Protect your dog against lungworm

I'll continue to use Milbemax for Dempsey's worming which helps to prevent lungworm, roundworm & tapeworm.

And will continue to pounce on him whenever he looks like he's about to eat a particularly tasty slug.

I use Milbemax about twice a year, Caryll I thought Milbemax only REDUCED infection of lungworm but did not actively PREVENT infection in the first place??

Milbemax reduces the likelihood of any ingested lungworms actually staying in the dog. But yes, you're right - it doesn't fully prevent lungworm, but then nothing does, even Advocate. Advocate will get rid of any lungworms that do stick around, if you see what I mean. But I don't like the idea of using a spot on treatment every month when it isn't really necessary.

It's a prevention of severe infestation

I do not buy into the whole you must use flea and worm products every month or every three month malarky, I only use it about twice a year and that is if I remember these days LOL, I choose to still use a household insecticide spray about twice a year too, however we still have to use chemical flea treatments on the cats as my mum's cat suffers from flea allergy dermatitis

The problem for me is that I won't use Advocate (or any other spot on) unless I absolutely have to.

I don't treat for fleas, and Advocate doesn't cover tapeworms so I'd also have to use something like Stronghold twice a year as well as the monthly spot on.

It's much easier to use Milbemax every 3 months and reduce the likelihood of lungworm, whilst making sure that slugs etc are removed when I see them, and Dempsey isn't allowed to touch them.

I use the Milbemax every 3 months mainly to prevent Toxocara Canis which can cause such horrific problems in children!

With Dempsey, I don't see the point in flea and tick treatment regularly unless he has them. If he gets fleas/ticks, I would (and have) notice very quickly, as I groom him regularly and thoroughly, including health checks.

De-worming every three months isn't something I have any problem with, as worms are not as easy to detect as fleas.

I prefer to use natural wormers inbetween such as pumpkin seeds and for flea treatments with my dogs I do not use chemical ones I just rely on the power of garlic

oh and never ever had any issues with fleas with the dogs...ever LOL

We've only ever had two cases with Dempsey. Both were extremely mild and very easily treated. He's had one tick in his life, which is actually very surprising, as he often goes for walks in an area with an extremely high tick population. He had an allergic reaction to the tick's bites, unfortunately, but it wasn't severe.

I think a lot of it depends on the environment around the dog, but also, as you mentioned, supplementation such as garlic and apple cider vinegar.

Rubyroo11 wrote:I prefer to use natural wormers inbetween such as pumpkin seeds and for flea treatments  with my dogs I do not use chemical ones I just rely on the power of garlic

I'm not against natural wormers (or other natural health products) but they don't give me the sort of confidence that Milbemax does. I don't like diatomaceous (sp) earth, and you have to give quite a lot of pumpkin seeds to be as effective as Milbemax, plus of course, the pumpkin seeds don't do anything to prevent lungworm.

I'd rather stay with the regime I use now, but that's just my own personal preference.

Each to their own Caryll, I agree with you about DE I have never been a fan of that either.

I did have a bit of a panic about lungworm but had a long discussion with my vet and the likelyhood of my dogs contracting it here considering they are not really slug eaters or snail eaters are slim even for Ronnie who is a grass monster! so I decided to just stick to twice a year for wormers.

Personally i think spot on treatments are a scam, i would never use them for anything.

I think it's important to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of each anti-parasitical treatment, along with your environment and the likelihood of the dogs contracting parasite infestations. It's definitely something that owners should consider carefully, rather than just Googling the 'best' product.

I'm not a huge fan of spot ons, but I prefer them to some of the de-fleaing shampoos and powders, which are so thoroughly drenched in chemicals I'm surprised it doesn't come out bright green.