6 Best Chewable Flea and Tick for Dogs, According to Vets

Dogs bring so much joy into our homes. Unfortunately, they also sometimes bring ectoparasites like fleas and ticks into our homes. While internal parasites like intestinal worms are certainly gross, there’s something extra creepy about bugs crawling through your dog’s fur, not to mention the health risks to your dog that come with fleas and ticks.

Flea and tick chewables for dogs can prevent these pesky parasites from irritating your dog’s skin, causing allergic reactions, and transmitting serious diseases like Lyme disease.

While topical flea and tick preventatives are great, chewable flea and tick preventatives are a convenient, effective option for keeping these nasty parasites off your dog and out of your home. In fact, your dog may even get excited for their preventative like they would any other treat.

The following guide will explain the importance of flea and tick prevention for dogs and what you should look for in flea and tick control for dogs. You’ll also find vet-approved flea and tick chewables tailored for different dog needs.

Why Flea and Tick Prevention is Essential for Dogs

Fleas and ticks aren’t just irritating to your pet—they also come with health risks. The following are the risks associated with fleas and ticks:

1. Skin inflammation and itchiness: The presence of fleas or ticks crawling around and biting the skin can cause intense itchiness. Some dogs can develop severe skin inflammation as a response to flea saliva, known as flea allergy dermatitis. Signs can include red skin, pimple-like bumps, hair loss, and obsessive itching. Secondary skin infections are common. Scratching or licking at bites can also lead to infected bite marks on your dog.

2. Anemia: Fleas and ticks feast on blood. If your dog has a high number of parasites, the parasites can consume enough blood to cause anemia. This is more common in young puppies.

3. Transmission of tapeworms: The most common way dogs get tapeworms is by eating an infected flea. This usually happens when the dog grooms themselves or chews at fleas.

4. Transmission of dangerous tickborne infections: Ticks can transmit serious and sometimes deadly infections. These infections include Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and more.

5. Tick paralysis: Rarely, dogs develop a progressive paralysis that results from toxins in the tick’s saliva affecting the dog’s nervous system. The condition usually starts with paralysis in the hind legs that rapidly progresses to affect the whole body, causing an inability to walk, hold the head up, and eventually to swallow. Untreated, the dog may lose the ability to breathe, which is fatal. Symptoms continue while the tick is attached.

If fleas are not controlled, they can also infest your home, affecting other pets and occasionally giving you or other people a little nibble.

Preventing flea and tick infestations on your dog is key. The cost of managing a home infestation of fleas or treating a tickborne infection can easily outweigh the cost of monthly prevention.

Chewable flea and tick prevention comes with several benefits. The chews are usually flavored for your dog’s enjoyment, and oral administration ensures consistent dosing as long as your dog takes their entire dose. You don’t have to avoid petting the back of your dog’s neck or back like you would with topical treatments, and you don’t have to wait to bathe your dog.

What to Look for in the Best Chewable Flea and Tick Medicine for Dogs

Your veterinarian is your best source for determining the most appropriate flea and tick prevention for your individual pet. They’ll work with you to find a product that meets your needs. The following are several topics you’ll want to discuss with the veterinarian when choosing a product:

• Effectiveness: The product’s label will tell you which specific parasites it treats and prevents. You’ll want to ensure it covers the active parasites in your area and manages the entire life cycle. For ticks, this usually involves killing ticks that bite. For fleas, you’ll want something that treats active infestations and prevents reinfestation.
• Application Method: Flea and tick medications come in chewables or topicals. Chewable medicines may be preferred for dogs with sensitive skin or in households with small children. Topical medications may be better for dogs with gastrointestinal sensitivities.
• Safety: You’ll want to choose a product that is veterinarian approved. Make sure to look at the safety information on the product to know what ages and sizes of dogs can take the medication. If your dog is pregnant or nursing, you’ll want to double-check with your veterinarian. Please keep in mind that “natural” treatments are not usually FDA-approved.
• Longevity: You’ll want to know if something only treats an active infestation or if it lasts for longer. Most oral medications last for a month, but some treatments (like Capstar for fleas) only treat an active infection, and other treatments (like Bravecto) last longer than a month.

• Contraindications: Some medications may not be safe for your individual dog. For example, dogs with a history of seizures should not take drugs from the isoxazolines class. Most oral FDA-approved flea and tick medications include an isoxazoline.

