# Is Advocate OK or are there any side effects I should know about?



## emjharts (Aug 27, 2013)

My 1 year old Shih Tzu has been given Advocate to take once a month, its an on the spot treatment for fleas, worms and lung worm.
I was wondering whether anyone has experienced any bad side effects with their dogs or whether all has gone well?
Thanks


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## Terry Delgado (Aug 19, 2013)

There can be side effects with any flea medication. I stopped using Advocate because it gave my Australian Terrier Sore hot spots. I switched to Stronghold which suits him better. Stronghold kills fleas and round worms and mites etc, but is a bit milder on the skin.

Advocate might suit your dog, but it is really trial and error and vets advice.


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## Malmum (Aug 1, 2010)

I hate they way vets insist on poisoning a dogs system monthly with this strong chemical. Why monthly if its so good?

I use Drontal for round and tapeworm and have a worm count done on the dogs twice a year looking for lung worm - so far all are clear, my dogs being nine, eight, five and two. Never had lung worm in their lives. An article in Dogs Today October edition says a dog only has to EAT a small infected slug/snail to pick up lungworm, so its not as easily picked up in the slimy trail they leave behind as some may think. Seems the worm eggs are in the slugs/snail from what the article says. My dogs have never eaten them, in fact I don't think any dog I've ever had has but I do know I've never had lung worm in the dogs despite having plenty of slugs in my garden. In case it can be passed in slime I have never left food bowls, toys or bones in the garden but my guys are raw fed straight from the grass, so if it were easily spread in slime surely at least one of them would come into contact with it, since you can clearly see the trails at night on the grass.

For fleas, ticks, harvest mites, mange etc I use CSJ's Skinny Dog essential oil spray, plus Indorex house spray two or three times a year. 
I refuse to be panicked into covering my dogs with toxins for the 'just in case' scenarios - what good can that actually do to a dog that doesn't even have the parasite? Worm count and if positive to lung worm THEN treat for them is my take and as yet I've never had to. He's lung worm can be a killer but with monitoring you can treat and kill the worms just as you can any other but you need to monitor in order to catch it early enough and worm counts are recommended six monthly, for that reason. It doesn't kill immediately a dog gets infested, it takes time and has to breed before it debilitates the dog. 
If I had a dog that munched the odd snail I would worm count every three months instead of six and of course do my best to rid the garden of them with a salted water bucket to drop them in as and when I saw them - which I do.

I never have and never would use Advocate on my dogs, seen too many threads where the poor things have been driven crazy with skin reactions on here, which stick in my mind far more than those who don't react at all. There are other ways to keep your dogs safe IMO. 
http://www.wormcount.com/


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## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

I always used Frontline but when the vet brings it they were bringing one called Effipro or something? 

I need to buy some more but not sure what to get. I've heard Frontline isn't as effective as it used to be and heard collies are sensitive to one of them, but can't remember which one!! 

did someone say Stronghold was milder?

Then I've seen something called 'Billy No Mates' that you sprinkle in their food or something. I'm not sure if this is a kind of wormer or equivalent to frontline etc?


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## mollypip (Aug 17, 2011)

Made my dog crazy mad itchy within 5 minutes of application...took him weeks to recover. 

I dont use spot on treatments now - I give an oral wormer (drontal) and keep an eye on them for fleas etc...I have never had any flea /tick problem despite the fact they trawl the countryside on their walks. I had stupidly used a spot on treatment when my dogs didnt need it.

I will only use a chemical like this if my dogs develop a problem - and then very reluctantly. Its discraceful vets advise people to apply these severe chemicals to pets on a monthly basis. Totally unnecessary.


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## sopott (Dec 30, 2012)

Snoopy always yelped in pain when I put advocate on. I use frontline, it suits him better. All my friends in the dodgy park use advocate, though, without any problems.


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## archiesmum (Aug 28, 2010)

Used to use Advocate on my dogs but don't use anything now. I found that the advocate use to make Domino skin burn for a couple of hours after application. They have never had fleas at all. I use a wormer every 4 months.

Val xx


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## mariella (May 3, 2013)

I use Advocate on all of my dogs. Never had any problems with it or skin issues. They were on frontline but then somehow one ended up with fleas so I decided to switch and not had any problems since using it. 

I know people disagree about the whole chemical thing but the chemicals needed when they do get parasites and the stress of treatments must be much more intense and potentially harmful than a routine spot on. I suppose its just personal opinion but I personally would not want the risk - especially with lungworm.


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## BessieDog (May 16, 2012)

I use Advocate monthly for Bess's first year (advised by vet). The vet has now switched her to Stronghold, but I've got more doubts about the later and have only used it once. She wasn't well after using stronghold, but could be a coincidence. 

I'm a bit slack and only use a spot on every two to three months, so have still got some Advocate left and will be using that. 

To some extent I agree with the argument about regular use of chemicals, but would stress people do need to use them, or do a worm count to make sure they don't have to.


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## Katrina1985 (Sep 11, 2013)

I use Advocate for both my boys as there is so much lungworm in the London area and I have slugs that actually come into my house in the winter (not nice!)
I've never had any issues with it, although I have heard it can cause issues in pure Border Collies?
I would definitely recommend it vs any other commercial flea tx.


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## Hanlou (Oct 29, 2012)

I use Advantage for fleas but don't treat once a month. I have recently wormed / de-flead them because SCI has been a problem in this area and it seems to be a sensible precaution. 

I use Drontal for Whisper and Panacur Paste for Teddy.


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## Megan345 (Aug 8, 2012)

I stopped using Advocate on Maisy (collie) as she ran away whenever I took it out, and snapped when I tried to put it on, which is very out of character for her. Since she was fine the first time I put it on her, I figure it's causing her discomfort somewhere - and since collies can react badly to it, I just switched to Panacur liquid. Not worth the worry or stress to either of us to persevere, or taking her to the vet to put it on, as they suggested. I use it every three or four months for a week. I've still got Advocate for Rocky, but to be honest, I haven't done either of them for months


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