wet brown lab looks out over water

Stamp Out Fleas, Ticks and Lice with Seresto!

Reading Time: 6 MIN

We should all be aware by now that as of March 20th, Spring officially arrived! The sun is shining and warming up the earth, the springtime rains have begun, the grass is growing again (or it never stopped during this warm winter!), and bugs are once again out and about and bothering me.

My favorite part about spring is the sunshine, but my least favorite part has to be the bugs, and I know my dogs feel the same way. Spring means more scratching and more flea and tick prevention for pets. There are several methods for warding off and killing these tiny irritating critters, but my favorite method is the Seresto collar! Click here to read more about the other forms of flea and tick protection available at Hollywood Feed.

How Does Seresto Work?

The inside of a Seresto collar showing the locking mechanism.For 8 full months, Seresto kills and repels fleas before they lay eggs, kills and repels ticks, kills chewing lice, and can even help to treat and control sarcoptic mange on dogs. It is also water resistant and super easy to use! So, how does a simple collar do all this? Turns out it’s not so simple after all:

Seresto has two active ingredients which are embedded within the collar: Imidacloprid and Flumethrin. This means there are two ingredients working together to keep your pet safe and healthy.

Once you put the Seresto collar on your dog (or cat!), these ingredients will spread from the neck where the collar has made contact to the rest of your pet’s skin surface.

The Seresto collar is made of a unique polymer matrix which is able to slowly and continuously release the Imidacloprid and Flumethrin over an eight-month period.

My Seresto Pros:

Easy and Adjustable

The side of a Seresto collar showing the adjustable bands.A Seresto collar couldn’t be more simple to use. There is no wrestling with your cat to get him to take a pill, and no trying to get your energetic dog to sit still why you put liquid on his back in just the right spot.

Seresto is simply a flexible, adjustable collar that you fit to your pet’s size and slide right on his neck!

Seresto can also be used on puppies as young as 7 weeks of age and kittens as young as 10 weeks.

Not Messy or Smelly

A person putting a Seresto collar on a Hound mix.One of the reasons that the Seresto collar is my go-to method for flea and tick prevention is because it is odorless and not messy like some liquid topicals or dips.

Many flea and tick treatments smell weird and they can rub off on our furniture or bedding.

Your dog may even go roll in the dirt right after a topical is applied, ending up with a dirty stain on his back.

There is also a day or two after application of topicals or after giving your dog a flea bath when he can’t be bathed for fear of washing off the preventive ingredients. However, with Seresto, the collar just needs to be removed from your dog’s neck and then replaced after the bath. Although, the collar is water resistant, so don’t worry about getting caught in the rain!

8 Months of Protection

A Seresto collar in its container after purchase.I buy one Seresto collar for each of my dogs in March, and they have protection against fleas, ticks and lice until November!

That’s 8 full months where I don’t have to think again about flea and tick prevention. No monthly pills or applications makes life easier for me.

Multiple Sizes

2 Seresto collars. One coiled up still the other shown stretched out.

No matter your dog’s size, there is a Seresto collar to fit him. They come in sizes large and small, but no matter which one you pick, they are both adjustable.

There are also Seresto collars for cats, which is definitely needed if your cat spends any time outdoors.

The large dog collar, which is what all three of my dogs use, is 27 inches long from end to end. It can fit a neck circumference that is anywhere from 11 in to 25.5 inches.

It Works!

I used Seresto on my dogs for the first time last year, with no other flea and tick treatment…and not one of them ended up with fleas or ticks all year long, after multiple dog park trips!

My Seresto Cons:

Collar May Come Off

Here’s a frustrating story: My youngest dog Fitzgerald has a bad habit first thing in the morning, when I am getting out of bed. He is always pumped up to get the day started, go into the backyard to do his business, and eat breakfast. So pumped up that he cannot contain his excitement. He expresses this excitement by making noises under his breath and grabbing the collar of my oldest dog, Skeeter, with his teeth and chewing and tugging on it. I admittedly have not properly trained him to stop doing this, so Skeeter’s collar – and also his flea collar – occasionally end up on the floor after having been chewed off of him. Annie, my middle dog, does not put up with this behavior from Fitz and her collar is always safe. Last year I remedied this collar-chewing situation by zip-tying the collar back together.

A person fitting a Seresto collar on a Lab.I only tell this frustrating story so that everyone realizes that Seresto collars can come off at some point during the 8 months when your dog is wearing it. It may be chewed off by another dog, get caught on something in your house or backyard and get pulled off, or it can simply become loosened over time and fall off.

Remember to check and make sure your dog is still wearing his Seresto collar regularly, otherwise you may not realize that he no longer has flea and tick protection!

A note for cat lovers: Seresto cat (and small dog) collars are designed with a safety release mechanism. If your cat (or small dog) becomes stuck, he should be able to loosen his Seresto collar enough to get away by simply tugging. A very hard tug can actually break the collar at a built-in breaking point for emergencies!

Visibility Reflectors  

Another downside, or maybe it’s more on the unhelpful side, is the visibility reflectors included with each Seresto collar. They can be snapped onto the collar to help our pets be seen at night. My experience with these reflectors is that they come off of the collar very easily (not from chewing and tugging, just normal wear).

Last year I found the reflectors randomly around my home and yard. This could be hazardous if your dog eats plastic, or if you have a young child at home!

A Few Tips:

A person showing how to properly put a Seresto collar through the tabs to secure.Make sure your pet’s Seresto collar is tight enough that the active ingredients can get close to your pet’s skin, not just on top of his fur.

Wash your hands after initially handling the Seresto collar and putting in on your pet.

Do not allow young children access to Seresto collars as the ingredients should not be ingested.


Now you know my reasons for using Seresto during flea and tick season. I don’t think there’s another form of prevention that’s so easy to use! Shop Seresto Collars at Hollywood Feed’s website now, to make sure your pet is protected. 

Do you already use Seresto collars on your dog or cat? Have an opinion? Let us know what you think in the comment section below!

Related Blogs

Follow us On Social

This Post Has One Comment

Leave a Reply