Fleas? Health

Puppies I worm more regular but the adults I worm once a year with Drontal Plus, unless I actually see signs of parasites

Where in ANY of my posts did I Condemn others of pumping their dogs with chemicals?
It is my personal choice not to, just as it is yours to do so’ if you wish.
Anyhow this thread is not about ‘epilepsy’ which is a completely different matter.

You did not condemn anyone and I apologise for having worded my post badly. What you said was

I also apologise for having brought Pereg into the thread.

I will always flea my pets each month & worm them every 4 months, as I prefer to help prevent my pets from getting fleas/worms.
As this is what I have done for the 30 plus years I have owned dogs, horse, rats, rabbits, macaws & cats

Funny. This product by Frontline actually claims to prevent reinfestation. Looks like they're saying two different things. In any case, via my own personal experience, it absolutely does prevent fleas, it doesn't just kill them.

http://www.frontline.com/gold/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.animedvets.co.uk/fleas.htm

It does say on here that it prevents fleas for a month

ETA : This is about Stronghold though not Fronline

I think it’s the way they are worded that makes it confusing (clever marketing)
They give the impression that if treated your dog will not catch anymore fleas.
I interpret as meaning, when new fleas jump on your dog, if used monthly these products will stop the fleas from breeding hence ‘prevent infestation’.
ie: Quote Regular use of FRONTLINE Gold helps prevent new flea infestations.

Slightly off topic, but we have had an outbreak of kennel cough in the local area. Out of all the dogs I meet regularly, the only ones who haven't been infected are the ones who have the regular booster up the nostril with their annual boosters.
Why would anyone who takes the trouble to get the boosters or initial jabs not have the kennel cough one?

Over here, the Kennel Cough (Bordatella) nasal is only recommended for dogs that board or ones that frequent dog parks. In addition, Kennel Cough is rarely life threatening or extremely serious. On top of that, over here it is a separate vaccination and is quite pricey to add to a package.

Nigredo gets DHLPP + Rabies and Corona. Its about $100 or so. Nasal Bordatella is an extra $38. He's had it once. We no longer visit dog parks and he doesn't board so I don't get it anymore.

I don't use the kennel cough vaccine, though I possibly would do if I was going to board my dogs in kennels - especially if they were oldies. I do try to spend the very minimum time in the vets waiting room during the holiday season, and stay clear of public parks. I have had dogs for 63 years, and though I do admit that I have been lucky, I have only ever had one kennel cough outbreak - and that was when I was showing regularly at large champ. shows.
Before the bordatella vaccine became available, it was just accepted that the symptoms of KC lasted for one week with AB's, and two weeks without them. Good old Benylin works very well for most dogs.

Basically as everything, it’s down to personal choice.
In over 50 years of owning dogs travelling to shows/clubs ect I have never given the kc vaccination, once many years ago when I suspected one of the dogs might have it vet advised giving benylin which did the trick.


Dr. Ronald Schultz veterinary immunologist “Kennel Cough is not a vaccinatable disease”.

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/bordetella-does-your-dog-really-need-the-kennel-cough-vaccine/

Bordatella Fraud and Fallacy by Dr. Patricia Jordan DVM http://dr-jordan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Dr.-Patricia-Jordan-Bordatella-Fraud-and-Fallacy.pdf

I won't say it's a scam or useless, I just don't think it's as important as some of the other vaccines merely because of the severity of Kennel Cough.

Its kind of like getting a vaccination to prevent bronchitis in people. I know there is no such vaccination, it's merely an example. It CAN turn serious, but usually doesn't. You MAY get it, but I don't spend time around LOTS of people and people who don't either rarely get it. Same with Kennel Cough.

In conclusion, getting an expensive and possibly side effect ridden vaccination to prevent a non life threatening, easily treated, and not even high risk disease wouldn't be worth it to most people, I'd think. Like Carole said, I suppose if you were high risk, it would make more sense, but many still probably wouldn't do it.

Excellent refs. Vee. Thanks for those.

My present dog has regular vaccines including KC , because I board him when I go away and boarding kennels insist on them.

But make no mistake kennel cough can be extremely dangerous and fatal in some cases, so don't dismiss it as a non risk disease , even for dogs that cope with kc it can be very distressing for both the dog and owner, it can kill the old and young , specially if the dog has underline problems, not to mention how highly contagious it is.

Sadly to many people brush kc off as a minor irritation when it's not,

Being the odd man out doesn't make one correct, in fact, it makes one more likely to be incorrect. Kennel cough is contagious, and dogs who are boarded or go around other dogs frequently should probably be vaccinated for it, but I've had dogs since I was 8, and these others have had dogs for decades, and have not seen it or have rarely seen it.

The fatality levels are hideously low and most people I've seen around forums have not had to deal with it at all, and the few that have only saw minor cases of it. It just usually isn't that bad of a disease.

Exaggeration of a disease isn't a good reason to vaccinate for it, especially considering that as just posted, there are articles that say vaccination against this particular disease may not even be helpful.

It IS a minor irritation in most cases, that's the whole point. How much more minor can a disease get? The only things more minor are things that don't count as actual diseases.

No one is suggesting we dismiss it, a question was asked and answered by personal experiences, at the end of the day it’s down to the individual what route they take, but I also think it’s important for information to be out there for people to read so they can make there own informed decision.

I agree its individual choice, but my post was really directed to the assumption that kc is nothing more than a minor irritation , which I'm sure you know it can be far more serious in some cases.

We have no problem with fleas where I live and relatively few ticks but having had a dog, albeit not in Hungary, who nearly died from tick bite fever, I do treat them, and the cat, with Effipro or something similar from April to the end of October each year.

Both my dogs suffered from a mild kennel cough last November which I'm certain they caught during a visit to the vet. Gwylim went down with it first then passed it on to Georgina. What makes me think he could only have caught it at the vets was because apart from Georgina, he hadn't been in contact with any other dogs for weeks and ironically enough it was also his very first visit to the vet to have his Rabies jab!