Collie owners - what wormer and flea treatment?

[LostArcher]

I know there are quite a few collie owners out there. Because of the MDR1 intolerance to certain drugs - most of which seem to be in worming and flea treatments, can I ask which products you use and also how often do you flea treat? Local vet has a package which you prebuy and included in that is 12 flea treatments however others I have spoken indicate this is rather too often and it doesn't need to be as often as once a month. Any thoughts?

Most Collie owners I know use Drontal/Panacur for worming. There always seems to be a slight query over Milbemax, so I see no sense in using it when there are other alternatives.

Flea treatments I do occasionally use Frontline Plus (once or maybe twice in a bad summer), although this is more an attempt to discourage ticks than anything to do with fleas.

(Touches wood) Am fortunate not to have had any flea issues for years, when neighbours had lots of cats.

I certainly would not put chemical treatments on my dogs every month without good reason.

You can test to see if MDR1 is an issue with your collie.

I worm count every three months and only worm if needed about once in 15 years! The other great thing about worm counts is that they specify the worm your dog has so you can give targetted treatment and again not have to over treat your dog (and so cut down on the envirnomental impact which is important to me).

I comb for fleas and again have not ever had any on my dogs.

I do need to treat for ticks though as there are millions and I use seresto collars.

There is such on over use of chemicals in animals I avoid unless essential but also ensure my dogs are protected and not put at risk of illness.

Milbemax (is that the white one) plus a large brown chewy one. Used to use a drop on the neck one but vet said it didn't protect against ticks which are becoming more common. No issues

@PollyRoulson is the seresto collar fine on your collie? My beardie I had growing up never had fleas but we did have ticks and as we live in quite a deery area am keen for something anti tic but the main ingredient seems to be one of the wary ones.

Thanks for the why treat when you don't have to. This exactly echoes my breeder's views too. She uses Drontal so think we will stick with that. May get her tested for MDR if it isn't stupid money. Ni'm really keen not to be tied into a vet as then we can move but I have found, be8ng the mother of a type 1 diabetic, knowledge that you think would be there in medically trained, quite often isn't,

We use Advocate which is prescription from the vet. She doesn't need it every month, especially over the winter months but it does do the job without any side effects.

MDR1 status is useful to know and I always log mine with my vets, but the general wisdom seems to be that in susceptible breeds carrier (and even normal) status is not a magic bullet, and you should still avoid the troublesome drugs if it possible as some dogs still seem to react to them.

@OytheBumbler Thank you

Yes most of mine are fine with the seresto although the one with epilepsy does not have one. The good thing is that if they are not you can take it off pretty quickly.

The epileptic collie has the pleasure of being rolled with a lint roller and combed after each walk and then groomed like an ape to make sure no ticks have attached . He secretly loves it.

@PollyRoulson . Thank you. Very funny about grooming the epileptic one. Cheered up a difficult day. Two more days until puppy day!

Please come back and show us the photos @LostArcher

I use CSJ ‘Billy no Mates’ tincture for fleas and it works really well.
My dog is allergic to fleas so i’d definitely know if it wasn’t working!

I use ‘Four seasons intestinal hygiene’ for worms, it needs to be used alongside a wormcount.