Combination heartworm/flea and tick products are popular these days and represent a large profit center for pet pharmacy companies and for veterinarians. While these products may convenient to you, the pet owner, they're probably costing you more money than if you purchased each medication separately.

For example, if you aren't having a tick problem, do you really need to be paying for a combination product that controls ticks as well as fleas and heartworms? Also, some flea control products will control fleas for longer than 30 days, especially if you brush your pet on a regular basis. Case in point: According to the product label, a single application of Frontline Plus will control fleas for up to three months. If the product you are using has similar efficacy, why apply it monthly? Unfortunately, if it's combined with heartworm prevention in a single product, you have no choice because the heartworm component of the medication MUST be given monthly.

Another advantage of separating medications is that you can stagger their administration, thereby reducing the stress on your pet's system. For instance, you can administer the heartworm medication on the first of the month and the flea/tick medication on the 15th. For smaller pets, this may be the way to go.

Think about it: It's kind of like human cold medicines. You can choose to take the individual medications for the specific symptoms you're suffering, or you can blast your system with a combination product that target every cold symptom known to man. In the latter instances, you're loading your system with chemicals that may serve no useful purpose. Not only that, these combo meds usually end up costing you more than the individual generic components.

If you're happy with a particular combination product and it seems to serve its purpose, by all means stick with it. However, you may find that by splitting up the components, you'll save a significant amount of money.