Ticks again.

[Jaybee]

Can you advice me please,my dog was treated with Advantage before we came three weeks ago, and I brought some with me so I plan to use it again tonight, however in the last few days I have picked at least 10 ticks off him, I check him all the time so I don't think any have burrowed in, but one or two have been quite large so they must have made a meal of him. He is well and bright so when do they die, I have had no experience of anything like this before. He is a Bearded Collie but I have decided to keep his hair short here. The thing is when do I have to worry,or see a vet, and do I just pull the ticks off. Comments and experiences greatly appreciated.

[Em]

With our dog, cats and horses, we have always just pulled them out and none of our animals have ever seemed to suffer ill- effects, even after the ticks seemed to have been there a while.
I give the cats (or rather one cat at the moment)a check every night, which they enjoy.
Personally I wouldn't worry too much, though. Think you are doing the right thing by keeping hair short, so you can at least see any "intruders".

Em

[Pixietoadstool]

Please don't just pull them out - you could leave the head in which might go septic. The best thing to do is to screw them out - they literally unscrew anti-clockwise but do it gently so as not to break off the head - they do give in if you do it gently and then just splat - tread on it! You can buy a little plastic hook like a crochet hook which you hook in under the head and then unscrew (as above).

I use Frontline all over SPRAY for the dog - I haven't found other brands or formulations very effective at all against ticks whereas we have have never seen Bonzo with a tick after Frontline spray (the drops between the shoulders formulation doesn't work either).

If your dog seems under the weather or actively poorly after a tick bite you must get him to a vet because he might have caught piroplasmosis (this has been covered in great depth on the forum before - a search will reveal more useful advice and information).

Hope this helps!

Valerie

[Jeejee]

If you smoke (which other half does) then burning them with the cigarette butt works as an incentive for them to let go. Otherwise I suffocate them with cotton wool soaked in surgical spirit - they come out quite easily after that.

[Bernice]

I believe Advantage just kills/prevents fleas, I don't think it protects against ticks.
I treat my dog with Frontline which is formulated to protect against both. The ticks may still attach but will quickly die so I also check her over every day and remove any I see.
Bernice

[Teamedup]

A friend lost their dog via an infection from a tick. Our vet recommends Frontline drops that are put on the skin beneath the fur at the back of the neck and this lasts a month.

Our vet also sells, inexpensively tick hooks. When one finds ticks one slides the hook beween the body and skin of the animal and twists very gently. The tick pops out, head and all. And this has been the easiest system we have ever had. There are two sized hooks and when our dog got a tiny tick nestling near her eyelash, the small hook worked at treat.

[Vienne_Billygoats]

Hi,
Can somebody pls tell me where to get Frontline from, (as we use it a lot on our UK dogs - soon to be French dogs) and I have always been told that it is really cheap in France?. We have not visited a vets as of yet, so I imagine that will be the obvious answer.

Does anybody have any comparative prices & sizes etc - as we have lots of gun dog owner/breeder friends in the UK who may be interested in my bringing some back for them.

many thanks,

Mark

[I1]

I am no expert and would recommend you check my comments with people who really know (e.g. vets) before acting on anything I say.

I (or rather my dogs) also have had problems with ticks. My vet told there have been loads of ticks this year.

In my area (72) as well as many others, ticks can infect dogs with "Maladie de Lyme" and "Piroplasmose". Your dog can be vaccinated against both, though I am unsure about how good the vaccinations are (I don't know - I'm not casing doubt on the vaccinations). In the first year, each vaccination is needed twice (i.e. a vaccination for each disease, repated again shortly after 1st vaccination). The cost (1st year) I have been quoted is 144 euro per dog (i.e. both diseases, initial and second).

At the moment I'm using Frontline every month (which I believe protects against ticks but not for as long as it protects against fleas).

I really don't want my dogs to get ill but the 100 per dog is quite expensive (for me) and the Frontline seems to be keeping the ticks off at the moment (or there are now fewer ticks around).