Price Comparisons For Flea Treatments And Natural Alternatives

Well, the time has come to take a real hard look at the best flea treatments for Dogs and the best prices for flea treatments. I will also be taking a look at the other ways we can prevent or get rid of fleas. There are quite a number of different commercial flea treatments available and I will try to look at as many as possible.

I warn you now, this is loooong. Bookmark it for reading at your leisure, there is a lot to get through as this is THE biggest source of concern for so many Dog owners (or people owned by Dogs).

My apologies if I don’t cover them all. I know that there are always products that I don’t cover when I do these price comparisons as part of the pets medicine series. I need to limit it to the most popular brands or I would never leave the laptop. Before I look at the products available to prevent fleas I want to look at ways we can prevent fleas without using chemical based solutions. I do use chemicals as part of the three bone munchers routine. I don’t particularly like to do it but for certain things, such as preventing ticks, there is little else that is as effective.

I won’t use chemical based soultions if there is an alternative though, and preventing fleas can be done with some success without the need for expensive products. The natural solutions are most effective once we have gone some way to ridding the house and Dogs of fleas by using a more direct product based approach,  at least for a single treatment, but are also effective if we do not wish to ever apply chemical based soutions to our Dogs.

Natural Ways To Prevent Fleas On Dogs And In The Home

One of the best ways to stop the recurring problem of fleas is to eradicate them from the home. In the last post (fleas and Dogs) I went through the life-cycle of the flea, and breaking this sycle is want we need to do. The best solution (unfortunately) comes down to some hard work. Fleas eggs, larvae and pupae will find their way in to many nooks and crannies in our homes. It is why many Dogs repeatedly have flea problems.

The solution is to ensure that the home is thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis. Wash all Dog bedding on a regular basis in hot water. The same goes for anywhere that they lie. We want to eliminate as many fleas eggs etc as possible before they hatch. Have a very thorough spring clean and then keep on top of the housework. You need to vaccum as often as possible to try to break the cycle. If we can do this often it is one of the most efficient ways of preventing the ongoing flea problems some Dog owners face.

In my dreams I never have to sweep or brush up again. Unfortunately the reality is a daily sweep of the floor while I repeat yet again

I must brush the Dogs every day. This fur is ridiculous.

If I had the funds then my number one purchase would be a robotic vacuum cleaner.You can even get them to fight the Dog fur! Unfortunately the life of a poor Dog blogger means I still have to use a traditional Catalan sweeping brush made from palm fronds (seriously, I’m not joking) or a pull along vacuum cleaner that is twenty years old and sucks the power from my only source of electricity (solar panels). One of the joys of living off-grid up a mountain I suppose.

Anyway, whether you are high-tech, low-tech, or no-tech (me), a thorough cleaning on the house on a very regular basis is going to be THE number one way to really keep the flea population down and break their life-cycle.

There are some amazing discount Roomba robotic vacum cleaners available and youcan get cheap automatic vacuum cleaners for less than $40!

Natural Flea Treatments For Dogs

There are a number of natural flea prevention products on the market. Products like these natural flea solutions are claimed to be very effective. They are without doubt the best natural way to kill fleas on Dogs and in the home apart from the good housekeeping previously mentioned.

Before I discuss natural flea treatments further I want to talk about the low cost treatments that are often recommended. I am talking essential oils here.

Essential Oils To Prevent Fleas

There are a number of tips people recommend and putting essentail oils on Dogs is one. Unfortunatley there really is little evidence that they are very effective at all. They will, at best, help a little but they certainly will not eradicate the flea problem.

They are certainly not going to kill the eggs, larvae and pupae of the flea. This is not a comprehensive solution and I don’t recomend it as a proper solution.

Cider Vinegar To Prevent Fleas On Dogs

Adding apple cider vinegar to your Dogs water bowl has been shown to be much more effective at keeping fleas away from Dogs than essential oils. It really will help deter fleas from your Dogs. This will not get rid of fleas in the home but combined with regular cleaning it is quite an effective solution.

If you have absolutely no money to spend then this is certainly worth contemplating. Adding a few drops of the vinegar to the Dogs water will help stop the fleas seeing your Dog as a tasty meal. At such a low price to purchase from any supermarket it is one of the best solutions for those on an almost zero budget.

Diatomaceous Earth To Prevent Fleas

This is one of the best natural solutions. You can read more about the natural diatomaceous earth flea solutions here. It is a natural mineral product formed by fossilised prehistoric algae (yup) that has been proven to be quite effective at naturally killing fleas on Dogs and in the home.

It comes in powder form so can be sprinkled on Dogs, carpets, rugs and in all the nooks and crannies where fleas and their eggs may be hiding.

