Questions about "Sentinel"

[k9Karen]

My vet has changed from recommending Heartguard Plus to either Interceptor or Sentinel. I chose to go with Sentinel because of the flea preventive. I asked him if there were any side effects, and he said there were none. I don't really believe that - all meds have some side effects of some kind, even if only a small number of individuals. Traci and others, what is your experience with this product and is there anything I need to know?

[Traci]

http://www.sentinelpet.com/product_insert.pdf (pdf file, might take a few minutes to load).

My beef with the product is that they seem to think that although it's effective for fleas, they recommend to combine it with Capstar. Which to me, indicates it's not as effective for fleas as they claim.

What reasons does your vet claim for not wanting to use Heartguard?

[k9Karen]

He didn't give me a reason, just said they had changed and no longer offer the heartguard. If I had to guess, they've either had a rash of reactions to the Ivermectin in Heartguard, or the new products have a higher profit margin, possibly both. I'm not familiar with Capstar - is that a topical for cats? What the vet explained to me is the Sentinel contains Program, which works by damaging the flea egg. The egg covering is impaired, so the eggs dry out and therefore none hatch. It has no effect on adult fleas, so will have no effect on new fleas acquired from the environment. Makes sense to me, and since my dogs rarely leave my yard, and I only infrequently have to use a topical product, it makes sense to me to use it to keep them from multiplying in their environment. To deal with adult fleas, I will still need to use a topical product. He found a few fleas on Allie, but surprisingly not on Dylan or Foxy, so I will treat her today. I'm boarding them this weekend (the first time I've ever boarded a dog) so I will probably treat the other two before we go.

Thanks for the link.

[Marty]

FWIW, my Vet recommends Interceptor, and I've had no problems with it. I know Capstar is used to kill fleas within 24 hrs...it's also fairly expensive as I remember...like $15/pill? But then you have to follow up with a topical.

[E's]

Thanks all for the Q and A. Karen, if you can when you get home, please give notes on experience with boarding your puppers? I'm kinda out-of-touch nowadays.

[k9Karen]

FWIW, my Vet recommends Interceptor, and I've had no problems with it. I know Capstar is used to kill fleas within 24 hrs...it's also fairly expensive as I remember...like $15/pill? But then you have to follow up with a topical.

Dylan's breeder also suggested I use Interceptor. It's supposed to have less problems in the collie type dogs compared to Ivermectin. All of my Shelties have been on Ivermectin without problems, but you never know when one could happen. My FWIW - Sentinel is Interceptor + Program, so it offers a combination of heartworm and flea prevention. I sure wish they'd had something like that when my Mickey and Leah were still around - both were severly allergic to flea bites.

[k9Karen]

Thanks all for the Q and A. Karen, if you can when you get home, please give notes on experience with boarding your puppers? I'm kinda out-of-touch nowadays.

Will do. The place they are going is the Parkway Pet resort www.parkwaypetresort.com They will be together in a "suite" that has a webcam. So, if you're really bored from Thursday through Sunday afternoons , you can go online and watch them laze around or bark their foolish heads off

[Marty]

Sentinel is Interceptor + Program...quote from you (my comp is giving me trouble with this forum for some reason)

I think what I've heard is that Sentinel, and therefore Program, makes it all systemic rather than topical. Yes, the ivermectin needs to be ingested to be effective, but some people feel it is safer not to ingest if it can be topical.

I'm sure there are many arguments either way...

[k9Karen]

Actually, the topical treatments are absorbed, so, in effect, they also become systemic. I was uncertain about the Program, but a friend of mine who is more passionate about her dogs than I am and is into Obedience, so therefore sees a lot of "dog people", uses it and swears by it. I trust her judgement and experience with the product.