Efficacy of slow-release collar formulations of imidacloprid/flumethrin and deltamethrin and of spot-on formulations of fipronil/(s) - methoprene, dinotefuran/pyriproxyfen/permethrin and (s) –methoprene/amitraz/fipronil against Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Ctenocephalides felis felis on dogs

The first study comprised 4 groups of treated dogs and one untreated control group, and the second 3 groups of treated dogs and one control group. Each group consisted of 8 dogs. All dogs were infested with ticks and fleas at regular intervals. Ticks were counted 6？h, 18？h or 48？h after infestations and fleas 24？h after infestations. Efficacies of the treatments were calculated by comparison with the untreated control groups using standard descriptive statistics.The protective 48？h tick efficacy was 97.8% to 100% for the IVP (226？days), 69.3% to 97.4% for CP1 (170？days), 99.6% to 43.4% for CP2 (35？days) and 98% to 61.4% for CP3 (35？days).The protective 18？h tick efficacy was 98% to 99.6% for the IVP (71？days), 100% to 86.5% for CP4 (29？days), 100% to 72.8% for CP4 after re-treatment (35？days) and 98.8% to 54.3% for CP5 (35？days).The protective 6？h tick efficacy was 85.6% at Day 7 and 90.1% to 97.1% from Day 14 onwards for the IVP (70？days), 92.3% to 70.7% for CP4 (35？days), 97.5% to 65.2% for CP4 after re-treatment (35？days) and 95.1% to 51.8% for CP5 (35？days).The protective 24？h flea efficacy was 99.5/90.9% to 100% for the IVP (71/226？days), 66.7% to 83% for CP1 (170？days), 100% to 88.5% for CP2 (35？days), 100% to 73.3% for CP3 (35？days), 100% to 98.7% for CP4 (35？days), 100% to 87.5% for CP4 after re-treatment (35？days) and 100% to 79.5% for CP5 (35？days).These data suggest that the long-term efficacy provided by a medicated collar that is effective, is a means to overcome the fluctuating efficacy of spot-on treatments resulting from a lack of pet owner re-treatment compliance, and consequently protect animals successfully against ectoparasites and probably vector-borne diseases.