I live in the Atlanta area where fleas, ticks and mosquitoes are a real problem. My vet said that flea collars are pretty good for ticks but nothing beats a systemic medication (I use Trifexis but others mentioned their favorites) from the vet. With Trifexis, I don't have to worry about fleas, ticks, intestinal parasites or heartworm. This is with the 5 dogs. On the other hand, with the 3 cats, two of whom are white (which supposedly attracts fleas) they live mostly outdoors and have never had flea or any other kind of problems. Go figure.