It is a strange substance. It is a fine powder that under a microscope is actually razor sharp. It cuts the fleas or eggs etc and kills them. It also dehydrates them so they are killed in a few hours.

Price Comparison For Diatomaceous Earth

I was going to do a price comparison for this but to be honest it was too difficult. Unlike the commercial flea preventatives that come in standard sizes and doses you can get diatomaceous earth in so many different sizes and quantities that I could not effectively compare the prices from the different retailers.

Suffice to say that Amazon has the best choice and was the cheapest compared to any pet sites that stocked it.

Go to Amazons’s diatomaceous earth page to browse the many different options available.

Diatomaceous Eart Advantages And Disadvantages

The good news is that it is a natural flea treatment and is quite safe for the most part. It won’t contribute to polluting our little ‘ol planet that is suffering so much. It won’t add to the very real problem of the “super flea” that is becoming a major concern becasue of the prolific (overly?) use of chemical based solutions that fleas are beginning to become immune to.

It DOES work. It WILL naturally kill fleas and their offspring. This means it is perfect for those who want to take a purely natural approach to flea treatments.

The bad news is that it is much more labor intensive and time consuming than spot on type treatments. It only works when it comes into direct contact with the fleas. This means that you will have to dust the whole of your Dogs fur with it to kill all the fleas. You will also have to re-apply a few times every week. The use of it in the house is no better. The recommended use is to work it in to all carpets and rugs and not vacuum for at least three days. It is then further recommended that no deep pile vacuuming be done for a further few weeks. It can apparently take this long for it to be completely effective.

This may be a problem for many people and the lack of cleaning may not be in the best interests of many house proud people. For a totally natural treatment though it is effective but it needs much more care when using and the fact that it is dusty means it can increase any respiratory problems that your family members or Dogs may already have. It is messy but effective. If you want a natural way to kill fleas then this will certainly work.

The good news is that it is extremely cheap and for that reason it should be considered if you do not wish to use the chemical based formulas I will be discussing soon.

Stop Fleas With Boric Acid

Although not strictly for Dogs, Boric Acid is applied in the home much as diatomaceous earth is. You can treat all surfaces as well as carpets and rugs with this powder. It breaks the flea cycle by killing both adults and all the developing stages of the fleas.

Breaking the cycle may well be enough for many Dog owners. Maybe a single treatment with a more chemical based application and a treatment with Boric Acid or diatomaceous earth will be sufficient to eradicate fleas. Destroying the cycle may be enough to prevent the fleas from returning for a considerable period of time.

You can view the many different sizes and quantities of Boric Acid here. The good news is that it is extremely inexpensive and is very effective at killing fleas. There is no need for a price comparison because it only costs a few dollars.

Boric Acid or Borax dehydrates the fleas and kills them. It last for an extremely long time and is a very effective natural way to get rid of fleas in the home.

Borate, made from Boron, the active compound is in reality an insecticide but a natural one nonetheless. It is not harmfull like man made insecticides and will break the cycle.

Disadvantages of Boric Acid

The main problem with Borax is that it is not very effective against adult fleas. It may therefore take up to six or eight weeks before you see no more fleas in the home. You will have to wait until the adults die off. It will kill all the developing stages though.

Again it is quite labor intensive as it needs to be worked deeply in to any carpets or rugs to ensure that it contacts all flea stages.

You can then resume normal cleaning in a day or two.

Advantages Of Boric Acid

The good news is that it can continue working for up to a year after it is applied. Although not effective if adult fleas keep finding their way in to the home, if you are just fighting the developing stages then it is very effective if you wish to use more natural flea prevention methods.

Price Comparisons For Flea Treatments

Now we move on to comparing the prices and effectiveness of the most popular flea treatments for Dogs. Unfortunately this does mean chemical based treatments that may be harmful to both humans and Dogs if not used in the appropriate manner.

Using any medication means taking sensible precautions. Keep all pets medicines away from children and stored safely. Never get them in your eyes or ingest them, or allow your pet to ingest them unless they are in pill form.

Most of  the flea treatments for Dogs are external applications that are squeezed directly on to the animals skin for best effect. Handle with the appropriate sensible safety procedures and this way no accidents will occur. Always apply where there in no chance that the Dog can lick it. Liquids are for external use only.

Much as many of us may not like it the commercially available flea treatments that work most effectively are not the most environmentally friendly of products. Try to use them only when needed. What I am aiming to do is show you where you can buy them at the cheapest prices and in the most convenient manner.

There is no way I can cover every possible medication, natural or otherwise. I will cover the main brands and nothing more. We have looked at the most effective natural alternatives but there are others. If you know of a very effective natural treatment then feel free to leave a comment and inform the other readers.

Let’s get started on the flea killers then.

