Permethrin for Dogs: Prevent & Treat Fleas, Ticks, Mosquitoes

Most pet parents are familiar with topical or oral flea and tick preventives. So which is better for your pet—topical or oral?

You may have heard that flea and tick prevention are crucial for dogs and cats, but do you know why? Petco is sharing why and how to prioritize pest prevention for your pet.

Learn about fleas: their life cycle, how they spread, how to detect a flea infestation, and how to protect your dog and home.

Read more about the different types of flea treatments and how they work to help eliminate fleas from your pet for their safety and happiness.

Learn how to remove flea and ticks. Petco has flea and tick removal services for dogs and cats. Get fleas and ticks removed at your neighborhood Petco.

At some point in your pet’s life, you might want to switch from one flea and tick medication to another. So, how do you make the transition?

Because fleas are so problematic, flea prevention is essential! Commonly prescribed preventives include oral and topical medications—although injectable flea prevention is available, as well.

The difference is that Advantix kills and repels fleas, ticks and mosquitoes, kills lice and also repels biting flies. In comparison, Frontline kills but does not repel fleas, ticks or lice and has no effect on mosquitoes or biting flies. Now, that being said, I've also had many cases where Advantix treated dogs still came in with ticks on them and dogs with Frontline had less occurrence of this happening. The spray is for spot treating and is different than using the monthly preventive. Either preventive is fine to use. If you notice ticks still or fleas, then switch to a different product would be my recommendation. I hope this helps!

I typically recommend Vectra 3D. It covers fleas, ticks, mosquitos, biting flies, lice and some mites. I like it as it can repel these pests. So your dog doesn't have to be bit for the medication to work. This helps to prevent the spread of disease. Vectra 3D also adds another layer of protection against heartworm disease by repelling mosquitos. It can be applied in additional to oral heartworm prevention.

Generally, we at Pet Coach recommend using one flea and tick medication. I would recommend only using the K9 advantix on Pistol. It kills fleas, repels fleas, kills flea egg and larvae, kills ticks, repels ticks, and kills and/or repels mosquitoes. Simparica only kills fleas and ticks. You will get everything you need for Pistol's protection with the K9 advantix. I hope this helps!

There are many good flea and tick preventatives on the market. My first choice is Bravecto which is a chewable tablet that lasts 3 months. This product requires a prescription. If you're looking for something over the counter I prefer the Seresto collar which lasts 8 months. Both products are good for fleas and ticks

Of all topical medications, I generally find K9 Advantix II to be the most effective. Of the two you mentioned, I find Vectra 3D to be more effective. There are also oral flea/tick preventatives (Nexgard and Bravecto) available that seem to be superior to any topicals.

Even though fleas and ticks need to bite a pet in order for Nexgard to work, it kills the parasites quickly enough to prevent them from causing either flea infestations or from transmitting different tick-borne diseases. However, no product is 100% effective. I think you're being very proactive in looking for repellant options to protect Milo on your upcoming camping trip! Topical products like K9 Advantix II (available over the counter) or Vectra 3D (prescription-based), or Seresto collars (available over the counter) are all labeled to repel new ticks and Advantix II also repels mosquitoes. To my knowledge, no products actually repel fleas. Don't worry - they all kill fleas quickly, so an infestation isn't a concern. I often recommend using any one of these products in conjunction with Nexgard if a high-risk situation is needed. However, since I don't know Milo's medical history, I strongly recommend first calling his vet to confirm that it's safe for him to use one of these products. I hope this helps and that you have a wonderful camping trip!

You can use a Preventic collar, a Seresto collar, or a topical medication such as Frontline or K9 Advantix along with Comfortis for tick coverage. Or, if you prefer to stick with oral medications, you can switch from Comfortis to Nexgard or Bravecto - both of these cover both fleas and ticks, and are also very effective.