no problem in me getting it from the vets along with their wormer tablets etc. Thanks

I'm curious to know why people feel the need to be applying these sort of treatments as a matter of routine.

I have used Frontline in the past - when my dogs had actually picked up fleas. That was about 10 years ago and about 3 years ago. I suppose some people's dogs may well be at a higher risk of picking up "lodgers" (perhaps if they have cats?) but I'm still curious (NOT CRITICAL - JUST CURIOUS :))

I did think about routine application as a preventative measure against ticks (yuk, yuk, yuk) as we do pick up a few of these but they don't kill them immediately and now if I find them I remove them straight away. Funny - some seem to be more prone than others.

Hi Ridgielover, i'm curious as to your comment, i suppose it makes sense, as i have often wondered as my dogs aren't what i call in a high risk situation, we dont have cats etc, and they dont come into to many situations with other dogs etc. I suppose i was just naive and followed the instructions of my breeder when i collected my puppy as to worm when and flea treatment when etc and just carried on. I wouldnt know if it was due to me applying the frontline that my dogs havent got or ever had fleas or that they just havent ever encountered them. Are you advising that maybe i dont bother once my one pipette runs out and apply if and when they get them ??

Always wondered if I was the only one!  :-)  So thanks for that ridgielover.

Mine don't get done routinely and by that, I don't mean that they are neglected!  I don't have cats, or would probably act differently.  But I have just used Frontline spray on one of my bitches, as she came in with a tick on her.  I sprayed it and went back later to remove it.  Can't find a thing on any of the other dogs.

A couple of years ago I found a tick on a pregnant bitch, and sprayed her with no ill effects.  But I only ever use spot on when I get a free one from the vet when they vaccinate any new addition to the household. 

I've always felt that I would be giving them chemicals for no apparent reason.  Just me I suppose.  But I have never found that my dogs regularly get fleas.  Obviously, if one had them, the lot would get done.  I keep the larger size Frontline spary in stock, and I believe my vet charged me around £30 for it.  But I've had it for over a year now!

Hi Loucon

I wouldn't want the responsibility of advising you :) And I wouldn't insult you by calling you naive :) We are all bombarded with advertising that suggests we are bad dog owners if we don't use these treatments.

I am just a bit anti the routine use of any sort of drugs/chemicals. Like I said, if I see that my dogs have fleas (twice that I can remember in 25 years of dog ownership) then I treat them and the environment - otherwise I can't see the need to be administering them with, in my opinion, unnecessary medication.

Hi JeanSW

You're welcome :)

I don't even use any chemicals if I find ticks - I use my little green tick removing gadgets. I used to use my finger nails and have never left a head behind or had an infected bite on the dogs, but now I don't even have to touch the disgusting little beasties.

I run an organic farm now :)

Reading this with interest I use Advantix on our two regulalrly through spring and summer and we still have ticks, I have taken 4 off CS and 1 off BC. Ive never seen a flea on either. Then we give it  a rest then again come spring. I have a Tom o Tick in my purse and grooming box at home I cant bear the thought of them on my dogs.

I do buy Drontal on line and at crufts as the vet charges too much but i stick with paying for Advantix over spot on at Sainsbury's. Am I wrong then? or just over egging the medicine I would not like to think I am causing lasting problems for my two!?

Hi Whistler

I'm certainly not saying that people who use these chemicals are causing lasting problems for their dogs - I imagine the manufacturers must have tested them before being allowed to market them.

I just can't see the point in "treating" a problem if it isn't actually there! ie a flea treatment when there aren't actually any fleas. But it's all down to personal choice :)

thanks Ridgielover, i like the comment "treating something thats not there" . Quite true, as i've never actually seen any fleas and my dogs have never had them, so i suppose it's right, why treat something that not there, wait in case they do encounter them and treat immediately. You know what i might have a go at the chemical free option and see how we get on. To be honest i wouldnt expect to see any difference

i think it would differ from where you live, i would think if your more rural or have cats they would be more liable to catch something, my lot have never seen a cat in their life and we arent it a rural environment to get ticks.