The Best Flea Treatments For Dogs

Price Comparisons

This comparison will be for the most popular brands that Dog owners purchase. There are others that I will not mention because there are simply too many to go through them all. The most popular ones are that for a reason, they work. We will look at treating our Dogs and the home.

Here goes.

The Best Price For Capstar

Capstar comes in tablet form and starts to kill adult fleas almost immediately. It will kill 90% of fleas within four hours.

The active ingredient is nitenpyram. It interferes with the nerve transimission and acts extremely quickly.

It only works for 24 hours but if you are looking for a quick blast to kill the adult fleas then it may be ideal. One benefit is that it is safe for flea treatments on puppies over 4 weeks of age.

Price Comparisons For Capstar

Cheapest Store – 6 Tablets $25.99 (free shipping over $75 for a year)

1800 Pet Meds – 6 Tablets $29.99 (free shipping over $39 for the order)

Pet Care RX – $29.59 ( free shiping over $35 for the order)

The Best Price For Frontline Plus

Discount Frontline

I am not going to compare prices for Frontline TopSpot because I feel it is outdated by the much better Frontline Plus. The difference in price is not worth considering TopSpot over Plus any longer. The fact that you can get cheap frontline plus means it is not worth missing out on the extra benefits of cheap frontline plus.

Frontline medicine kills both adult fleas and also kills the younger stages of the flea cycle. This makes it a very thorough flea treatment. It last for a minimum of a month and is a topical application applied to the skin. It also guards against ticks and biting lice.

Price Comparisons For Frontline Medicine

All prices are for a six month course for large Dogs.

Cheapest Store – $54.99 (free shipping over $75)

1800 Pet Meds – $86.99 (free shipping over $39)

Pet Care RX – $90 (free shipping)

The Best Price For K9 Advantix

There are some good discount K9 Advantix prices to be had. It is a topical flea, tick and mosquito monthly treatment. It stops biting fleas in a matter of minutes and kills both the adults and the larval stages.

It repels mosquitos before they bite so it may well help in preventing heartworm in Dogs. It also greatly reduces the risk of Lyme disease that is carried by the tick.

Price Comparisons For K9 Advantix

Price comparison is for six months for a large Dog.

Cheapest Store – $59.99

1800 Pet Meds $84.99

Pet Care RX – $88.99

The Best Price For Advantage

Advantage is a very effective flea treatment. It begins working immediately. Within 12 hours all the fleas will be killed. As well as killing the adults it also kills the larval stages and eggs. Again it is a topical once a month application. It kills flea larvae in 20 minutes which is extremely fast.

The added advantage is that it is also one of the most gentle of the flea preventatives. It has had extensive testing and is the mildest of all the flea treatments discussed here yet still the most effective. It does not kill ticks but if you want to get rid of fleas it the most popular choice.

Price Comparisons For Advantage

Again six months for a large Dog.

Cheapest Store -$55.99

1800 Pet Meds – $67.99

Pet Care RX – $66.99

The Cheapest Source Of Revolution For Dogs

Revolution kills fleas, the young larval stages, but also effectively treats for ticks and heartworms. It is fast acting and very efficient. It is quite a good all in one treatment and is the preferred choice of many.

Normally it is prescription only but you can buy Revolution for Dogs without a prescription via my some online stores.

Price Comparisons For Revolution For Dogs

You know the drill by now, large Dog etc. etc.

Cheapest Store – $75 plus FREE Canex Allwormer

1800 Pet Meds – $83.99

Pet Care RX – $87.99

OK. Now we come to the last one. This one is a little different but still an effective way to get rid of fleas on Dogs and quite possibly in the home too.

The Best Prices For Program Flea Prevention

Program works slightly differently. Program is a once a month tablet that while not killing adult fleas it breaks the fleas life-cycle.

When an adult female flea bites our Dogs it ingests lufenuron. This is passed to the eggs and they cannot develop. It is a very effective way to break the life-cycle of the flea and it is also very reasonably priced.

Price Comparisons For Program For Dogs

large Dog etc……..

Cheapest Store – $45

1800 Pet Meds – $48.99

Pet Care RX – $51.99

Who Is The Cheapest Supplier Of Pet Medications?

If you want the lowest prices then I would advise you to search online and price-check thoroughly.

Too many pet med stores say they have the lowest prices when all they are doing is hoping no one takes the time to actually compare the prices across different stores. Well, I did.

Conclusion

I feel this has been a fairly comprehensive look at the many options available to us as Dog owners who wish to prevent or get rid of fleas. To be honest I am not going to give my recommendation. In one way it is too difficult.

If you are a firm believer in natural preventions then you do have very effective options open to you. They may be a little more labor intensive but they do work. Just be sure to wear a mask when using them as they are very fine powders but are actually very sharp if inhaled. This is why they are so effective.

