Since December I have removed ticks from Hattie & Charlie, we don't normally see them until at least March/April, I have treated them but it must be this warmer weather it's not as cold as it should be for this time of the year. Arrgghh I hate them they are vile Anyone else removed ticks? x
Re: The Little Blighters are Back That's bad luck Helen. They are horrible. We haven't seen any since the bravecto in July Not sure if its the bravecto or if its been a quiet year - possibly both.
Re: The Little Blighters are Back Huh. Yuck. What a cheek of the darned things! Charlie got his first ticks this summer. I removed them, messed the first one up though (thankfully with no ill effects). Then bought shares in tom-o-tick remover tool thingy and Advantix. Last I saw of them...hate 'em.
Re: The Little Blighters are Back I saw and removed my first tick ever this year. The last one about August. Hopefully after two nearly three bloomin months of rain, they have all drowned.
Re: The Little Blighters are Back I took one off my cat a couple of months ago. In Australia, when I was growing up, it was my job to take the ticks of our dog. But I had never seen one on a cat. I usually put them in water. Oh, I once had one on me in the south of France.
Re: The Little Blighters are Back My Gavin (Cavalier, long hair) got ticks all the time. I used one of those twister thingies then drowned them in vodka! Callum, his brother, never got one. So far these two have never had one - touch a LOT of wood! I hate hate them.
Re: The Little Blighters are Back Very unlucky Helen to get ticks at this time of year. Horrible things. Coincidentally I was looking at Lizi Angels website yesterday www.caninemind.co.uk In her blog section she's done an article on 'Unwelcome visitors ticks and fleas' I found it very interesting as I've never been keen on spot on treatments especially having two dogs that like to lick each other. There is a link to a website with info compiled by Natural Resources Defence council about flea and tick treatments. What's in them and the safest ones to use for your dog. She and the website linked to do stress that the risk of disease from ticks, so if in a high tick area, needs to be weighed up against the possible effects of the chemical treatments. There were a lot of, what they consider, safer treatments than frontline for example although I haven't had chance to look into them further.
Re: The Little Blighters are Back [quote author=Boogie link=topic=9471.msg136475#msg136475 date=1421050003] I used one of those twister thingies then drowned them in vodka! [/quote] What a waste of vodka! But at least they died happy
Their back after only a few days of warm weather, I found a full tick on the floor today Treatment for Hattie & Charlie tonight - arrgg.
Ooo , nasty little perishers I use Bravecto on our dogs as we go to forests a lot , many deer = ticks . Have to say that in the time we have been giving them the tablets , we haven't seen a one, or a flea either, hate them
Bravect has been great for us too. Just got mine the other day. Hanging off another couple of weeks before giving it. Usually give 2 doses over the year that seems to do for us. March/April to Sept/Oct coverage
Where I live we have a definite tick season: just after the winter rains. It lasts about 1-2 months. Thereafter very seldom see ticks in our usual walking area. When I do see a tick on Snowie -- thankfully he has white fur and I can see them crawling around before they've attached -- I tear them apart! It's amazing how tough they are. Usually I only manage to tear off the legs. If I can't manage to kill them completely, I put them on a hard surface and slice them in half with my nail. I do feel sorry for them, don't like killing any creature, but I'd feel worse if they were sucking on Snowie's blood. If I find one that has been attached for some time, I squash it between a tissue (blood usually spurts out), make sure it's completely dead. It's probably a fruitless exercise, probably hundreds ready to take the place of the dead one. With the Bravecto, I've become a lot less vigilant (hope it's not a fool's paradise). We were in a tick area and I noticed them scurrying over his fur, but none appeared to have attached -- apparently due to the Bravecto, not that I know how that works, I thought they needed to take a bite first before being killed by the active ingredient.
I have used Bravecto as well with great effect, but have to admit I am nervous about the long-term effects... However, our woods crawl with ticks in spring, and can carry Lyme disease and meningitis, so I juggle trying to protect as far as possible against ticks and fleas, while keeping the dosage as low as possible... Like Jacqui, I try to stick to two dosages a year.
We also use Bravecto since 2 years on Odin and the results are great! Our woods were swarming with ticks last summer! One dose usually lasts for about 3 month so 2 doses a year are more than enough for us. Since Odin is in an out of the water on almost a daily basis on our walks an trainings spot on treatment isn't really an option for us. And i doubt these spot ons are a lot healthier especialy when you have to use them frequently?
Do those of you who live in high volume tick country use any precautions on yourselves, other than just thorough checking? I'd love it if there were a Bravecto-type tablet we could take for when we're in Spain, because it appears there are loads of them there
Ugh....one of the benefits of our cold climate is that we don't get many of these around here. I use Advantix in the spring, but really I only need to do one treatment.
Just checking ourselves. I have never been bitten, David and Thomas seem to be regular targets. Pretty awful last year for David so we have to be careful and watch out all the time for the signs. He favours walking in the woods but I like open spaces but even so the long grass in the summer months is where they lurk too. I think I would be physically sick if I found one attached to me
We check thoroughly, wear long trousers tucked into socks when in long grass, wear caps if going through thick woods, etc etc. The main thing is to carefully monitor any bite spots, and if the area becomes inflamed and red to see a doctor immediately. Ugh. I am also vaccinated against myelitis encephalitis (spring meningitis - must remember to check that vaccination is up to date!), but as far as I am aware there is no vaccination for Lyme Disease. We also check Poppy when we come back from a walk; luckily with her light coloured coat the little horrors show up well. I found the spot-on treatments far less effective than the Bravecto. The other alternative is the Scalibor collar, which supposedly works well, but it carries poison which can be transferred to humans and is also very poisonous to aquatic life and so should not be used in water (which is a nuisance if you have a dog that loves to swim).
Thanks. I believe I read somewhere that there used to be a Lyme vaccination, but it was withdrawn. If we get the Spanish property (received an email yesterday saying we should be signing in 5-7 days, eeek!) then it is prime tick country and, especially until the land is cleared of tall grass, I think I'll use Bravecto with the dogs. I currently use Advantix, but I still found ticks on them last summer. It's not so bad on Shadow, because I can see them easily, but it's easy to miss them on Willow, especially in places like between the toes. And I don't even want to think about that picture I saw last summer with the tick on the dog's gum - ew! The Scalibor collars won't work for us because they adore water.
David is pretty paranoid about ticks he wears long trousers tucked in etc. but still they manage to bite him. I can't stand long trousers in the summer and walk with uncovered legs and fingers crossed I have never been bitten. As Karen says it's really very important to check for the 'bulls eye' inflamation around the bite, off the your GP immediately and I think there a flu like symptoms also. Horrid for humans and our dogs @Karen they must be quite difficult to see on Poppy before they have attached as they are reddish colour?
