Gah! A tick!

HeidiHeidi
edited June 2008 in Food, Nutrition, & Health
I was petting Rakka and felt what I thought was a clump of fur on her neck, then I thought it was a wad of puddy, then... eeewwww! A big engorged tick the size of a jelly bean! I sprayed it with tick killer and it fell off about two hours later. Head and mouth intact, thank goodness.

Yuck.

So I guess this is a wake-up call for me. Ticks aren't terribly common and my vet had told me not to worry about preventative measures, but that was when I lived in the city. I can't believe I didn't think of it after moving out to the country. One tick in almost a year of daily outdoor romps through the tall grass isn't so bad, though, I guess.

Still... I did a little research and it turns out that we get rocky mountain ticks in this area, although there are no known cases of lyme disease in Alberta (yay!). Tick season is from May to August. I guess it's time to start buying preventative treatments.

So what does everyone else use? I don't think I even know anyone around here who uses it, or at least no one's ever mentioned it, including my vet. They sell stuff for it at wal-mart. Collars and little squeeze-packs you put on their neck or something. Do those actually work or what? Or should I just remove them with the tick-killer spray as they get them? Should I start worrying about fleas? I've never known anyone who had a dog that got fleas, although I have heard of one cat and one person having fleas.

Perhaps this is what I get for letting my lawn look like this (in my defense, it's only looked like that for a week. It was flat and sparse as can be and then it rained and, well, plant life is opportunistic):

Photobucket

Comments

  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    I use frontline plus and I haven't seen a tick - or a flea - our tick season is April to September and I use it from March to November just to be safe (whenever the ground isn't frozen). They also have not had any hair loss on application site or other issues/side effects so I continue using it!
  • ddowdemersddowdemers
    edited November -1
    Your lawn is gorgeous.
    I, also, use Frontline Plus. Go on-line for the best prices.
    I take Tenji to the county park on a daily basis and have not found a tick on him.
    Frontline Plus is used once a month and it is so easy to apply.
  • BradA1878BradA1878
    edited November -1
    Same thing around here, ticks are not supposed to be an issue... but we use prevention anyway. We use Advantix.

    I'm glad you got that thing off her! GROSS!!!

    ----
  • okironokiron
    edited November -1
    I would recommend not using the things sold at Walmart. This family uses Revolution.
  • JessicaRabbitJessicaRabbit
    edited November -1
    We are a Frontline family too. To be clear none of these fully prevent ticks (they prevent fleas) and KILL ticks. Meaning with 48 hours of a tick attaching itself the Frontline will kill the tick.
  • RomiRomi
    edited November -1
    I use K9 Advantix - It kills fleas and ticks and it also repels ticks. I dont' think Frontline or Advantage repels, just kills.
  • sujewelsujewel
    edited November -1
    We use frontline too.
  • LeonbergerLeonberger
    edited November -1
    Frontline Combo here, on both of them. Advantix is poisonous for cats.
    Thinking of getting a Scalibor collar to prevent the Leishmanose mosquito.
  • HeidiHeidi
    edited November -1
    Thanks for the recommendations, all. Didn't know that about Advantix... is it harmful to cats in the house just being on the dogs? I guess it would probably be in our case because Tojo and Ridley like to get all snuggly.
  • ljowen123ljowen123
    edited November -1
    I use sentinel
  • LeonbergerLeonberger
    edited November -1
    If I remember it correctly, it's poisonous if it rubs off on them. My vet said that after it dries it should be safe, but none of us wanted to risk it.
  • baantonbaanton
    edited November -1
    Frontline Plus is a staple for dogs in MN. There are so many ticks in MN, not just in the country but I think even in the city parks and any other places where they can get into longer grass. We have to use it from April to October. Fronlline is to be applied 48 hours before they could be exposed to the ticks. The ticks are immobilized as soon as they try to bit the dog, so I think if its on them they will not be too likely to be exposed to the tick bites. It only lasts a month and has to be re-applied. Maybe a bit sooner if they have been shampooed, or in the lake several times.

    Our Josephine already had Lymes disease (had 35-40 ticks on her when we found her). Our previous dog had Lymes disease too. There is now a Lymes vaccine, but I think using the Frontline is also a good idea. Not sure the vaccine is entirely effective from what I've heard.
  • brandon_wbrandon_w
    edited November -1
    I'm kind of shocked that ticks aren't more abundant out west. From the pictures of your morning walk, all that tall grass looks like a tick paradise.
  • zoiegirlzoiegirl
    edited November -1
    Harley gets revolution its a mix of heartguard and tick and flea stuff for the summer months only
  • HeidiHeidi
    edited November -1
    I'm kind of surprised there aren't more ticks around here, too, but it might be because there aren't actually very many trees around here and the grass isn't always that tall. In fact, we had hardly any grass until just two weeks ago or so and it's just been pouring and pouring the grass is growing at an alarming rate. I mean, it's noticably longer just from one day to the next and it's always wet so I don't know when I'm supposed to mow it. So, yeah, it's usually more sparse than that, but the second there's any moisture all the plant life explodes. I guess it's adapted to be opportunistic in this dry region.

    Of course, Alberta seems to not have a lot of things that I don't really understand. Apparently there's no heartworm around here and somehow Alberta is completely rat-free, even though the provinces on either side have rats. Also, like I said before, no lyme disease, and it's the same deal, the provinces on either side have lyme disease. I saw something on the news, too, about there being some kind of tree-eating beetle that lives in BC but can't cross into Alberta for some reason. I don't know what's keeping the rats, ticks, and beetles at bay. Maybe the oil tycoons up north paid them off.
  • brandon_wbrandon_w
    edited November -1
    Why did I think you lived in Montana?
  • okironokiron
    edited November -1
    Lol Brandon I think you did the same thing before.
  • brandon_wbrandon_w
    edited November -1
    Does someone live in Montana? Anyone?
  • ljowen123ljowen123
    edited November -1
    In the post, if you could live anywhere, I stated Montana or Ireland.
  • HeidiHeidi
    edited November -1
    Well, I do live really close to Montana. I'm even getting a Montana post office box next week.
  • brandon_wbrandon_w
    edited November -1
    Well maybe that's it.
Sign In or Register to comment.

© Vanilla Keystone Theme 2024