Ticks?

katie4253

We are having a hell of a time with ticks on one of our dogs.  We treat both with Frontline Plus.  We've always used this, and never had problems.  However, we've moved and we are in the northeast now.  Ticks are just worse here. 

 Should we treat the yard?  We are renting.  I hope the landlord lets us.  Pulling ticks off the dogs is no fun.  I know they are supposed to die after biting a dog that is treated with frontline.  But, I can't bring myself to leave the tick on.  So, we've been removing them.  

justaname

I hope others chime in on some strategies to lessen their tick load. We are in Maryland and the ticks here are hellacious. Despite the fact that we treat with K9 advantix we are pulling ticks off the dogs all the time. Our female even got lyme disease (or anaplasmosis, not sure but something tickborne) last year. Keep pulling ticks off whenever you see them! the topical treatments are nowhere near 100% effective.

boylema

JustaName:

Keep pulling ticks off whenever you see them! the topical treatments are nowhere near 100% effective.

This!!

 We live in WI & are all over the state & in different environments (regular grass fields, tall grass fields, forests...etc.) Its a PITA but we Frontline every month (thanks for the reminder that I need to get on that ASAP this week since Spring started so early this year. 1st Coop needs a bath now that his incision is all healed up) & yeah, we screen him everytime we come home from our adventures...another PITA.

MaineWifey

I'm not looking forward to tick season this year.  Conan gets the lyme vaccine, but we've never put him on frontline or anything similar because we live on an island and I've never even seen a tick here. I check him everytime he comes inside.  I'm assuming this year there will be some though.

I've always declined treatment because in order to get the blood tests they have to sedate him, and he doesn't do well under sedation.   His airway closes up and his heart rate drops etc.  It's not a good scene.  

I'm having a really hard time deciding if I should take the risk. 

kristinanddan

Because of the much warmer than normal winter, tick season is well underway here and it is really bad. There are kid and pet safe sprays you can apply to your yard. And there are natural, non-toxic sprays for your dog too - we use a neem oil spray and shampoo. It isn't perfect, but I feel better knowing I can spray it on him every day, whereas things like Frontline make me a little nervous.

marchbaby

Its gonna be a bad tick season this year!  I work at an animal hospital and we've had clients coming in saying they've pulled 100 ticks off their dogs already, its only March!  They have a new product out now, same makers as frontline, but its supposed to be much better for ticks.  Its called certifect.  It came out at the end of last year, and is a little more expensive then frontline, but is recommended for high tick areas.

CapeCodOct05

I live in PA and the ticks are horrible here.

I treat with Frontline every 30 - 45 days. When I know the dogs will be in an especially tick-y area I also apply Ark Naturals (neem spray) to their "undercarraige" (legs and belly)  I spray it on my hands and then massage onto their legs and belly.

I also bathe the dogs every few weeks with neem shampoo.

During walks I check them every 10-15 minutes for ticks and pull them off as we go. Any time I see a black/dark spot on their legs we stop and I check it to make sure it's not a tick (about 50% of the time it IS a tick - ugh).

When we get back to the car I recheck both dogs and pull off any ticks.

When we get home, I recheck and pull off any ticks.

Periodically I do "tick checks" while they are sleeping. Basically just scratching their heads, necks, arm pits, etc. to feel for any ticks. If there are ticks attached they come off (obviously).

That's my strategy. We don't treat our yard at all, but we do keep the brush cut back and the lawn mowed.

 

kellbell1919

We're also having tick issues.  The problem with Frontline is that it can take a day or so to kill the ticks and I'm not 100% confident they aren't being bitten first and exposed to lyme.  Also, the ticks aren't being repelled until they're in my house, so I was finding half dead ticks all over.  The lyme's vaccine hasn't been proven very effective and we do minimal vaccination so our dogs don't receive it.  Also lyme's is not the only tick born illness so it's only so helpful when it does work.  At the recommendation of a regular I ordered the Vetri spray and will be spraying them every day or two in hopes that they don't smell as good to the ticks.  We're also mowing regularly and probably getting our field bush hogged.