i like your organized and structured thinking for solving a problem.

I use none of those products - are you using them because the pet products industry is telling you to use them? or do you really need them? I think it's the pet-products industry. Remember, they want you to believe that what they sell - YOU NEED.

For example, there's a vet in my area that really pushes heartworm medication and so i did a little research on heartworms. They are a problem in humid areas not in Arizona where i'm at.

This same vet was charging me over 100% more than another vet for the same chemotherapy. I promptly fired that vet.

Since my dog is allergic to flea bites, advantage has been a god send. I use Heartguard for the mosquitos. I use the time when I dose my dog to brush him out or massage him. I prefer lots of daily hands on contact so I dont mind applying more than one dose. Other than just not buying 2 products I dont see a problem. Is it that you just dont want so many products around? Is it cost? Or dosing that is the issue?

It would be nice to have 1 dose per month, per dog. I doubt it would be cheaper, just a thought for convenience & accuracy.

There are no products that prevent heartworms, fleas, and ticks. From experience, I haven't seen dogs on Advantage Multi with ticks, but that may be just a lot of luck. I know the product is not specifically labeled to prevent ticks, but it does seem to do a reasonable job for dogs that aren't overly exposed. I wouldn't trust it for my dogs since we go to tick-infested parks for hikes all the time.

My dogs are on Frontline Plus for fleas and ticks, and Iverheart for heartworm prevention. I also deworm them once a month with fenbendazole because they are constantly exposed to foster dogs I bring home (usually sick), dog parks, kennels, etc. And I live in Parasite Central, NC.