I hate ticks!

[Journey]

Just an FYI - dogs are highly offended by Citronella, that's why they make a bark collar that sprays it!

 

I've come to the conclusion that ticks just simply morph from nothing nowhere to everywhere....

[RMSBORDERCOLLIES]

At the start of summer I let Blake charge about through the forest off-lead, crash through fernbrake and roll around in the grass. It was an act of newb stupidity. Over the next three or four days, I found 23 ticks on his body and after treatment another six fell off dead.

 

That's 29 ticks people!

 

Since then, I've been more careful but we hike every day and he is still picking them up at the rate of about one or two per week.

 

I know that ticks crawl to the end of grass stalks and wait for an animal to brush past. But, as I am a bit squeamish, I'm being very careful to make sure Blake does not brush up against vegetation during our hikes. And the trail I'm keeping to for summer is pretty wide.

 

So is it possible these ticks are in the dead leaves that carpet the trail and on which Blake sits for the occasional rest? Unless they're parachuting from the treetops onto his back, I'm perplexed.

 

Blake has a collar and gets a monthly topical Spot On-type treatment. Is that enough? And short of avoiding the forests, is there any way to reduce his contact with ticks? And what kind of vegetation accommodates ticks? Is it just grass or can they wait on tree leaves and fern fronds as well? Could he even be picking them up from the concrete outside where there are swarms of stray cats prowling around at night?

 

Thanks in advance for your general tick-avoidance and treatment related feedback.

 

—Ben and Blake.

 

Nancy and I have used Revolution for years now, I think since 1999 with extremely good success. It is a heart worm medication which also gets fleas, mites, ticks and most worms. Once every thirty days is the dosing and don't try to go any longer if you want to be safe. We travel all over the country, both Canada and the States and have found it to be fool proof so far. That includes Arizona and CA in all seasons. Bob Stephens

[desertranger]

Ticks are the same as tribbles. I don't envy any of you for the problems you have with ticks. Here there doens't seem to be any rhyme or reason when the ticks come or not and after the tick invasion years ago I be just as glad if I never see another.

 

 

I found a product I use for severe insect bites called After Bite Extra. Available at Walgrens. It's a medicinal grade of ammonia. A friend in NoCals' dog picked up some ticks and he tried it and he said that the ticks released almost at once. I would like to know if this really works.

[Bill Fosher]

I know this bad person. We'll call him Phil Bosher (not his real name). When he was looking at prices of tick preventatives in his catalogs this spring, he got out his trusty calculator and figured out that basically no matter what he did, the products to keep ticks off his dogs were going to cost him over $600 this year. He had dutifully shelled that -- and sometimes much more when he had more dogs -- out in past years (before he became a bad person), but he still found copious ticks on his dogs. He had tried Frontline, Advantix, and Preventic collars with varying results. Frontline was as effective for him as burning a $10 bill every month for each dog. Advantix and the collars had worked initially, but seemed to have lost their effectiveness in recent years.

 

So Phil said, "Screw it. Let's just do nothing and see what happens." So far, the last time I checked with Phil about four months into the tick season in his climate, the number of ticks on the dogs was about the same as it was last year with Advantix. The lesson he has drawn from this is that at least so far, in his climate, this is an expense that he can trim if not eliminate from his dog budget.

 

Where Phil lives, ticks are usually the worst in the fall, just after the first frost. So he is reserving judgment and may keep a handful of Preventic collars on hand just in case things get nasty in October.

[mbc1963]

I think I live near Phil Bosher, and yes, Frontline is useless in the area. K9 Advantix still seems to have some minor effect, but I have a friend (let's call her Clary Meth Bark) who only applied it once this year, in the spring when the first ticks woke up. It successfully staved off that early round of bad tick infestation, but she hasn't applied it again since, and hasn't found a single tick on her dog, either. Her dog mostly walks on wide packed trails in the woods, and rarely goes running through the underbrush.

 

She might apply it in the fall when the last bad infestation kicks in. Maybe not.

 

Can I tell you she also doesn't use the Heartguard as often as the label says? (Gasp!)

 

Mary

[Patty Abel]

Wish I could push a button and "like" the last two comments like on facebook. thank you.