TICKS: Advice from a very well-known super-vet. Do you agree?

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Hi@ all:

On facebook (yes, I`m an addict) I love to read the postings, comments and tips of a very famous vet. I don`t know if I`m allowed to mention her name here. Anyway, most of you should know who she is.

She keeps on recommending natural remedies when it comes to nearly everything and that is totally what I would try for my dog first as well. EXCEPTION: When it comes to ticks.

Has anybody of you here ever tried natural products such as tea-tree-oil? I mean: Come on: Ticks?!?! Every third tick causes Borreliose-where I live. I am glad to have found something that prevents these beasts (Advantix). And believe me: I hate putting that poison on my beloved dog. But do I really have a choice?

I would love to hear/read that I am wrong and that woman really has THE STUFF THAT WORKS.

 

THANK YOU!!

[Christina Gray]

Here in the US ticks not only carry Lyme, but also things that are almost as bad like Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. I check my dog daily for them, but also use a topical treatment. Which one I use varies because the ticks develop immunities to them. For example, Frontline, a very popular between the shoulders topical, does absolutely nothing for ticks. Advantix seems to help but some people find you have to apply it every two weeks in heavily infested areas. Right now, I use Vectra, which does work. It is a real problem for us - collars and natural remedies just don't do enough (( and I, for one, absolutely HATE waking up at night to the feeling of a tick crawling up my leg!! )), so it is a matter of keeping them in during tick season (won't work with an energetic Irish) or finding something that keeps the creatures off. I think you have to go with recommendations from your vet and weigh it with what you believe, but around here we just can't afford to mess with them.

 

So far this year they haven't been too bad. I don't know why, and we may just be in a lucky area, because with the weather we've been having they should be everywhere. ((Rain, heat, rain, heat, rain, heat -- perfect for tick breeding.))

 

I hate them.

 

Christina

[Christina Gray]

That'd be a yup. Even if you change and shower. The joys of country life in the US. Years ago, I did screech when I found one, now I grab it and we head straight for the loo and the tick gets a "water ride". They still just gross me out. Yuck. Weird thing is you learn to KNOW when that tell-tale tickle is a tick. Shiver.

[Ossian]

Here in the US ticks not only carry Lyme ... yep here in the UK they also can carry Lyme disease

[Sue and Cash]

I am in the US also Christina and for us this has been the worst tick season in recent years.  First time I ever found an engorged tick on my dog and it was huge and took enough blood off him that I thought he might need a transfusion!  Just kidding, but we use Advantix also.  Our friends using Frontline have had it way worse.  Cash is running in the woods everyday and deer are around also so my fear of Lyme for him and us is huge.  We find the cooler, wet spring is the worst time.  Once it gets super humid and hot we don't find them anymore.  It is more of a flea time then.  Come fall you can start seeing the ticks again but nothing like March-June here in IL.  Just to be safe after we found that huge one on him, our vet ran a blood test and he came up clean for exposure to Lyme so far.  I might retest him again later in the summer just for peace of mind.  And I wouldn't want to use a natural product that is oily on is coat daily.  What a mess that would be to live with.

[Eunice Marott]

As I have said many times where we live in Sydney the ticks are deadly. Lost a cat and first IS treated twice when she was quite elderly. I use frontline because I have 2 cats. Yes hate putting it on but really at the end of the day I do not wish to loose Molly to a deadly tick here in Sydney and they are. I live in the tick capital on the northern beaches of Sydney. Anyone who knows the area will agree. Even though we hate putting that stuff on it is a must. natural products are good but here not what one does to keep our animals safe. We are still getting them at the moment and today is the first day of winter. Yes not as bad as summer but still around. We also check our Molly and cats regularly for ticks but you are correct in using the treatment. Better than seeing a animal die or get sick from ticks.