# Nexgard VS Simparica and Heartgard



## lizzy25 (Aug 11, 2015)

My vet recommened Nexgard or Simparica for flea/tick prevention. I've heard of Nexguard but I believe Simparica is fairly new.

Would recommend one over the other?

Do you find it necessary to give your dog this year round, in winter too? Our winter normally lasts a good 4 months...

For Heartworm, my dogs would fall into the 1-5 cases according to the following map:

http://catsherdyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Heartworm_incidence_map_sm.gif

Would you say it's necessary to get on something like Heartgard or at the least get tested?

Thanks!


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

I think that even in low incident areas of heartworm disease, IMO, I would test and then use a simple generic ivermectin product which is cheap and has many years of safety records behind it. Heartworm is such a bad disease if allowed to develop that for $5-6 a month for Tri-Hart or IverHart, eliminating even a low risk is worth it. My vet is fine with every-other year testing if a dog is on HW meds even though our area sees a lot of HW (which I think may be less connected to winter temps and more to the number of people who don't treat their dogs and really bad summer mosquito seasons).

I've also heard some discussion that those maps are getting outdated and heartworm is spreading more northerly and into previously low incident areas from a combination of factors; including micro-climates around industrial areas, unusually warm winters, and the transport of dogs from the southern regions where HW is very prevalent.

As a bonus, most heartworm meds also cover several kinds of intestinal parasites.

I had not heard of Simparica. Googled it, and it got FDA approval just in February of this year. I tend to prefer to use treatments that have been on the market for awhile but since I also prefer topical flea/tick treatments, I wouldn't be able to say Nexgard is better or worse than Simparica by what it covers. I use Advantix which kills *and *repels (including biting fleas and chewing lice)


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## lizzy25 (Aug 11, 2015)

Thanks! I'll look into the Tri-Har or IverHart. I did check Heartgard and it seems like if I purchased a 12 month supply would roughly cost around $7-8 a month so not too bad. 

I only looked into the oral tick treatment. But the topical seems good too as it repels like you said and seems a bit cheaper I believe. Advantix looks like a good alternative as does Vectra 3D - they both seem pretty similar...Do you use Advantix year round? I have picked off a few ticks off my dog since I got him (he's a year and a half now). Strangly enough I've never seen a tick on my 3 yr old. Not sure why they attract to one and not the other. What I have been doing is putting ACV in their water and well as wiping them down with it before going hiking. Since I've been doing that (about 3 months now) haven't found a tick. But better be safe than sorry so not sure if that's a long term effective solution or not...


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

I use the topical during any months that the ground is not consistently frozen as ticks are not killed by freezing temps but rather just become inactive. Deer ticks will pop right back into action when the snow melts. So around here, that usually means that I put topical on them from around end of February until mid-November but last winter never stayed consistently frozen so ticks were active even in January; ick. 

There are so many tick borne diseases now and I don't want any live ticks crawling from dog to me or falling off in the house so this winter I'll probably just keep it on them all winter. I have found that it seems efficient to 6 weeks rather than just 4 weeks; but if we're hiking in deep woods and more rural areas where there are a lot of deer and wild animals, then I stick with 4 weeks. If we're mostly on city sidewalks, 6 weeks.

Advantix is NOT safe for cats. Doesn't worry me because my dogs aren't safe for cats either but its important to know if one has a cat that might groom the dog.

One plus of Advantix over Vectra is that Advantix is over-the-counter so available in pet stores or online from amazon, chewy, etc. Convenient.


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## lizzy25 (Aug 11, 2015)

Oh yes I order everything from Chewy so that's good to know! I do have a cats, one gets seperated completely from my dogs, the other one is around them. I've taught my larger dog to leave the cat alone for the most part, so there's no grooming lol. Some playful contact occasionally yea but that's the extent of it. My small dog does lick my cats face sometimes though, so I'm guessing this might not work?

Do you use the advantix on all your dogs? My one never ever gets a tick but I suppose I would need to treat both?


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Here's a FAQ answer for re: cats

"Cautions:
DO NOT USE ON CATS. Cats cannot metabolize the ingredients used in this product. Cats must be separated from dogs during treatment. Do not allow your cat to come in contact with a treated dog for 24 hours. Some small and medium dogs may have an adverse skin reaction."

I use it on both dogs because both dogs pick up ticks and could get fleas etc.


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