I've used ivermectin HW preventatives in combination with frontline for fleas and ticks most of the time with good results. I have heard though that in some areas of the country fleas/ticks are becoming resistent to the fipronil in frontline.

I use revolution on my cat, and like the fact that she cannot escape the heartworm protection by vomiting up a pill, but am less happy with the job rev. does on controling fleas. I think the manufacturer makes no claims of protection against ticks. I also used revolution for the same reasons on my sheltie during her last months when she was plagued by occasional stomach upsets due to kidney & liver problems.

I don't really trust HW meds to protect adequately against worms. I use Canine Allwormer on my dogs periodically (every 3 mos in summer and at least once during the winter) and a cat de-wormer (both containing praziquantel + another ingredient) that I get from this place in Australia (see link below.) Their meds (I use valuheart for heartworm protection) are much cheaper than any from the vet or US online places.

Best of luck with your new pup. What kind of dog is he? Puppies are such fun! You must be way up in Canada to have no heartworm problems. I'm in Vermont, NE US, and we didn't used to have it here either but now it is rampant sadly.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pets Megastore

Thanks for the input, S. I'm actually in the San Francisco, CA area. My vet said his practice has only seen heartworm in dogs that leave the city and 'burbs. We'll treat anyway of course. I don't think it's as prevalent in CA as it is in the deep south, but it's definitely close.

The puppy is a mix, probably medium to large. Fun? Well, at least I'm not trying to housebreak a dog in Vermont in the winter! I'm a cat person and he's no cat. =)

Thanks for the link. Great for comparison shopping.

Heartworm isn't just prevalent in the deep south. We have it here where we get true winters with feet of snow and minus zero temps. I had excellent control of fleas when my cat were on revolution and an added benefit of that, it was the only med I found to control a mite one of my cats had on a chronic basis. My vet has changed my dog to a new formula, I can't recall the name of off the top of my head. I was not a happy camper, but understand the need for this as fleas get resistant to the same meds when used for years.

I know heartworm is just about everywhere--even if it's not where I live (and I'm not 100% sure of that even), it's within a 45 minute drive I'm likely to take. We're definitely taking it seriously!

Good to hear some flea success with Revo. on fleas. Thanks!

Calliope- heartworms are EXTREMELY prevalent in the deep south, unless you are talking about the deep south of CA or in the desert regions of Texas or something. In fact, in the Deep South of the USA, we need to be on HWP ALL YEAR ROUND. Heartworms are carried by mosquitos, so anywhere there are mosquitos you're likely to find heartworms.

Advantage Multi prevents heartworms, hookworms, roundworms, and fleas, as does Revolution. Both are topical.

There is a new product coming out soon that has the same protection as Advantage Multi and Revolution but in a pill form. It will be called Trifexis or something like that. It is Interceptor (milbemycin) and Comfortis (spinosad) combination.

I'm in the South and still have good results with Iverheart and Frontline. But some people are finding flea resistance to Frontline. I just like Frontline because it is not systemically absorbed in the dog and all other topical medications are. But that's my personal bias and is not based on anything scientific or proven at all.

Thanks for the input, Meghane. I used to live near the Gulf--been there done that and yep mosquitoes year round! We have them year round here too, but not in the same numbers, so I'll keep up the HW stuff year round.

The little guy also appears to have mange. Yay. The vet wanted to wait a week to verify (since we are going back in for shots anyway) but his one itchy patch has become an entire itchy dog. So I think we'll have to do something about that too.

I have had great success with Revolution for both my 2 dogs and 2 cats. The dogs got a separate pill for worms. No big deal. Good luck with the new pup.

My dogs are on Sentinel all year and get Frontline in the summer.

I'm in Southern California and where I live heartworm is not usually a problem, but up in the mountains where we spend the weekends heartworm is prevalent. (Only one hour away but 5,000 feet higher.)

I've had my house infested with fleas before, and the Sentinel will prevent that. Frontline is not absorbed, so I feel comfortable using it for flea prevention during the season.

Congratulations on your puppy!