Flea Collars - Do They Work?
 

I asked Jim if instead of the spray bottles we've been buying, should we get the dog a flea collar. He said that they do not work. What is your experience? What brand names have you tried?

I like the Adams brand. They work really well for our dogs, and last for 7 months.

From the time Advantage came out I have never used anything else. I bought it from the Vet. and in about 24 hours all fleas are gone. From what I know the fleas spend time on pets only long enough to bite and get blood to feed on. Most time is spent off the dog. My experience years ago is the flea collars do not work. My Daughter gets some flea med.s for her Labs in pill form. Money well spent.

I live in the South so nothing works but the flea pill. I get Sentinel tablets from the vet. Works 100%.

We use Advantage for our 8 lb doggie.

I used Dawn on my dog and cat, and gave them a bath about every 2 weeks. No fleas on them! And they were inside/outside pets.

Her at our house our 4 dogs and cat do not have fleas. We have not found any fleas or ticks on any of them.
But our Vet gave us a sample of advantage to use.

I use Advantage on my cats and it works very well.

Advantix works very well.

I used the Advantage flea stuff on Socrates the first year when he was a puppy. I pulled three ticks off him. I haven't used anything since. For some reason he hasn't had a flea, or tick on him since. Since he has fine hair, I use sun screen. I wonder if that has to do with it.

The biggest issue with fleas is you need to treat the area where the dog lives as well. On the odd occasion we've had fleas, it's a major battle. We bathe the dogs with flea shampoo multiple times several days apart. But also, all the carpets, dog bedding, our bedding, furniture, etc. need to be treated as well. Otherwise the eggs just continue to hatch and you still have fleas. It can be a nightmare. Remember to treat your vacuum cleaner as well. The eggs will also live there. For us it usually means a 2-3 week adventure.

When I feel necessary, which hasn't been often, I use Advantage on the dogs and cats, even my barn cats and I don't have fleas. I think you have to be careful with the collars, especially with cats because the clean themselves. I put one on a young cat once, she was about 8 months old and it made her terribly sick. Took the collar off and she was fine in less than 24 hours. We live in the woods and thank heavens, we haven't had a problem with ticks.

We have never had fleas but we do get lots of ticks...once we use Advantage no issues.

I've found it really depends. I used the Advantage on my cats and dogs, it did nothing for my cat but when I put the flea collar on her, it worked great. The Advantage also did nothing for my dogs, one is over 100 lbs and the other around 30. My little one I put on the all in one pill (its new so I don't remember the name, starts with a T) and it works pretty good, it also treats heartworms, etc. When my daughter took her to be groomed she said she only had about 4 fleas on her which was pretty good. I think sometimes its the area that makes some of this stuff work and not the other. My daughter who grooms pets says the flea collars are better for cats and some smaller dogs.

I put a flea collar on a weenie dog we had and it took all the hair right off his neck! Never again!

I have always used the drops, which ever the vet recommends that year. One year I had to buy a flea collar too. This year I asked and he said to use Seresto. It's expensive, over $70 with a $20 rebate, but it works. In the long run it's cheaper than drops, which always worked for us. Our cats are indoor cats but we do have the windows open.

There is a chemical in the flea collars that is poisonous to animals. It can cause kidney failure and other icky things. I wouldnt ever use a collar on any of my babies.

we use Frontline it works great

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.

That would be Trifexis. A one-pill-a-month treatment for all that could ail them...... pricey but worth it, IMHO.

I've never had one that worked. Even the Advantage and Frontline have their limits. We lived in FL and it's summer year round. Even in NC I've never had anything that worked well.

We have not used a flea collar in 18 years.

We use Revolution, from the Vet, on our pets. The package says to use it monthly, but we find one treatment in the Spring is good for at least a year. We have 3 cats (indoor/outdoor) and a small dog.

I think where you live can make a huge difference in how much of a problem Fleas can be.

same here.... but the vet recently told me about a new collar they are using that lasts 8 months... when my Frontline is used up I'm going to try it. The vet's dog is an outside dog... in the country, too, so he's out in the fields... and the vet reports no bugs!!

Being in rescue for years I think I have seen just about everything on the market. I haven't seen the collars do anything but make dogs sick. I use Frontline or Advantix on my dog along with Heartgard. I wish I did not have to use any of the poisons but short of never letting the dog out of the house or spraying them repeatedly with the essential oils , like every time they go out , I have to. I have seen what fleas and heartworm can do to dogs. The thing is do your research , Never use ivermectin on a collie type dog, yes I know there are people who have but in my mind better safe then sorry. Know what symptoms to look for if your dog has a reaction. I buy my things online which saves some money. And I do have a small dog now but when I was also paying for my daughters 2 big dogs and her cat it got really pricey.

I don't use them. They could cause skin problems but that's just me.

