Do you do flea and worming yourself or pay vet?

[W0rdl3]

Vet suggested a pet club thing, owner we’ve bought puppy off recommended doing it ourselves . Mentioned the medications but not sure what they were or when to do it. It’s our first dog.

I don’t treat for fleas unless I see them, and mine has never had them.
I no longer worm as I pick up the poo every day and there are no worms.
There are other ways of doing it without giving your dog unnecessary chemicals.
How old is your dog ?

Always prescribed stuff - over the counter ones are a waste of time.

8 weeks. Has scratched a couple of times but not constantly. Trying to work out if vet club thing of £17a month is worth it. Breeder recommended buying 2 bottles of meds and diy but it’s our first dog and we’re v inexperienced.

We're fairly experienced owners and we go with the vet club. We live fairly rurally and the dogs go where there are deer (tick risk) and also eat rabbit raisins so I err on the side of caution.

We treat the dog ourselves but buy the monthly flea and worming tablets from the vet. I always take our dog to collect it every 3 months as it's a nice opportunity to visit just for a fuss and a 'treat' rather than a needle or rude temperature check!

Our bets do a club thing called “TLC” we pay for the year and get all the flea and worming tablets, vaccinations, plus check ups, weighing etc..
Their worming and flea treatments are far superior and safer than anything I could buy over the counter.
My dog goes to daycare so it’s important she’s protected.

How much are you paying?

Well, I work in this industry and I only flea treat from spring until autumn
BUT I did get caught out a few years ago and was plagued with fleas it was a nightmare- there’s no easy way of getting rid of them once they’re in !
What else is included in the plan?
And agree with others- the only one to get is Advantage , sone of the cheaper ones either fleas are resistant or just toxic but not in a helpful way.
Well done in being a responsible first time owner and getting pup checked
I would also recommend, if you’re thinking about a plan: insurance!
Or have a good savings account for pup and put £40 a month away. Hopefully you’ll never need it, but it’ll be there incase of illness. And they do all get ill same as us.

Does it also cover vaccinations?
If so probably worth it.
I think you need the prescription flea and tick treatments, as the over the counter ones just don't work well enough.
You can ask the vet to prescribe 6 months of flea/worm treatment and then purchase from an online pharmacy - this is what we do.
However we did do the club when dog was a puppy.

I buy online and treat at home - I've never had any of my animals get fleas or worms.

I'm a dog walker too and my dog is out all day mixing with other dogs. He's never caught a thing.

He does get the very occasional tick in summer but they only take a few seconds to remove.

We give the flea treatment monthly and worm tablet every six months. I have never heard of anyone getting the vet to do it.

I have the vet club, and it covers booster jabs as well as flea/worming prescriptions, a periodic check over (and they'll squeeze anal glands if they think it's needed!). Plus small discounton some of their other stuff

I reckon I at least break even.

We DIY. Join a dog breed group on Facebook if you're on it and search for posts there. That's where I got my info.

We use Wormcount (you have to collect the poo- bit grim but got to get used to picking it up anyway!) and when we find worms we treat with the recommended wormer.

We also give Billy No Mates with food once the weather starts warming up after Easter. Am not keen on putting treatment for fleas in dog coats after reading about the amount of chemicals from them in water courses.

@CaptainMyCaptain

We give the flea treatment monthly and worm tablet every six months. I have never heard of anyone getting the vet to do it.

I think OP means the Vet Club type arrangement, where your vet supplies the prescription. It's the owner who administers the tablets/drops

I misunderstood. We get ours from the vet but not a club.

Look at the prices, the vet pet club was cheaper than the monthly/quarterly treatment for mine and they also did cheaper spaying and vaccinations which made it a really good deal.

I subscribe to vetbox. I get flea drops posted every month and worming tablets every 3 months. They also send treats.

If you are going to give effective wormers and flea treament then the vet club will work out cheaper than buying yourself.

If you are using non prescription stuff you are wasting your money

If you dont want to use regular treatements you will need to worm count which will be more money that then vet plan.

You can not see lungworm in dog poo so GeneLovesJezebel your dog wil not be protected from you just looking at the poo.

Every 6 months is not enough to worm your dog if that is what you are going to do. Lungworm life cycle is 30 days so you need to wormcount or worm more frequently than every 6 months. Off prescription does not protect against lungworm.

You can ask the vet to prescribe 6 months of flea/worm treatment and then purchase from an online pharmacy - this is what we do.

Not for a puppy you can't, due to their rapid weight gain in the growth phase the strength and dose of parasite treatments will change over the months and they'll need to be weighed each time a dose is due.
Parasite treatments don't just treat for fleas and intestinal worms. You've heart worm, lung worm, demodectic mange, ticks, ear mites and whole host of other parasites to worry about, many of which are zoonotic to humans.
As for online pharmacies, yes they're cheaper but with so many clients going down this road now vets are having to put up prices elsewhere to recoup the losses. So you worm tablets might be a few pounds cheaper but you'll pay more to see your vet or have your pet treated should they become ill.

Flea and worming is tablets every month/3 months. It works out a lot cheaper for us to pay £14 a month, as includes all of that, his annual vaccinations and 1 free vet appointment a year

We use a pet club at the vets. We pay x amount and get the flea and worming treatment free, a % off things like castration and general procedures, and a years check over which inc nail trims.

The pet club means the vets supplies them and you collect them regularly and it's cheaper . Not that they do it . We pay £11per cat and get all flea and worming for that . I collect 6 months worth and do it all myself .

The one thing I would say is be careful about what you read online. The topical flea treatment going into watercourses is real but there is also an enthusiastic community of dog au natural/ anti-vaxxers out there. You will read awful things about poison and pharmaceutical coverups etc etc, and everyone encouraging you to give your pets garlic capsules and wormcount. However, as Polly said above lungworm is a real threat as is parvo etc. No messing with those, they are nasty.

Buy online same stuff you get at vets works out about £10 per month. I fleas every month and worm every other month.

Check what the vet club includes. At 17 a month I would expect more than just flea and worming. Ours cost £125 for the year for just a flea and worm pack. I thought for the first year it was useful to have a monthly visit and weigh in at the vet and someone to give her a quick once over. Now as far as pup is concerned the vets is somewhere she goes to get fusses and liver pate!