jj3500

Hey, I've had pets before but I've lived in a sort of a city environment. Ticks were not an issue then. They are NOW. What do you do to keep them off or how do you get them off once they are attached. I'm a little freaked out about seeing ticks sucking on my little guy(pup). I pick him up regularly and roll around with him. I'm afraid of one of those critters on me and then eventually in my bed or ....

Thanks

s cesnick

First of all, Contrary to popular belief, the ticks that are on your pup are most likely wood ticks ( AKA dog ticks) and DO NOT carry lyme disease. I personally had no less than 20 of them on me this year alone. They were lousy out in the woods this year in my area.

I asked my doctor how to remove properly ( I was there for an unrelated issue) he said do not put any fingernail polish, hot matches, alcohol or anything else on them. That stuff will only make them bore into the skin further. Just pull them off with a pair of tweezers.

Frontline will keep them off your pup...

busta

also can use sentinal heart worm protection which has flea and tick prevention in it

annabelle

The Brown Dog Tick really only prefers dogs as a host. I had an infestation of ticks (the last owner of my home raised dogs). I used a professional tick collar (from 1-800-petmeds-Recommended by the Vet.), and a professional exterminator. Using the strongest chemical I could buy didn't cut it.

rob24vctd

When you go to pull the out with tweezers, start by twisting them counter clockwise and then pulling, it helps ensure the head comes out. If you dont get the head out your pup will het an infection i.e. open sore or something like a pimple. Very gross when you have to pop it, messy, frontline is what i use, but remember nothing keeps them off 100%

chaikwa

Actually, we're finding that the wood tick is starting to show up in certain areas WITH Lyme disease. It's not widespread yet, but it has shown that they are a new carrier.

Yup, steady upward pressure, just enough to raise the skin slightly when you pull, and they'll let go. Eventually.

Frontline, Revolution, Advantix, etc., are made to KILL ticks and fleas after they've attached to your dog, not repel them. If the medicine is working, you're likely to find dead attached ticks on your animal unless the tick had *just* attached itself.

chaikwa.

1-2-3

Leave a small area in your yard for a fire ant bed or two. They will keep them all munched away.

We never had any fleas untill I got a bag of the year round fire ant control stuff. Once i spread that, the fleas went crazy. Fought them untill the stuff finally washed away. Now I'm back to just keeping the ants away from our normal traffic area.

PistolWhipt

Something to remember .... you really need to keep up on the tick removal and treatments and don't let too many accumulate on them.
My wife's small dog went wandering off into the woods for a couple days and picked up a lot of them. The next morning after he came home, my wife told me that she thought he had a stroke or something because his back legs were not working. He was comletely unable to stand up and coordinate walking. His eyes were peeling off in different directions and he was in real bad shape.

We made the emergency room trip and they said it was called "tick paralysis" ... common deal. Regardless of the type of tick, they ALL secrete a slight poison that keeps the blood flowing and if there is too much in the dogs system ... can kill them.

They plucked off the ticks (spent about 30 minutes ) and sent him home. The next day he was fine. The vet told us that it starts with the back legs and then gets progressively worse ... leading to organs shutting down.


Cheers,
PISTOL

annabelle

Also kept them on Frontline.

justagoodolboy

I respectfully disagree with this statement. I use the Frontline spray monthly on my dogs for control & repel of ticks & fleas.

I live out in the woods, and my dogs would sometimes come home COVERED with ticks. The old solution was pinesol and water, which kinda worked. About 5 years ago a friend told me about Frontline. I had a dog show up with hundreds of ticks on him just from a day and night stroll through the woods he took. It looked like he would had had to just roll in them to get that many on him. I sprayed Frontline on his whole body, and used an old sock to rub it in to penetrate past his thick coat, locked him in his kennel and the next morning (Less that 12 hours from the treatment) there was not ONE tick on him, and hundreds of dead ones on the concrete.

I asked my vet and he said a 30 day rotation of the spray works best so thats what I do in the spring/summer/fall. Obviously the winter is not an issue.

Couple that with a regular treatment of Demon WP around the kennel, yard & house and I have been tick, flea, spider, scorpian and ant free for going on 5 years.

steelblitzkrieg

Go to any pet store or REI, you can buy a simple plastic tick removal tool. I started spreading Diatomaceous Earth around our yard and we haven't had Flea or Tick problems for a while. You can even powder your dog with it, I think it was 20 bucks for 40lbs or so at the swimming pool store.

Look it up.

http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html

chaikwa

Yes, I should have clarified a bit better I think. I was referring to the monthly topical liquid. I forgot about the spray. Sorry!

chaikwa.

roughstock

frontline works best. I think they have a new version called Frontline Plus or Pro or some thing. It works for fleas, ticks, etc. Its waterproof also.

PistolWhipt

The website says not to use the stuff from the pool store as it has added chemicals that might be harmful.

Cheers,
PISTOL