Onging medical protection for dogs in SW France

[Rowan]

Please can anyone advise me on how to protect my dog against heartworm and ticks on a permanent basis now we have moved to SW France. When we moved from the UK our vet receommended 2 different spot on solutions, the same as those we give prior to retuning to the UK on the pet passort scheme, but says to get advice from a local vet on what to give long term, as it varies so much from region to region. I intend to ask my French vet, but I am worried that they may over-prescribe to make money from the drugs.

Many thanks.

 

[Patf]

I don't know about heartworm, but there is an injection that can be given to protect against piroplasmosis, the most common disease carried by ticks. I gather it is expensive, and not 100% effective.

There is a special collar that can be used, but there's no substitute for regular manual checking. I believe the tick has to be attached for at least 24hrs to pass on an infection. Both of our dogs have had piro  - both were treated in time and recovered (thank God!)

There's another serious disease, leptospirosis, which is routinely injected against with ( I think) the annual rabies jab. I  stand to be corrected on this. Passed on via water infected by affected rats.

Ask the vet's advice, and get quotes from a few. They do vary in their charges.

[Polly]

If your French isn't good enough and your local vet doesn't speak English, ask Diana James at http://www.vet2u.eu/

She is excellent, and will liaise with your local vet with/for you if you are not near her (47)

[Rowan]

Thanks for the replies. In case anyone else is interested, the answer is tick treatment (Advantix) once a month all year round  and worm treatment (Milbemax) every 4 months.

[Rob Roy]

I'm suprised that you would need to give tick treatment all year round, and personally I wouldn't be keen on doing so. Wouldn't it lose its effectiveness after a time the same as Frontline can do?  We find that the animals have no problems with ticks during the winter months - normally April-Sept are the months we have to keep checking them, although with this year being so dry we've had very little problems with the dog even though the cats kept picking them up in May/June time.

[Polly]

Ticks are a problem year round where we are, south of you

[Polly]

Ticks are a problem year round where we are, south of you Rob Roy

[Rowan]

I was surprised, too, but apparently the treatment doesn't lose its efficacy, so I will use it all year round as recommended. My two dogs are always out and about and with the best will in the world, I do not check them as thoroughly as I should on a daily basis.

[Kitty]

Protection is necessary all year round. Despite Frontline our spaniel cross died from tick disease in February 2 years ago.

[Rob Roy]

On the other point you mentioned, Rowan - I haven't found the vets here prescibe just to make money from the drugs, but maybe others have found it different?

[Rowan]

:(((

[Âme]

[quote user="Kitty"]Despite Frontline our spaniel cross died from tick disease in February 2 years ago.[/quote]

I think you raise a very important point.

Advantix and Frontline don't stop ticks biting. They usually cause ticks to fall off within 48 hours, which reduces the chance of diseases like piroplasmosis being passed to the dog/cat. But they are not as reliable as checking for, and removing, ticks on a daily basis.

I'm sorry to hear that you lost your dog to piro, Kitty.

[Rowan]

Yes, my unhappy face was relating to the dog death, not the over-prescribing. In fact my vet here seems to be excellent in that respect. And compared to the UK, the costs seems excellent. Beagle had a lump in his armpit. Vet took a biopsy, peered through a micrscope and declared all to be well. Only paid hte usual consultation charge. In UK that would have been a major deal, with costs to match.

Does anyone insure their pets here, by the way, or as treatment is so cheap, do people just fork out as required?

 

[Joanna]

Our vet (south of Bordeaux) says that Frontline is no longer effective - it was the best for many years according to him but has now been superceeded by other products like Adventix (sp?, the packet's in a drawer) which is also cheaper.  It certainly worked on the flea infestation that frontline couldn't cope with at all.

There have been practically no ticks this year, I haven't seen one even on the cat who usually has two or three a week, but in my opinion I'd be very cautious about giving tick treatment continuously.  Read the back of the packet.  they tell you to wash yourself immediately and thoroughly if you get any of it on your skin and we're told to put a whole pipette on the skin of a dog that weighs half as much as I do?