The tick season appears to have started already. Thought it might be worth putting these links up now http://www.bada-uk.org http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk I will put a detailed article up on the main site in the next few weeks and would be interested to know what tick prevention actions (if any) you take with your dogs and yourselves?
Re: Ticks I've used calandula oil last year but I was a bit hit and miss with it - I guess because I've never had a problem with ticks. Didn't realised they'd be about yet this year though so need to get some more oil in.
Re: Ticks What do you do with the oil Carole? Just dab it on? We didn't have any problems last year but Riley wasn't out and about as much as he'll be this year.
Re: Ticks yep i just put a few drops on with a dropper - would have had loads left but the bottle got the flying tail treatment one day...
Re: Ticks I have to say this is something I don't really think about - just remove them from the dogs and try not to tread on the odd one that turns up on the kitchen floor....
Re: Ticks I live in Germany and the woods are crawling with ticks (my partner got on one his stomach recently after playing in the garden! Eeek). They can carry Lyme Disease, and meningitis, so it is really important to remove them asap and even more important to prevent them. So I use frontline religiously on my older dog - and am checking the puppy every day, since obviously she cant have frontline yet.
Re: Ticks We have had lots of ticks to remove over the last couple of months - Home is Fife, and recent holiday on Isle of Skye/Kyle of Lochalsh. Most of them aren't a problem, but we have a residual "granuloma" on our Lilly's head from one removed about 10days ago. We seem to have no problem removing all the tick, this one included, so I don't think its from residual tick "parts". Any tips on how to get this healing any the quicker? Jacqui
Re: Ticks We used to get loads of ticks, moors, lots of sheep, chest high bracken - perfect tick country, we've used various remedies from sheep dip to collars, to giving up and just hooking them off every few days. We discovered homeopathic sulphur accidentally and have now been using it for years with good results so this year I decided to use the sulphur on it's own - no frontline - I wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing and had the frontline ready should the girls get covered. But we've only had one or two all summer. I know it's been really wet so it's probably not fair to compare with previous years but for us at least it seems to work, I find more little, unfed ones wandering across the kitchen the floor, having had a bite and decided it wasn't tasty I assume, than on the dogs. So we're sticking with it.
Re: Ticks That sounds interesting, how do you apply it, is it a powder or in one of those little homeopathic pills?
Re: Ticks It's the pills, you can get them in Boots or most chemists. The 30c strength. At the start of the season we give 2 twice a day for three days, then 2 once a day for three more days then 2 in one dose once a week and every 6-8 weeks a top up of 2 pills a day for a couple of days and then back to once a week. If we see some ticks either on the dogs or the floor we might add in an extra dose - I take them too, I don't want the little horrors either And so far, so good.
Re: Ticks Thats really good to know about, thank you . i hate putting chemical stuff on the dogs , my old Lab girl had a dreadful reaction to Frontline , it scared me to death
Re: Ticks That is very useful, I may well give that a go. The ticks here carry such terrible diseases, Lyme disease and meningitis, it's a question of balancing that against the chemical weaponry of frontline or exspot...
Re: Ticks I would recommend anyone using alternative tick treatments to contact BADA I assume that they will be aware of any trials or studies that have been done, and be able to reassure you as to whether the remedy has been proven to work. They have a range of repellent products on their website, their natural flea and tick spray contains citriodiol, and they also recommend calendula oil for those that do not want to use chemicals Lyme disease is such a nasty illness, and dogs can get it too... Pippa Please don't forget that some dog flea/tick sprays are deadly poisonous to cats. Might be relevant if your dog and cat share a bed.
Re: Ticks Pippa's right, Lymes is horrible. Regardless of which product or remedy you use make sure you know the symptoms and treatment. Really there is no complete protection against lymes, even the first bite can be infectious and some treatments take days to kill the tick. So whether you or your dog taste revolting (with the sulphur), smell strange (with the calendular) or are toxic (with the frontline and others) you're still at risk. Sorry to sound so doom laden. It's a bank holiday get out there and enjoy it (just avoid the little biters ).