For those who wish to continue with, or begin using, a once a month treatment then it really does depend on any other conditions you wish to treat for. Choose from all the options available, there is a treatment that will cover nearly all the main parasitic problems our Dogs may be faced with.

I hope this has covered the topic quite comprehensively. I know I need a lie down now. Don’t forget to bookmark the page as I know it has become extremely long and is a lot to take in in one go.

If you want to recommend a store or have good or bad experiences with anything mentioned then a comment to let others know is appreciated.

Keep safe and keep pestering those fleas.

May the Doggie Force be with you al.

14 Responses to “Price Comparisons For Flea Treatments And Natural Alternatives”

Read below or add a comment...

  1. We’re currently giving our house the boric acid treatment. It’s worked for us in the past. As you mentioned, it’s not the fastest treatment in the world, but we don’t like using chemicals — especially not with Tucker’s mystery symptoms.

  2. Three Dog Blogger says:

    Dennis, spooky.

    You commented here while I was over at your site giving you best wishes for the Cats.

    Glad to know that the Boric Acid works well. It does sound like it is effective against fleas.

  3. Great post – especially now that many are getting spooked about the monthly application products…

  4. Three Dog Blogger says:

    Life With Dogs,

    Thanks. It is good for people to know that there are natural flea prevention alternatives if they absolutely are against the monthly applications.

    It’s a shame they are so much more labor intensive though.

  5. Alec says:

    In general, preferably a dog every month to handle the special funds, and then you will not have such problems!

  6. Jan says:

    Wow, lots of time and good research went into this post. Knock wood, with four dogs i haven’t had a single flea in the last two years. I’ve learned the hard way to fight fleas when there is only one so I look for THAT ONE every day.

  7. Three Dog Blogger says:

    Jan,

    That’s great. We are very lucky too when it comes to fleas. Now ticks, that’s another story.

  8. Rocque says:

    I appreciate the post you made with all the information on Flea Treatments for dogs. A friend of mine has a natural dog food that cuts down on fleas. I will to get that information from him again.
    I prefer to use the all natural methods for flea treatments.

  9. Christy says:

    I’m a breeder and we used apple cider vinegar for a few years before our move to “the country”. It took about 6mo for me to see that it wasn’t working anymore. They were on each dog, on us and in the house. We used Advantage (frontline washes off) for 4mo to kill the majority of them (in addition to all of the washing and vacuuming). Now that we cut them down to a manageable number, we are back on the apple cider vinegar PLUS the diatomaceous earth. Works great!
    We’ve also used Borax to rid our house of roaches. Nobody lived in it for 2yrs before we bought it.
    Thanks for the article, I will forward it to my customers who ask about flea control!

  10. Three Dog Blogger says:

    Roque,

    I am glad you found the post useful, if natural treatments for fleas work for you then that is great. There is no need to use anything else if the natural flee preventaitves work.

    Christy,

    Thanks for passing on the article, that would be great. The diatomaceous earth does seem to be very effective. I have also started putting apple cider vinegar in the Dogs water. It is mainly in an attempt to get rid of a UTI in Dasiy. It actually seems to be working very quickly.

    I think you have the ideal approach to using more chemical based treatment. Use them for a while to get rid of the fleas and then revert to more natural treatments. It is best not to use chemicals if we can avoid it.

    Many thanks for your comment.

  11. Allan says:

    Frontline Plus
    Frontline Plus for dogs and cats is a monthly flea preventative that kills 100% of adult fleas on your pet within 18 hours and 100% of all ticks within 48 hours. Frontline Plus contains an insect growth regulator, S-methoprene, which kills flea eggs and larvae. (3 Pack = 3 doses which lasts for 3 months.)

    for Frontline Plus click here

  12. Three Dog Blogger says:

    Well Allan,

    I must say that I am surprised. I have deleted your URLS and marked them as spam. I am surprised that 1800petmeds actually employs people to simply post links direct to their own products.

    I choose what links I use to promote products and I certainly will not allow the readers to be directed to a company that overcharges by $30 for a single frontline purchase.

    To 1800petmeds, if this is not any associate of yours I apologise but the truth seems to be that this person who has spammed my website with your links is employed by you. An explanation would be nice.

    You did not even have the decency to make a proper comment. Is this how you get so high in search results, by posting links on everyones we sites? I am very disappointed in what I thought was a much better company than this.

  13. Rachel says:

    This summer my dog has fleas although I apply the monthly Advantage Plus. I was about to put few drops of apple cider vinegar in her bowl and thought how would the acidity affect her teeth? While for human, I learned that acidity in our food will attack our teeth enamel and it takes 3 months for the enamel to recover. Thank you.