Welcome to Flea Season, Chicago!

Welcome to April and flea season, and the heartworm season will be just around the corner, too, in Chicago. Our blog and dog friends live around the world – we’re now visited by interesting people and fabulous doggies in 16 countries – so we know it is always flea season somewhere.

This morning, as the ground is beginning to warm here (even though the tv weatherperson said this morning that there could be snow showers later in the week – will it never end?!), I began to ponder Jake’s fleas and heartworm needs. Peering into his stash of supplies in the kitchen “Jake drawer” (and it is difficult to do so without Jake trying to nose around in there at the same time), it seems the supplies are getting low.

I’ve always purchased our supplies directly from Jake’s vet – whom we both adore – yet the office has always given me the impression that they may charge a bit more than others. Sometimes I’ve been lucky enough to tap into a special manufacturer’s deal for vets' patients and get an extra vial in a 6 pack. My impression has been that Jake’s vet sells the medications as a convenience (and for profit) for the pets and their owners (to make sure they take them for the pet’s health), and that I could rest assured that Jake would be getting the real stuff and not a knock-off. So the additional cost was acceptable to me. Indeed, sometimes when I would see Frontline hanging in some pet supplies stores (that shall go nameless), they appeared dusty and worn – making me wonder, are they knock-offs?

As I've always say – “nothing but the best for my dog!”

Today, for a change, motivated in part by my desire to be of some use with this blog by having my fingers do the walking for you, I decided to pay a visit to Doctors Fosters and Smith to do a bit of comparison pricing. They look like a couple of nice guys, although Jake didn’t take a shine to them the way he does to Dr. Grogman.

Surprisingly, not only did Dr. Fosters & Smith have some good prices, they were also helpful in my general research. Searching for Frontline Plus (the brand Jake uses), I found a complete, up to date comparison table for pricing several pet supply companies.

Turns out that Jake’s 6 pack of frontline at Dr. Grogman’s is $88.80 and that Drs. Fosters & Smith charges $73.99. A similar exercise for Heartgard Plus (12 tabs) was $80.04 and $65.52.

So, just as I was about to tell you that I was going to purchase from Drs. Fosters & Smith, I took a stroll over to Amazon and found a vendor who will sell a six pack of Frontline Plus to us for $59.99, but I don't know what the shipping is. Drs. Fosters & Smith doesn’t charge for shipping on these medications. . .and they have a well known brand. So, you figure out for yourself which is the best deal. (And, I'll leave it to Wags to put up the Amazon contact info to the right...)

Yes, I’ll feel a little guilty buying from someone else - I do like supporting my local vet. And, don’t tell Jake. In any event, I’ll make it up to him with a visit to Dr. Grogman and Jeff, the best vet tech, soon.