I used to use frontline on my black lab but it’s a pain and his coat ends up quite greasy

Want to get some Bravecto 1000mg, which I’ve bought from the vet in the past, but apparently you need a prescription. Any reason why? I like it as it’s easy to give and doesn’t impact his coat, it seems MUCH cheaper online, but getting a prescription for it will cost so doesn’t seem much point…

Anything tablet based available that anyone recommends? Must do both fleas and ticks

I got bad experience with frontline, my dog – adult 4 years old died because of kidney problems caused by this. I know its incovenient but manual picking of ticks is what I do, I just spray vinegar all over my place minimizing growth of ticks and fleas.

I now use Bravecto on my cocker spaniel.

Gave up on Frontline a few years ago as it was becoming less effective. Started using Advantix which worked well but again the spot-on treatment was an issue as he had a habit of trying to rub it off on the furniture!!

Bravecto seems to work but he won’t swallow the tablet so I have to break it up and hide in pate’. I think I was £28.00 for the last tablet from the vet.

That’s the thing, it’s less than £20 online, but I need to get a prescription which is completely bonkers. It’s something they recommend giving year round, so I need a year round prescription?! I don’t like paying for something that isn’t worth it

The vet looks at him, sees he’s healthy, weighs him so he knows how much to give, then charges me for the privilege

Bravecto is legally classified as a prescription only medication (POM-V) by Veterinary Medicines Directorate, so you need a prescription – the animal needs to be examined at least every 6 months for the purpose of repeat prescriptions. Antiparasiticides can have a narrow therapeutic index (difference between effective dose and side effect dose) and so accurate dosing is important – this is based primarily upon body weight. Drugs with a wider safety margin are often available without a prescription, or on the advice of a suitably qualified person (vet pharmacist essentially).
Bravecto has some vocal reports of side effects and so from a medicolegal standpoint any prescriber will probably want to cover themselves from a negligence claim by doing as much as they can to prevent an overdose or side effects – ie see the animal to make sure it is healthy and assess risk, and weigh it to dose accurately; and to ensure that the owner has given informed consent for its use. The time taken for this used to be covered by the mark up charged by vets for drugs, so there was no actual prescription fee. If you buy POM-V drugs from an online pharmacy then this first stage still needs to occur, and is chargeable time. It may be cheaper to buy direct from the vet instead.
PS I am not a small animal vet (just horses)

From experience. Frontline has become less effective as the little bugs develop resistance. The current treatment is Stronghold and uses smaller doses, 2.5ml for a 25kg dog. Maybe try that as it should result in a smaller patch of crispy hair to deal with. You are ensuring it all goes on the skin not on the fur?

@Sandwich – mostly, aim for skin rather than fur but his coat is bloody thick and there’s a fair bit of liquid so it rarely ends up 100% on skin

@dickyhepburn – thanks, that’s a really helpful response. Sounds like I might as well just take him to the vet!