Hi – as per my previous question on micro-chipping, I have recently (accidentally) rescued a beagle puppy who is now approaching 6 months old. When I got her, the poor thing was riddled with worms which had led to an infection in her intestines. She has been to the vet and was of course cured with Drontal wormer along with Inceptor and antibiotics. However, due to the cost I no longer wish to purchase these meds from my vet when I can instead source from places such as 1-800-petmeds. My question is though, on reading up on the medications it seems that Inceptor is not only for heart worms but also treats and prevents hook worms,round worms and whip worms but not tape worms? Is there another broad spectrum wormer I could use that covers them all and then a seperate medication solely for heart worm prevention so that I am not overloading her little system? All advice much appreciated. Thank you.
Her flea treatment is up todate – I use frontline.

The ones I’ve seen are Heartgard, Iverhart, and Interceptor. Does it really matter which one I use? Are they all equally effective?

Also, will my dog need to go to the vet before I start her on heartworm medicine? I would rather order from 1-800-PetMeds than the vet, but I wasn’t sure if they’ll need to test her for heartworms before I start giving it to her.

Frontline has gotten expensive–even through 1-800-PetMeds and I have heard that with regular use of it, it can enter the bloodstream, be processed by the liver, and reduce the life of dogs up to 25%. The chemicals themselves aren’t even good for the skin. Are there any natural ways I can do at home that would prevent fleas in dogs?