• Additional Benefits: Some products also offer protection against other parasites, like mites, heartworms, roundworms, hookworms, and tapeworms.

The Best Chewable Flea and Tick Preventatives for Dogs

Simparica TRIO – Best Overall

Shop Simparica TRIO

• Key Features:
  • Protects dogs from heartworm disease, roundworms, hookworms, fleas, and six types of ticks (lone star tick, Gulf Coast tick, American dog tick, black-legged tick, brown dog tick, and Asian longhorned tick)
  • Can be given with or without food
  • Lasts up to one month
  • Starts killing fleas within 4 hours of administration
  • Active ingredients include sarolaner, moxidectin, and pyrantel
  • Pork-flavored
  • FDA-approved

• Why It’s Great for Dogs:
  • Highly effective, safe for most dogs, and easy to administer
  • Offers broad parasite protection in one monthly chewable

• Things to Consider:
  • Not recommended for puppies under 8 weeks of age or dogs under 2.8 lbs
  • Not recommended for dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disease
  • Your dog will need a heartworm test before they can be prescribed this medication
  • Requires a prescription from your veterinarian
  • Most common side effects are vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, and loss of appetite

Bravecto 1-Month – Best for Puppies

Shop Bravecto

• Key Features:
  • Safe for puppies 8 weeks and older and weighing at least 4.4 lbs
  • Protects against fleas and four types of ticks (black-legged tick, American dog tick, brown dog tick, and Asian longhorned tick) in young puppies
  • Can also treat and prevent lone star ticks in dogs over 6 months old
  • Lasts up to one month
  • Starts killing fleas within 4 hours of treatment
  • Active ingredient is fluralaner
  • Pork-flavored
  • FDA-approved

• Why It’s Great for Young Dogs:
  • 1-month packaging allows for easy dosage changes as your puppy grows

• Things to Consider:
  • May need to change the dosage as the puppy grows
  • Should be administered with food
  • Not effective against the lone star tick in puppies under 6 months old
  • Make sure to use the 1-month product, as standard Bravecto is not approved for dogs under 6 months old
  • Not recommended for dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disease
  • Most common side effects are itchiness, diarrhea, vomiting, and decreased appetite

Credelio Quattro – Best for Dogs with Allergies

Shop Credelio

• Key Features:
  • Despite being beef-flavored, the product is free of meat allergens, which are the most common food allergens in dogs
  • The only all-in-one oral treatment that protects against heartworm disease, roundworms, hookworms, fleas, ticks, and tapeworms
  • Protects against four types of ticks (lone star tick, American dog tick, black-legged tick, and brown dog tick)
  • Lasts up to one month
  • Starts killing fleas within 4 hours of administration
  • Active ingredients include lotilaner, moxidectin, praziquantel, and pyrantel
  • FDA-approved

• Why It’s Great for Dogs with Allergies:
  • Meat-flavored without triggering meat allergies
  • Offers protection against a wide range of parasites, including tapeworms

• Things to Consider:
  • Not recommended for puppies under 8 weeks of age or dogs under 3.3 lbs
  • Not recommended for dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disease
  • Protects against one type of hookworm (Uncinaria stenocephala) but not the most common type (Ancylostoma caninum)
  • Your dog will need a heartworm test before they can be prescribed this medication
  • Requires a prescription from your veterinarian
  • Most common side effects are diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, loss of appetite, and skin inflammation

Bravecto – Best for Convenience

Shop Bravecto

• Key Features:
  • Lasts nearly three times as long as monthly chews
  • Protects against fleas and four types of ticks (black-legged tick, American dog tick, brown dog tick, and Asian longhorned tick) for 12 weeks
  • Protects against the lone star tick for 8 weeks
  • Starts killing fleas within 2 hours of administration
  • Active ingredient is fluralaner
  • Pork-flavored
  • FDA-approved

• Why It’s Great for Convenience:
  • Only needs to be administered about every three months

• Things to Consider:
  • Not recommended for dogs under 6 months of age or weighing under 4.4 lbs
  • If wanting 3 months of protection, make sure to choose standard Bravecto instead of 1-month Bravecto
  • If the lone star tick is a major concern, may need to administer every 8 weeks
  • Not recommended for dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disease
  • Requires a prescription from your veterinarian
  • Most common side effects are vomiting, decreased appetite, diarrhea, and lethargy

