Ah, I know Empuriabrava well; I have three sets of friends with properties there, and have spent a lot of time there. The area they are in (Port Primer) doesn't get many midges, but I've stayed elsewhere in the town that has been a nightmare for them - and tiger mosquitoes, ick. We've not had a recurrence of the midges since, which is great, so I think whilst it's dry we're safe, and going to our usual part of the river, rather than where there's standing water is a good plan. I had a scare yesterday evening when I was on my veggie plot; I saw a small swarm of them circling above me, then turned to see thousands of the bloomin' things! It hadn't rained, so I was doubting my reasoning of it only being a problem when it's wet. The dogs were inside, so I wasn't worried about Willow, anyhow, but it made me think we'd have to go for something more than just avoidance. About thirty minutes later, I was on our small patio area, and saw loads of flying ants coming from the ground - it was then I realised that that's what the swarms were, not midges. So, pretty grim, but at least they're only around for a day or so.
Just for info - I asked my vet this morning whether it would be ok to use a topical spot-on treatment as well as Bravecto, and she said she wouldn't advise it, unless absolutely necessary.
Thanks, Karen. It's what I've been told, too. My vet said, because of the high number of ticks they were still getting with the Advantix, that Bravecto would be better, since it kills them, but then we had a problem of live, unattached ticks being brought into the house, so the increased risk to us and the ferrets - not to mention the ick factor! Additionally, and importantly, Bravecto doesn't protect against leishmaniosis. That's when the vet advised Frontline Tri-Act alongside the Bravecto. I think that possibly Bravecto just isn't for us, and we should just go back to using Advantix and the tick tool daily. But, having said that I hadn't found any dead ticks on them for a while, I found two yesterday. So, maybe I should give the Scalibor collars a go and just dissuade them from biting them. Maybe they'll taste bad and so they won't do it more than once anyway! One day, someone will come up with the perfect solution for all our anti-insect and anti-parasite needs.
I know what you mean, it's a conundrum. Up until now I've found Bravecto to be really great - and it is indeed still doing its work after eight weeks, killing any ticks that attach. But the ticks are soooooo bad this year (mild winter followed by a wet, humid spring - perfect tick weather) that we are picking several off Poppy after every excursion out of the house; and we are finding them on (or under!) our clothing and as I said I have been bitten twice in the last week. I even took the strimmer to the wild portion of our garden at the weekend, since Pops couldn't go for a wee in the garden without bringing several back into the house. I just hope the weather changes soon and we get some dry weather, since that stops the little monsters better than anything else. I know people who swear by the Scalibor collars. I don't like that you have to have the collar so tight in order for it to work, or that it is a poison that is so accessible to other dogs or children, or that it is poisonous to aquatic life. Sigh.
All of this! And they rub the fur away, which I know is just cosmetic, but I would far rather have my two "naked" when at home. And my sister's cocker was wearing a brand new one last year when she took him on holiday to Spain, and yet he still got bitten badly and ended up quite poorly from it. It was correctly fitted, tight to the skin. And, when we go for walks in our woodland, which has quite narrow paths (which need clearing, but, priorities...), I'd be concerned about them getting caught on branches... J has done a fantastic job of strimming a huge amount of the land closest to the house, but with over 7 hectares, that's too much for one man and a petrol strimmer! We're looking for a cheap tractor to buy to do the majority, but in the meantime, that's a lot of long grass still for them to run around in.