I use garlic to prevent fleas. The advantage of preventing fleas is that your house will remain free of them if your dogs don't get them :) It is easier to prevent your dog getting fleas than it is to treat your house once infested and much nicer :)

Daisy

Don't know if all of them do it but my Sainsburys are now selling Frontline spot on at their pharmacy counter, more than Crufts - Vetmedic etc stands - but less than the Vets prices
Chris

You couldn't get much more rural than we are - out in the middle of nowhere on our farm :)

And to Daisy, using garlic I can cope with :) I was giving mine a garlic capsule a day but ran out and forgot to replace them - still no fleas (now am I tempting fate :O)

Hi, no i'm not rural and mine done come into contact with cats, youngest dog of 9 months only saw one the other day for the first time ! So i think i am in the frame of mind now that i might give the chemical free option a go and see wha happens. So Mahonc do you not treat your dogs either ? Maybe i was naive in that i went with the flow as the saying goes by just following what the breeder put on the sheet when i collected my first dog. Suppose i wanted to do everything right and being the first pup i had for years just done it. Now i have another dog of 9 months then i'm more into getting peoples opinions etc on places like this, and maybe i was the stupid one doing it and the manufacturers are racking it in !! I might be jinxing myself by sayingi couldnt see my dogs getting fleas etc but never say never and then if they do treat them accordingly. Suppose i just trundled along thinking everyine treated and i was in the wrong if i thought of not doing it thinking my dogs would come to some harm or something and it would be my fault

i worm religously but flea treatments are used as and when, to be honest in 4 years they never had fleas
but the one time they all started scratching i had been made redundant so i tried the bob martins and it did nothing at all so the frontline was the best option for me

thanks for that, yes i worm to the day of when it is needed, wouldnt do without that, well i've never yet had any fleas and only been a few years but didnt know if that was because i was putting the stuff on or the fact that they would never catch fleas anyway. I think i've decided to give the no chemical thing a go as where the flea thing is concerned but i worm religiously

Hi Loucon

I don't think you are stupid at all! You've followed your breeder's advice and as a breeder myself, that's what I like my puppy buyers to do - especially if they are new to dog ownership :)

However, now you have been presented with a different point of view - but I wouldn't dream of saying that my way is right and your way is wrong. It's entirely up to you what you do with your dogs :)

thanks ridgielover, i wont feel guilty and think i'm not doing the right thing now if i dont to the spot on> am defo now going to go the chemical free way and see how it goes there now on. Only one pipette left and after that chemical free and live in hope now that i havent jinxed it and they dont get fleas !!  Thanks everyone for the comments and advice

> And to Daisy, using garlic I can cope with  I was giving mine a garlic capsule a day but ran out and forgot to replace them

I buy a tub of horse garlic and sprinkle some on their meal :) :) The tub takes a long time to run out :)

Daisy

Hi Daisy, can i ask where you get the tub of horse garlic, and do you literally just give it a sprinkle ? Presume you feed wet food though, as i only use dry

> Hi Daisy, can i ask where you get the tub of horse garlic, and do you literally just give it a sprinkle ? Presume you feed wet food though, as i only use dry

I buy the garlic from a pet supply shop that sells horse feed. The garlic is in small granules, I've never had any problem with my dogs eating it :) They get about half a level teaspoonful (or less) a day added to their raw food.

Caroline

I routinely treat the dog because i live in an area where the tick population is high and lymes disease is getting more and more common. I remove them when i see them but i would rather they died before i found them as its easy to miss them in a dog with a heavy coat and by then they may have transmitted lymes disease. These products have to be pretty safe to get licensed so i'd rather use them than risk lymes.

arrh Daisy thanks for that, mine only on dry diet but could try the capsules i suppose

i can see your situation if you are in an area where the tick etc population is high, i cant really see mine getting anything, hope i havent jinxed myself

Hi, lots of mention of cats here, just to say I have two and I don't use a flea treatment on them, no fleas so far :-)

I thought I was being a bad owner if I did not treat them regularly, we are certainly still getting ticks on Whistler.

Its a bit like kennel cough they are both treated annually because we go off odd days to rugby or business and rather than shut them in we board them out. I may "experiment" leaving Advantix off and seeing how many ticks we get then, they are so clean I cant see many fleas coming.

I think this is exactly it, you may be getting the odd few ticks but its always interesting to see how many you would get if they weren't treated.

We are semi rural or at least back oon to woodland and walk in wooded areas. I also have cats and plenty of foxrs around. I have only ever treated my animals if I see they have fleas etc. I could be tempting fate too but have only had problems a handful of times over 30 years.
Have had a couple of tcks but remove them without chemicals too. would rather treat naturally i e garlic if I went fro prevention
Mind I am much the same in the garden and rarely use chemicals there either. 

I'm very rural and have never treated my dogs for ticks or fleas - because they have never had them :)

I'm always bemused by adverts for puppies that say 'wormed and de-flead' - wormed, yes, of course, but 'de-flead' always makes me think that the pups had fleas in the first place - so I wouldn't go there to buy a puppy anyway!

well my dogs have never had them and dont want to jinx myself, wonder weather i would know what i was looking for or is it that obvious when they do have them?