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Comment by cptaj | Hacker News Reader

Another amazing product is Bravecto for ticks and fleas.

I've had dogs all my life in a very tropical climate. I've battled with ticks for ages. It was always a combined-arms war of attrition just to keep them in check.

But then came Bravecto which is basically a WMD/Genocide machine for fleas and ticks. Just one simple pill and it eradicates them all. It stays active for 6 months too so it really just wipes them out from the area and the dogs stay clean for over a year after that.

This is a massive technological conquest, IMO

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How does it work?

I have always wondered how flea and tick medicine works. It makes your blood poisonous?

It’s not for people but yes, it makes the dog’s blood “poisonous”.

> It makes your blood poisonous?

It makes the blood poisonous to the central nervous system of the ticks.

Here is an article about them if you prefer reading: https://www.petmd.com/how-do-common-tick-medications-work-pe...

Or this video about them if you would rather watch and listen: https://youtu.be/4QDDHjRZIZM

if it affects flesh that way wouldn't it have clear effects on the internal organs? or are the biology of insects so much different vs mammals

this kind of technology perplexes me

Lots of poisons (and herbicides, and medicines too) work by targeting a single chemical pathway. E.g. binding to a specific receptor or doing something to a specific protein.

I think insects and mammals do have pretty different biology, but even if they didn't it would only take one chemical pathway that insects used and mammals didn't that you could exploit.

> if it affects flesh that way

I assume you meant to write fleas? But in case you meant flesh: it does not affect muscles directly, it affects neuro transmission. (which of course paralyses the muscles)

> wouldn't it have clear effects on the internal organs

Excellent question. And yeah it seems invertebrates have different molecular mechanism enough that these drugs affect them and not us vertebrates.

This does not appear to be 100% though. There are some, admittedly very rare, reports of neurological effects in pets. There is this[1] case for example of a Kooikerhondje exhibiting neurological symptoms. Luckily it seems at least in that case the symptoms cleared up on their own after about 10-11 hours.

> this kind of technology perplexes me

oh yeah. As far as I'm concerned "this is witchcraft" is actually a more satisfying answer than the reality.

Caution: There is a quite distressing video embedded in the article showing the dog exhibiting symptoms. You might want to skip this one.

1: https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-...

Fleas haven't been an issue here since i started keeping chickens. I only have 3 chickens right now, but still no fleas. This is the first year where ticks have been a nuisance, maybe 4-5 ticks a week on the animals that go outside. I usually also have guineafowl, but the local wildlife loves eating guineas, and they're 3x more expensive than chickens, so it's hard to keep throwing money at that problem. Guineas are much more effective at killing snakes and ticks than chickens, though, in my experience.

> It stays active for 6 months too

Are you sure it's 6 months? It's possible there might be different versions internationally, but the US version seems to claim 12 weeks (~3 months): https://us.bravecto.com/dogs/bravecto-for-dogs/

For sure. Fleas used to be impossible.

Also, pantry moths. My sticky pheromone traps have pretty much eliminated them.

You can also buy the wasps you release to kill the pantry moths, haha

let's see: on the one hand, a sticky trap I can put somewhere out of sight, and gives visible evidence of its effectiveness.

On the other hand, a bunch of little insects that fly around and catch the other little insects.

Tough choice.

Pheromone traps don't really work to eradicate an infestation. In my country they even have to be labeled as such. They are meant as an early warning system.

> don't really work to eradicate an infestation

I think if people don't see it, then operationally, it doesn't exist.

Is it just me or is this stuff stupid expensive (and going up in price over time)? I found the other one, NexGard, worked better with my dog for some reason. Not any less expensive though. That said, you are right... it works surprisingly well.

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