Alternatives parasite prevention and treatment.

Since it came up in the yearly vaccine thread, but is kind of off topic, I figured I'd start a new thread and ask my questions here.

Chief is currently on Revolution, but with everything that I've been reading lately, I'd like to get him off of that soon. I'm in Arkansas so we have plenty of mosquitoes and warm wet weather. Because of that I don't feel like it's safe to keep him off heartworm preventative. He has had heartworm before (previous owners didn't prevent it) and the treatment was very stressful for him and seemed painful. I don't want him to go through that again. Does anyone know what preventative has the least side effects and extras (like treating for other pests too)? I'm thinking Interceptor.

I'm also trying to find out about less toxic ways to prevent fleas and ticks, but I'm not having much luck. I have carpet and guinea pigs, so if I get fleas they will be nearly impossible to get rid of. I really need an effective prevention. Can anyone recommend something, or point me to some good information?

I use K9 Advantix for fleas/ticks/mosquitoes and Interceptor for heart worm.

I use Heartgard for heart worm and Frontline Plus for fleas/ticks/mosquitoes.

interceptor is your best bet if you have to use a HW preventive. you can give it every 45 days instead of every 30, just make sure to mark your calendar properly. you also do not need to give the full dose unless you need to the deworming effect for whipworms and hookworms every single month.

if you give it as HW preventive alone, the dose for a dog under 50 lbs is the interceptor package for dogs weighing up to 10 pounds, if your dog is over 50 lbs, the package for dogs weighing 1-25 pounds is enough. this is caommonly referred to as the "safeheart dose", after a european product that uses exactly the same ingredient as interceptor (milbemycin oxime), but in much lower doses.

this is not something unproven and just passed on by word of mouth, it's actually FDA approved. more info here:
http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/98fr/080398c.pdf

Thanks Mordy, I have just ordered the Interceptor for my dogs' heartworm prevention needs, the small dose makes me feel better about doing it as does the longer period of time between dose's.

Thanks Mordy, looks like I'll be switching to Interceptor.

I found a little information on flea prevention, but could still use any advice or information on it. I keep reading that a clove of garlic a day in a dog's diet helps repel fleas, but I swear I heard garlic was bad for dogs. I thought it had the same toxic effects that onions have since they're so closely related. so what's the verdict? is garlic safe?