ticks

[Corn Niblet]

Hello Everyone,

This is my first experience with ticks, I have not spoken to the vet yet as I wanted to get your feedback. I would like to know if anyone has had good/bad reactions to any of the tick prevention medications. Rocky is now 6 months old, housebroken (yeah!) and weighs 18 pounds. I found a tick on him today and one on  myself two days ago. Temps in the 90's here. I also  have indoor cats so something I can use on Rocky that won't bother them.  Also other than keeping my grass short does anyone else know if there is any thing I can do to keep ticks out of the yard? Thanks for your input. Rocky's mom.

[pkcrossley]

due to global climate change many places are having problems with ticks that they have not had before. my teddy has a neurological condition that makes using any kind of systemic medicines unwise, so over the years i have had to explore all the alternatives. first is knowledge: most (say 80-90 percent) of ticks are not carrying disease (though allergies to their bites are common and can cause problems). ticks must be feeding for a goodly amount of time (perhaps a minimum of 24 hours) before they can transmit disease. so, first defense is checking your dog (or yourself) daily or twice a day for ticks, and have a good tool to remove any enemies found. keeping the grass short is a powerful preventative, combined with keeping your dog out of any taller grass and preventing him from sleeping on the grass. for yourself, wear calf-length or higher rubber boots when working in the yard, and if you have to get on the ground use a rubber ground covering to minimize contact. as you know, the whole problem is that ticks are microscopic (and able to crawl through most textiles) when they get on you or your pet. fortunately, they cannot do real damage until they have become of a size to be detectable, particularly to touch. and even if you have your dog on a preventative med, you will need to do all the mechanical interventions in case the med does not work (common). ticks are very nasty people, but the odds are that you can interfere with them before they do any real damage --since only a minority of them are able to transmit any disease, if you find a tick, don't assume the worst. watch yourself or your pet closely for any possible symptoms (rash, stiffness, fever, lethargy) and consult with a vet (or doctor) for possible antibiotic treatment if anything strange appears. 

and no,  i don't know a way of keeping ticks out of the yard. you can try to keep deer and moose away (high fences would work best) but, really, there are many other vectors by which ticks can arrive, and it is best to just look for them at the target rather than the source. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote

 

 

Edited June 14, 2016 by pkcrossley

[Hillscreek]

We have many white tail deer here who are frequently in our yard and where we walk. Currently I'm using Bravecto. A tablet given every three months. Give with a meal to avoid upset stomach. Never a tick to be seen on Angus. There's no way to keep tick out of the yard that I know of. Angus runs in long grass and walks where deer have been. I used to use K9 Advantix11 which worked well but was messy to put on him and had to be repeated every month. I used not to use this during the winter but now winters here are warmer than they were so he needs to be on this prevention all year round. It only takes one bite from an infected tick to cause a problem. Deer ticks are very small so you'll likely know when you see one.

It may depend on where you live and Rocky's general health as to what's the best way to keep ticks at bay. See what your vet suggests. Mine uses Bravecto for her dogs and I switched two years ago. Very pleased that I did.

 

[Sam I Am]

I don't use anything except a bevy of essential oils by Dr Mercola. Rosie had a very bad reaction to Advantix so no more chemicals on my girls skin. Sure I am nervous about the whole tick thing as we now have a few incidents up here in the Edmonton area (yeah global warming), but given her reaction and the issue with Scotties and pesticides (bladder cancer ) I feeI I have no choice but to use the essential oils and be very vigilant.

Edited June 14, 2016 by Terrier lover

[Corn Niblet]

Thanks everyone for your help! I have lived in my current home for 25 years and never had ticks before.  My  last dog was half beagle and half Scottish terrier and passed away from bladder cancer at age 8. Except for the genetic predisposition we never did know what caused it. He was never on flea or tick prevention.

[hheldorfer]

We use Advantix and haven't noticed any issues from it.  That said, we live in a residential neighborhood and not out in/near the woods like Hillscreek and others.

[Sam I Am]

Corn niblet did you or a neighbour use fertilizer or herbicides on your lawn?

[_whits_]

I use Frontline Plus and Addie has never had a bad reaction and the only two ticks I've found on her were the two times I forgot the reapplication (by a day). In addition to a preventative, I highly recommend a lyme disease vaccine IF lyme is prevalent in your area. 

This is a great resource to see what parasites and parasite-spread diseases are prevalent in your ares: http://www.capcvet.org/parasite-prevalence-maps/

[Corn Niblet]

To answer Terrier lovers question,  I am sure they have a lawn service that sprays for weeds next door to us. They have perfect grass and lots of dead earthworms on the street. Maybe that was it.

[Sam I Am]

Corn niblet you will never know but there is a lot of research on Scotties and bladder cancer relating to lawn pesticides and herbicides . We never use anything nore do most of our neighbours. Thanks goodness. Harmful for the dog, the environment and us. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15112777

Given the very high rate of cancer among all dogs I suspect many chemicals are part of the cause. 

Edited June 14, 2016 by Terrier lover

[Dempsy's Mom]

Housebroken - check.  Congratulations Rocky. 

It's been a hot spring here too.  Demps and Els use Bravecto also.  This is the first year we have used it and it works great.  When a tick does clamp on to them the ticks dies, but for the most part no ticks at all.  Before this year it was Frontline and that worked so so.

[Corn Niblet]

Thanks Dempsy's  mom. My vet recommended Bravecto so that is the one we will use.  We take him to a lot of parks (on a leash of course) but now he will be safe there too. I am so happy about the housebreaking. One day you could see  the light came on, just like everyone said it would.