Sentinel flavor tabs

[Bernadette]

My vet is suggesting that I give my two pugs, Snorkey and Chloe, Sentinel which will replace their Heartgard and Advantage. Has anyone had any experience with Sentinel. I do agree that I would rather give them one tablet, but I want to check this product out before I switch.

Since we live in S. FL they get the Advantix every month in addition to Heartgard. Any feedback will be appreciated. Thanks!

[pepsicola]

Hi, My two pugs, Pepsi, 11, and Cola 4, have always been on sentinel. Cola is on prednizone and phenabarbital as well as having chemo, every 3 weeks, and I asked the neurologist if it was OK to give the sentinel and he said it was fine.

Yvonne

[Denika]

Liberty takes Sentinel, and it's been great! Of course she's only 5 months old, but we haven't had any problems with it.

[crazypugmom]

Sentinel is great and will stop flea eggs from reproducing, but it will not kill adult fleas. So, there is a chance you would still need to apply advantix or some type of flea medicine.

[Squeezable Beasties]

Hi! Our 12 year old Pug also lives in SE Florida. After years of using Heartguard, and Heatguard Plus, our vet recommended switching to Sentinel a couple of years ago, as she said she thought it was a more effective product.

As an EPI Pug, her neurologist recommenced avoiding Frontline, if possible, which we used increasingly infrequently anyway, as unfortunately her allergies, and now her arthritis, have greatly reduced her outdoor adventures.

To me, the topical application of pesticides to living things is not a great idea, though swallowing 'life cycle interrupting' agents with similar month long periods of effectiveness seems even more questionable.

As far as we can tell, Sentinel seems to be ok, though after a few laser removals of skin abnormalities over the years, she did have a Grade I Mast Cell mass removed recently (a year or so into the Sentinel). Obviously, this is NOT stating a causal link, but ...

We are continuing using Sentinel.

We try to reduce, were possible, her plethora of meds and vitamins on her Sentinel Day, to decrease the stress on her stomach. Sentinel is specified to be given with a meal.

As mentioned above, with Sentinel, if you wind up with living fleas, you would need to temporarily use Novartis's "Capstar" (or something similar).

[crazypugmom]

I haven't done much research on it, but there is a new flea product that is an oral medication called Comfortis. It kills adult fleas and is good for a month. So, if you wanted to use Sentinel but your animals ended up with a few fleas, you could always give Comfortis orally and avoid the topical medication.

[Squeezable Beasties]

Hi, and thanks for your reply.

I really don't know which way is safer/better, or if it reaaly just depends on the particular chemical/drug being administered.

Here's one slightly in-depth article on Comfortis (wouldn't you love to get paid huge amounts of money to come up with Pharma product names...) I found: Print this Veterinary Partner Article

In doing a bit of quick reading just now, Comfortis sure sounds like one of the safer ways to go, but it is labeled to use with caution with EPI animals, and so is probably out for our Pug lady. Which brings us back to the likewise ingested Capstar (with a much shorter effective period, though that may be a better idea, in general, in case there is an undesired reaction).

Hopefully, we just will remain flea-free....