NexGard – Best for Dogs in High-Risk Areas

Shop NexGard

• Key Features:
  • The only product FDA-approved to prevent deadly Lyme disease as a direct result of killing black-legged ticks
  • Effective against fleas and four types of ticks (black-legged ticks, American dog ticks, lone star ticks, and brown dog ticks)
  • Can be given with or without food
  • Lasts up to one month
  • Starts killing fleas within 4 hours of administration
  • Active ingredient is afoxolaner
  • Beef-flavored

• Why It’s Great for Dogs in High Risk Areas:
  • FDA-approved to prevent Lyme disease because of its efficacy against ticks

• Things to Consider:
  • Not recommended for puppies under 8 weeks of age or dogs under 4.0 lbs
  • Not recommended for dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disease
  • Requires a prescription from your veterinarian
  • Most common side effects are vomiting, dry skin, diarrhea, lethargy, and loss of appetite

Please note that NexGard Plus is also an option. NexGard Plus is similar to Simparica Trio in that it protects dogs against heartworms, fleas, ticks, and several internal parasites. This monthly, beef-flavored chew contains the active ingredients afoxolaner, moxidectin, and pyrantel. The same considerations apply to NexGard Plus that apply to NexGard, except your dog will also have to get a heartworm test before they can take NexGard Plus.

Pet Honesty Flea + Tick Defense – Best Natural Chewable

Shop Pet Honesty Flea + Tick Defense

• Key Features:
  • Claims to naturally ward off fleas, ticks, and mites
  • Ingredients include brewer’s yeast, coconut oil, garlic powder, flaxseed, organic hemp seed powder, organic hemp seed oil, apple cider vinegar, vitamin B12, vitamin B1, and vitamin B6
  • Hickory bacon-flavored soft chew
  • Made in a facility that is Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-compliant
  • Doesn’t require a prescription

• Why It’s Great for Pet Parents:
  • Provides a well-reviewed option for pet parents interested in natural ingredients

• Things to Consider:
  • Not FDA-approved
  • Requires daily administration
  • Not intended for dogs under 1 year of age
  • Should be given on a full stomach
  • May take 4 weeks to see results
  • May cause diarrhea
  • May have anticoagulant effects at high doses
  • Excessive use may cause Heinz body anemia (due to garlic)
  • Considered a supplement and not intended to replace prescription preventatives

How We Chose the Best Chewable Flea and Tick Products for Dogs

The selection of these products was based on proven effectiveness against both fleas and ticks. Aside from the natural product, all listed products are FDA-approved and vet-recommended. The natural product is manufactured in a GMP-compliant facility. All products are designed to be palatable for dogs and are easily dosed based on weight.

Please note that there are other great products that are not on our list. Your veterinarian may recommend another safe, affordable, effective product, such as NexGard PLUS.

Our Take on Chewable Flea and Tick Medicine for Dogs

Flea and tick preventatives should be taken year-round, especially in warmer and temperate climates. However, before starting a new prevention, it’s important to consult with your veterinarian. Your veterinarian is familiar with your pet’s individual medical history, as well as the specific parasites and tickborne diseases of concern in your area. If your veterinarian’s recommendations conflict with ours, we would encourage you to follow your veterinarian’s advice.

Keep in mind that when it comes to flea treatment, you will need to treat your dog, any other pets in the home, and the home environment. In severe cases, you may need to consult with a pest control company.

Conclusion

Keeping your pet on flea and tick prevention is essential to your dog’s health and well-being. Prescription chewable flea and tick medicines are a convenient, effective, and veterinarian-approved method to keep ectoparasites at bay. Always consult your veterinarian before starting any new flea and tick treatment to ensure it’s the best choice for your pet. Consistent use of preventatives, regular grooming, and a clean home environment will help keep your dog safe, healthy, and itch-free.

Author Bio:

Dr. Rhiannon Koehler is a Kansas-based veterinarian and freelance veterinary writer with over a decade of experience in the veterinary field. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Master of Public Health degrees from the University of Missouri and is the founder of Evergreen Medical Writing, LLC. Her primary goal in writing is to provide veterinarian-written content that pet parents can trust. Dr. Koehler is passionate about providing affordable veterinary care to underserved communities, and most of her clinical work involves performing surgeries for an animal shelter and low-cost veterinary clinic. Dr. Koehler is a proud dog and cat mom who enjoys spoiling her pets with her wife.