Dealing and cleaning up fleas and ticks can be a nuisance, especially if your pet is infested with them. Not only can that be annoying for all parties involved, it can pose a serious threat to your pet's health. Fleas can cause skin problems in your pet that can lead to skin infections. Pets can also have an allergic reaction to flea saliva or even suffer from anemia due to the loss of blood caused by fleas. When it comes to ticks, one bite from a disease-ridden tick could transmit harmful diseases to your pet, such as Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

One surefire way to keep fleas and ticks at bay is through prevention. Using flea and tick preventatives is a great method to keep your pet and home flea- and tick-free. There are many types of prevention for pet parents to choose from, such as topical medications and oral medications. For pet parents who aren't huge fans of those, there's another effective prevention method: flea and tick collars.

While both topical and oral prevention are indeed effective in preventing fleas and ticks, sometimes it's the pets that don't agree with them. Some pets might get sick from oral prevention and some might get itchy from topical prevention. Similarly, these preventions might not be ideal for the pet parent. Some pet parents might not like the sticky mess a topical can cause or they don't particularly enjoy trying to orally administer a chewable tablet to a finicky pet. Collars are a great alternative to these situations.

What makes collar preventatives different from others is that it is simply put around the neck like a normal collar, and it is left on until the next "dose" is due. Some collars, like Seresto, last up to 8 months. When collars are taken out of the package and put on your pet, they release a pesticide in low doses over an extended period of time either in the area around your pet or absorbed through your pet's skin and distributed throughout the body.

Flea and tick collars can be used on both dogs and cats, and are great to use in the case of a flea infestation. Most of them are waterproof, making it perfect for pets that spend any time in the water. Collars provide long-lasting protection from disease-carrying fleas and ticks.

Since there are many different kinds of collars, it can be difficult to choose and can vary based on your pet's lifestyle. One collar might be perfect for an outdoor cat and another might be a better option for a dog that spends most of its life inside. Plus, some collars offer different benefits than others: some kill both fleas and ticks and others can help control sarcoptic mange. To help you decide which collar is best for your pet, refer to the chart above.