Ticks!

[regis2259]

I went home to let Reese out for lunch and found a tick in his ear. I use Advantage Multi on him and I just looked and it does not cover ticks. Do you know of anything I can put in my backyard to get rid of the ticks that is "pet safe"?

 

[RoxiesEcho]

I don't have an answer to your question but I do have an easy way to remove ticks. Stir 1 teaspoon dish washing detergent to 1 cup of water. Soak a cotton ball in the liquid then hold it firmly on top of the tick for about a minute. When you remove the cotton ball, the tick will be stuck in the fibers and you can flush the nasty thing down the toilet.

 

[Jan]

Chickens are supposed to be very good at getting rid of ticks. Unfortunately not practical in cases. Dichotomous Earth might work. The easiest thing is to check your dog on a daily basis and remove any ticks. They are such nasty creatures. :(

 

[regis2259]

My children would love for us to get some chickens, but I am not quite sure how our neighbors would like it! We had a tick check on all 3 dogs last night and didn't find anymore, so hopefully it is not a "big problem". But, I will continue to check them when they come in at night. Thanks!

 

[argosrocks]

i live in the country,ticks are just a common everyday occurance,on average i pick 2-4 ticks off myself and dog during the summer,we dont have deer ticks around here,but dog ticks are everywhere,i guess im just used to picking them off with my fingers,they generally wont or dont transmit any sort of disease within the first 24 hours after they bite anyway,my dog is on frontline plus,but that like most things,wont kill immediately,it takes 24hours to kill after they come in contact with the dogs hair anyway,so,what ive found is to just do a quick check after walks,boxers are great in that they have short hair,you can usually spot a tick instantly,from my experience,they like to hide in between the toes,the armpits,and the ears the most.

 

[bree]

i would just recommend checking for them daily. we adopted my little boston terrier with lyme's disease, and it was not fun for the poor little guy. 30 days of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory medicine, and pain medicine and he's all better. =) but my vet said a deer tick normally has to be on a dog for 72 hours before they're likely to contract lyme's, so as long as you do your tick check daily your pup should be just fine.


and by the way, thanks leslie for the info on removing ticks. we've always just used tweezers, but your way seems pain-free =)

 

[Jan]

I am glad that you haven't found anymore ticks. To my horror I found a partly engorged tick on my back last night. Fortunately the ticks should be gone soon. They are only active here for a couple of months. They should be gone by now, but everything is about a month late this year.

 

[Gatorblu]

We had a tick problem last year. One web site that I had gone to suggested that after you remove and kill a tick to put it in a papertowel in a plastic baggie and write the date on the baggie and keep it for two weeks. That way if any illness shows up they can test the tick for disease. The dogs didn't seem to get any after we put Frontline on them, but it seemed my husband and I were pulling them off us everytime we did yard work. My vet said they were treating 4-5 dogs a week for lymes disease last year and this. And now that we moved they have signs at the dog parks warning about tick borne diseases. Ticks just gross me out! ugh!

 

[fawnmolson]

Advantix is just a little more expensive than Advantage and covers everything advantage does plus it covers ticks. We were in rural virginia where there are tick problems and we didn't find any on our boys.

 

[srsniffsalot]

We are on Frontline Plus as well. Our dog even despite treatments every month had a tick on her that we couldn't see last summer. It was under her collar. One afternoon she became very lethargic, wouldn't eat or drink. I carefully watched her and was in contact with the vet all day. They weren't really sure what the problem was. I monitored her temp all day and it was not getting any better. After a few hours, I knew something wasn't right, so I called the vet and told them that we were coming in. At this point on the phone the tech informed me that there had been a large number of Rocky Mtn. Spotted Fever cases. I freaked out. We then sped to the vet and had the necessary bloodwork drawn. She did in fact have Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever. After a round of antibiotics and follow-up exam she was ok. That was really scary though. I am very cautious about ticks anymore and I examine her all the time, whether she is on medicine or not. I can't remember the name of the spray, but we found it at Walmart. It is supposed to be effective on ticks, fleas, and other nasty critters. The only thing is that it is supposed to dry completely before allowing animals in that area. Sooo...I don't know if this is something you might want to try or not.