A simple thing to do is spray with diluted lemon juice. Fleas hate that and won't bother the pet. I used it on all my dogs in the past and worked every time. It's the citrus smell I guess.

Your smart money is on Advantage from the Vet's office. No appointment needed-just walk in. You can buy it by the tube. I have 3 small dogs and 2 cats I get 7 doses out of each tube =$13. I dose them then wash their bedding in original Dawn dish soap and their good for the next 3 months. No flea's and no tick's and that makes my fur babies very happy

I am a retired vet tech. Most flea collars only keep the fleas away form the collar area; the rest of the body is free game for the fleas! There have been alot of newer and better flea products. Alot of them have been mentioned already. One hint tho, if you dog is a short haired dog the Advantage, Frontline etc. just gets rubbed or shaken off. There is a new product that is in pill form called Comfortis. Works great for me. I only use it twice a year just for insurance. If fleas are bad in your area remember to spray your yard.

Forgot to mention one VERY important thing, I'm sure old age!! Anyway NEVER, NEVER use anything that has pyrethons in it. I know I did not spell the word right. The best I can say is to sound it out. LOL

I use Advantix, and other than the scratching Molley does from some sort of Allergy, they are both great. They don't like when I first put it on them because it makes the a little sick for awhile

I have two Yorkies that I use Advantatix. The vet said to take the collars off and use them in the vacuum cleaner.

I've never had great luck with collars. We used Advantix and that worked well but it does get expensive. I bought it on Amazon and price was a bit less.

A quick note. Here in mid Illinois we are having a terrible tick year. My vet told me the Trifexis does not work on ticks and that there has been NO compound yet made available to cure everything in one. It does all except ticks...Great we are using the Advantage and Trifexis on a 85 lbe German Shepard. So far, so good.

Flea collars (and sprays and baths) stopped working in our climate decades ago and would be a total waste of money, but I still see these products in some stores. Fleas developed resistance. Systemic spot treatments from the vet work okay. We use Advantage Multi, which is effective against a range of parasites, including heart worm, which is a huge problem in many parts of the country. It costs us around $12.50/month per pet, in addition to the vet's fee for annual testing because the dog has to be free of heart worms before the preventive is started. The one that includes the heartworm preventive is more expensive than the one without, except that we used to have to buy Heartguard or Interceptor in addition to the flea killer.

Once the fleas start to appear in your home, you can spend a ridiculous amount of money getting rid of them, so prevention is the only option. If your dog goes where other animals have been (including wild animals) he will inevitably bring home fleas.

We used to use Adam's Flea Off Mist years ago, and it's probably effective for a little while, in the same way that Off works for humans, but you'd have to keep using it frequently, and that's a lot of trouble and expense in the long run. The dog can't be sprayed on his face or below his tail, and you may see fleas congregating there.

It's best to ask your vet what would work where you are.

We've used Revolution for years. It is a heartworm medicine that also prevents fleas, ticks, mites, etc. It's about $12 per month from the vet. I hate spending the money on it, but if you've ever had to deal with fleas, you will know it's well worth the money.....not to mention protecting my dog from heartworm issues.

If you want to stay away from chemicals try rubbing eucalyptus oil on your animal or sprinkle on dogs bedding. Its' a natural way to get rid of them, also I just read that coffee grounds are good, just be sure to brush them out after rubbing into dogs fur

I made both dogs ill with flea collars - never again. The only use for them is in the vacuum bag, IMO. I use Armor Guard Plus (generic Frontline Plus) for my big dog and Vectra D for for my smaller one. he smaller one needs the more expensive one for some reason - and she's allergic to flea saliva, so I am vigilant with that one.

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I have used these for 13 years, no fleas. They beg for their 2 tabs daily.
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Advantage and frontline are better and way less toxic than flea collars

Tothill---We used Revolution last year for our dog, took her in In Aug for her vaccines, they did her routine Heart worm check and she tested VERY Positive for Lyme disease, she had to take an antibiotic 2x/day for 30 days. She was very lucky she did not get sicker than she was( I did notice for 2-3 days her eyes were tearing and she seemed a little lethargic, nothing hugely alarming..
From what I understand from the vet Revolution is proving not to be effective against ticks, we were promptly switched to Frontline Plus, Which can be purchased at Sam's Club and Menard's for considerably cheaper than my vet anyway.
i think I would check with my vet before I would attempt washing my animals with dawn for a flea control measure. I would worry I could be asking for other health issues.
From what I also understand a flea will only spend 20% of it's the time on the animal, 80% off the animal(AKA house, carpet, yard,)
Fleas also carry diseases, cause anemia, and worms(tape worm). Why fool around?

We use the Preventick collars for 3 months but I see where TShooters mentions Adams. Will have to see about those since we live in south Texas. We almost lost a dog to anemia shortly after we got her because of the flea and tick. We also use Trifexis and Heartgard.