How To Choose the Safest Flea Treatment for Your Dog

Finding an effective, safe flea treatment for your dog is an important task for pet parents.

Let’s look at everything you need to know when choosing the best and safest flea protection for your pup.

What To Consider When Picking the Safest Flea Treatment for Dogs

When picking the right flea treatment for your doh, keep in mind that no two pets are the same.

A product that’s commonly considered to be safe flea and tick prevention for dogs may be a great option for one pup but not for another.

Factors to consider include:

• Age—Flea treatments must be age-appropriate; many are not made for puppies younger than 8 to 12 weeks of age. Look at the product’s label for this information.

• Breed—Coat type may influence your decision. While topical flea preventions can be used with all fur coat types (even thick coats), it’s important that the product is applied directly to the dog’s skin. If you have a pet with a thicker coat, this can be challenging—and the medication won’t work correctly if it’s only applied to the dog’s hairs.

• Your pet’s health history—Your dog’s medications or supplements, concurrent health conditions, and previous reactions to flea and tick preventatives should be considered. For example, if your pet has a history of seizures, some flea preventions may be safer than others. 

• Your pet’s lifestyle—The presence of other pets (especially cats) or children in the household and your pet’s daily activities and exposure to the outdoors are important details.

• Where you live—Which parasites are common in your area? Is resistance to certain preventatives a concern?

Your veterinarian will take these details into account and help you decide which flea and tick preventative is best for your dog.

Typically, the safest and most effective options require a veterinarian’s prescription, so have this discussion sooner rather than later.

Types of Safe Flea Treatments for Dogs

Veterinarians typically recommend dog flea and tick collars, topical flea and tick treatments, or oral flea and tick medications (sometimes in combination) to fully protect their patients.

Here are a few of the safest flea treatments for dogs on the market today and some of their pros and cons.

Oral Flea and Tick Medications for Dogs

There are several oral prescription flea and tick medications that are safe for dogs. These preventatives come in pill and chew forms. Your vet can help you find the right one for your pup’s age.

Credelio Quattro is an excellent choice for flea and tick protection. This preventive provides broad-spectrum protection thanks to its four active ingredients—lotilaner, moxidectin, praziquantel, and pyrantel.

Available by prescription only, this monthly chew not only protects against fleas and ticks, but also against heartworms and three intestinal worms (tapeworms, roundworms, and hookworms).

While Credelio Quattro is usually a safe flea and tick treatment for dogs, it shouldn’t be prescribed to dogs with a history of seizures.

Trifexis employs spinosad and milbemycin oxime to keep dogs protected from heartworms and intestinal worms (hookworms, roundworms, and whipworms) as well as fleas, but it does not work against ticks. Your vet will need to prescribe this chewable tablet.

Trifexis should also be used with caution in dogs who have epilepsy.

Bravecto chews (it also comes as a topical) offer long-lasting protection from fleas and ticks—up to 12 weeks per dose.

Bravecto kills the lone star tick for eight weeks, and treats and controls these ticks for 12 weeks:

• Ixodes scapularis (black-legged tick)

• Dermacentor variabilis (American dog tick)

• Rhipicephalus sanguineus (brown dog tick)

• Haemaphysalis longicornis (Asian longhorned tick)

This preventive uses the active ingredient fluralaner, which kills adult fleas and ticks. Bravecto also requires a prescription from your veterinarian.

Like Credelio Quattro, Bravecto shouldn’t be prescribed to dogs with a history of seizures.

Tips on Using Oral Flea and Tick Medications

Oral flea and tick medications are great for households with young children, or with other pets who may be in danger of encountering the chemical residue from flea collars or topical medications.

The most common side effect reported for prescription oral flea medications is vomiting.

Dog Flea and Tick Collars

Under many circumstances, newer dog flea collars are safe options for flea and tick control (unlike older collars, which were largely ineffective).

The Seresto collar is a very popular and effective option. This collar uses flumethrin and imidacloprid to repel and kill fleas and ticks, so they don’t bite pets. By killing fleas, it prevents them from laying eggs and helps to control flea larvae. It also controls and kills lice.

The collar’s effectiveness lasts up to eight months (if you minimize its exposure to water), so it’s a convenient alternative to monthly prevention treatments.

Tips on Using Dog Flea and Tick Collars

If you have young children in your home, do not let them play with a flea collar.

Flea and tick collars tend to leave traces of the chemicals that make them effective around the dog’s environment and on your pet, so this may be a concern with young children who tend to put everything in their mouths.

Some dogs have had local skin reactions to flea and tick collars. If a dog has a skin reaction after putting on a flea/tick collar, the collar should be removed. The reaction should then resolve.

Always consult your veterinarian before using any flea and tick product, including Seresto.

Topical Flea and Tick Treatments for Dogs

Several safe flea treatments for dogs are available as topical (or spot-on) treatments, and many offer protection against far more than just fleas.

For example, Advantage Multi is a prescription treatment that uses the active ingredients imidacloprid and moxidectin to kill:

• Heartworms

• Hookworms

• Whipworms

• Roundworms

• Sarcoptic mange mites

• Fleas

However, it doesn’t kill ticks.

To avoid potentially serious side effects, dogs should not be allowed to lick the application site for at least 30 minutes.

Frontline Plus is an over-the-counter product that uses fipronil and (S)-methoprene to attack fleas and ticks. It also eliminates lice and helps to control sarcoptic mange infestations.

While the product shouldn’t be ingested, a few licks won’t cause your pup major problems.

Tips on Using Topical Flea and Tick Medications for Dogs

A topical treatment may not be the ideal solution if you’re unable to keep your pet away from other pets or young children before the treatment has dried or been absorbed into your pet’s skin.

If you have cats in your home, talk to a veterinarian before choosing a topical flea and tick medication for your dog. Some utilize ingredients such as permethrin, which is very toxic to cats.

Some may also contain pyrethrin, which is not toxic to cats if administered appropriately, but it could be harmful at levels found in dog flea and tick medications.

It's a good idea to follow your chosen preventive’s guidelines on when it is safe to bathe your dog after applying topical flea and tick treatment.

Pet parents can use a soap-free shampoo when they use topical flea and tick preventatives on their dog. They don’t strip the oils from the skin, so the topical product is less likely to be removed.

Topical treatments generally need to be applied monthly.

No medication is without the risk of side effects, but leaving parasites untreated is far more dangerous, as your pet could develop flea-related or tick-borne diseases.

Your veterinarian can help you pick out the safest and most effective flea and tick treatment based on your dog’s age, lifestyle, health status, and other unique characteristics.