Nexgard VS Simparica – Which is Safer for Dogs?
If you like to take your dog out on walks, there is always a certainty that your dog might get fleas or ticks. You must take precautions to keep them safe from nature’s unpleasant parasites as they can affect your dog’s health throughout the year. Hence, it is essential to administer flea and tick treatment for your dog.
Selecting the best suitable flea and tick treatment for dogs can get difficult since there are a lot of options out there. This is where the blog comes to your rescue. Simparica and Nexgard are two of the popular flea and tick monthly chewable. While both chewable are safe and aid in flea and tick prevention.

What are oral flea and tick treatments?
Oral preventatives usually come in a tablet form that your dog can eat like a treat. The drug then spreads inside a dog’s bloodline and circulates through his body. If any flea or tick bites your dog when he is on his oral preventative, the chemical will kill it by wrecking its nervous system.
What are Simparica and Nexgard Chewable?
Simparica is a monthly chewable that offers 35 days of protection to dogs from fleas and ticks. It is composed of Sarloner as an active ingredient that kills fleas and ticks and prevents their infestation. Simparica works against five species of ticks: Lone star tick, Golf Coast, American dog tick, and Brown dog tick. Simparica Tablet is suitable for dogs above 6 months of age and weighing 2.8 lbs and above
Just one dose provides triple protection
NexGard Flea & Tick Chewables offers 30-day protection against fleas and ticks. It is a palatable beef-flavored tablet that dogs love. It is effective in working against four different species of ticks: Black-legged tick, American dog tick, Lone Star tick, and Brown dog tick. Nexgard kills vector ticks causing borrelia burgdorferi infection. It is suitable for 8 weeks and older puppies, weighing 4 lbs of body weight and above.
Simparica vs Nexgard
Similarities
- Both Simparica and Nexgard are oral chewable treatment, administered on a monthly basis.
- Simparica and Nexgard kill fleas and ticks
- Both chewable can prevent Borrelia budorferi infection as a result of killing vector ticks (Ixodes scapularis)
- Safety for pregnant and lactating female dogs has not been evaluated for both chewable.
Differences
- Simparica and Nexgard are both monthly treatment but Simparica offers 5 days of extended protection i.e. 35 days of protection against fleas and ticks.
- Simparica and Nexgard kills different kind of ticks Simparica eliminates five varied species of ticks, while Nexgard kills four different species of ticks.
- The composition of active ingredients is different for both treatments. Nexgard’s active ingredients are Afoxolaner and Isoxazoline, while Simparica’s major ingredient is Sarolaner
- Both Simparica and Nexgard is flavored tablet.
- Flavors are different for Simparica tablets are coated with liver flavor and Nexgard tablets are beef-flavored
- Simparica and Nexgard are used for the same purpose but have different times of acting. Nexgard effectively kills 100% of fleas in 24 hours, and Simparica on the other hand, starts eliminating fleas within 3 hours and ticks within 8 hours of administration.
Comparison of Key Features
Features | Simparica | Nexgard |
Kills Fleas | ✓ | ✓ |
Repels Fleas | ✓ | ✓ |
Kills Flea Eggs and Larvae | Kills flea before they lay eggs | Kills flea before they lay eggs |
Kills Ticks | ✓ | ✓ |
Total Number of ticks it kills | Five | Four |
Kills Gulf Coast tick | ✓ | × |
Time taken to kill fleas | 3 hours | 8 hours |
Time taken to kill ticks | 8 hours | 48 hours |
Waterproof | ✓ | ✓ |
Taste | Liver flavored | Beef flavored |
Active Ingredient | Sarolaner | Afoxolaner and Isoxazoline |
Application Type | Hard chew | Soft Chew |
Dosing | 1 tablet per month – 35 days | 1 soft chew per month – 30 days |
Minimum age required | 6 months | 2 months |
Minimum weight required | 2.8 lbs | 4.4 lbs |
Manufacturer | Zoetis | Boehringer Ingelheim |
Safe for pregnant or lactating dogs | × | × |
Final verdict
Both these products are very similar in the treatment, the parameters on which these products can be differentiated includes time of fleas and tick elimination, composition of active ingredient, suitable starting age of dog and eliminating different number of tick species. No matter, which one of the treatment you choose for your canine friend, it is always best to discuss it with a veterinarian for your dog’s better health and wellbeing.