Three Things to Consider When Choosing a Flea Preventative #Seresto

There are several things to think about when choosing flea control for your pet.  

Yes, I am wearing my Seresto collar in this photo.

I pawsonally use the Seresto collar from Bayer.

I suppose the first thing to consider is "Does it work on the pests in my area?"  If it won't get rid of your fleas, then it is pretty much useless.   There are natural products that people in Alaska or the North Pole can use, but they just aren't strong enough to control bugs in the tropical and subtropical lattitudes.  If you live in the southern half of the USA, you need the "big guns" and you need them all year long.  Bugs grow huge & plentiful in the warm, humid regions.   To make matters worse, this bounty of bugs make these areas popular testing sites for pest control companies, so some bugs become resistant to some chemicals.   While one flea chemical may work in one county, the pests across the state could be almost immune to the same chemical.  That is what happened to me at the beginning of that that horrible flea invasion I endured years ago.

Second, if your human is like Mom, they only want to use the safest effective product.    I ask my vet for help to decide which product is safest for me.  While no chemicals might be the "safest", that won't work where I live.  The health issues caused by fleas are immediate and make us miserable, so we have to do something.  I don't like having worms, diseases, or green puss filled flea bites.   I only use products approved by my vet, so I know they have been tested.  That is no guarantee that I won't have an allergic reaction, but at least my vet will know what chemicals are on me and how to help me in an emergency.  I never start a new product on the weekend.  I always use a product for the first time when I know my vet's office will be open, just to be safe.   So far, I have not had any reactions to the flea chemicals I have tried.  I only use the correct size/dose/concentration for my size.   Buying the big dog size and splitting it in half for a small dog is not recommended.   It isn't just about the amount of liquid, the concentration can be different.  I prefer to avoid ingesting chemicals when I can, so I use topical chemicals.  (Yes, I lick my fur like most dogs & cats.)  I have been wearing a Seresto collar for a year and a half now.  It has worked great and I have not had any complications.   Before Seresto, I used Advantix for about 3 years.  Seresto and Advantix are both from Bayer and contain the same main chemical.  Seresto has a newer safer tick control chemical than the one traditionally used in liquid topicals.

See?  Here is my Seresto collar.

I know humans with skinkids want to know what happens if their kid touches the collar.  Pals have been asking me this since I started using the collar (my Seresto review).  I don't have a skinkid to test it on, so I use Mom.  BOL!  Mom is always touching me, petting me, etc.   Mom shoves her face in my neck fur all the time.  Her face and mouth have made direct contact to the Seresto collar on multiple occasions.   Nothing has happened to Mom, and she has always had lots of allergies and sensitive skin.  I think if a human were to have a reaction to Seresto, it would have been Mom.

Now you see why I don't put on the included reflectors.   So much fluff to hide in.  BOL!

The third thing to consider is lifestyle.  

How often do you swim or bath?    If you bath or swim more than once a month, a topical liquid may be more cost effective.  Seresto isn't likely to last the full 8 months if you are constantly washing off your skin oil layer.  Although, if you bath/swim too frequently, you may need to apply liquid topicals every 3 weeks instead of once a month.  You will know if it stopped working before the next monthly dose, because you will get a flea.
Can you keep a collar on - or are you the type of dog who gets a new collar every 2 months because the old one magically disappeared?   If you always lose your collar, then a liquid topical is probably the most cost effective solution for you.  One Seresto collar is about the same cost as a 6 month box of liquid topical vials.

 Can your human remember to put the pest control on monthly, even every 3 weeks in some instances - or would a longer lasting, less frequently applied product suit your human better?   If your human has a pawsome memory, then monthly topicals are great.  If your human forgets things, then the 8 month Seresto collar is less likely to be skipped.  The Seresto collar comes with a sticker for the calendar to help your human remember when the 8 months are over.  If you live in frozen place that only needs flea control in Spring & Summer, then you just get a new Seresto collar each Spring.
Do your humans have fancy furniture that a liquid could stain?  Liquid topicals might stain upholstery, but the Seresto collar is dry.   
What about those humans that can't wait for a liquid to dry before petting you?   The Seresto collar is dry, there is no rub-off.  This way, the chemical isn't half wiped off by the human, and the pet gets the full effective treatment.

After considering all of these things, I decided that Seresto is the best choice for me to stick with.   I was given my first Seresto collar for a review, I purchased my second one.  

If you would like to try Seresto, there is a $20 rebate available online.

This post is sponsored by Bayer / Seresto and the Pet Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about the Seresto product, but Pepper's Paws only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Bayer / Seresto is not responsible for the content of this article.