Poor Freddie bear has about 80 ticks on

Devonshire dumpling

Devonshire dumpling

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 March 2011
Messages
3,795
Visit site
his muzzle :-( poor boy, have some Frontline will put some on a a cloth tomorrow and have a wipe over, does anyone else treat for them? In the local horsey shop they do a tick spray, for horses and large dogs, what does every one else use if anything?
 
Best solution I have used is to smother the ticks in vaseline, leave for a few hours or even overnight then wipe off. It suffocates them and so they try to crawl out which means there is no risk of leaving the head in. I don't envy you they are horrible beasties!
 
The tiny ticks they tend to get on the muzzle(little bigger than a pin head) I scrape off with my thumb nail(Yes,Yuk,I know!) These are nymphs,i.e newly hatched,virgin ticks so they do not present a problem.
The larger 2nd or 3rd year ticks tend to attach in the arm/leg pits and these I twist off anticlockwise.You can use a tick hook if you prefer,or put some liquid soap on a cottonwool ball,hold on tick,tick will screw itself out and stick to the cottonwool which you can then burn and enjoy the very satisfying POP!
Ticks are a major problem here on Exmoor and my cats have taught me that catnip is a repellant. I rub cats,dog and horses with fresh leaves when the ticks are rampant(also deters flys!) because although frontline spray works and kills the ticks it does not prevent them attaching and the benefit from the spray only lasts for about 2 weeks and I don't want to overdose my animals with this rather nasty poison.

If you want anymore tips on killing ticks I have many methods of disposing of the little blighters!
 
yeah not worried about getting them off as such (veterinary nurse) would prefer not to use vaseline as this makes the tick throw up the contents of the stomach, and increasing the risk of Lymes, really want to know if anyone has some miracle invention to stop them going on again.... I wonder if Vaseline would stop them from reoccuring?? :D
 
abitodd said:
The tiny ticks they tend to get on the muzzle(little bigger than a pin head) I scrape off with my thumb nail(Yes,Yuk,I know!) These are nymphs,i.e newly hatched,virgin ticks so they do not present a problem.
The larger 2nd or 3rd year ticks tend to attach in the arm/leg pits and these I twist off anticlockwise.You can use a tick hook if you prefer,or put some liquid soap on a cottonwool ball,hold on tick,tick will screw itself out and stick to the cottonwool which you can then burn and enjoy the very satisfying POP!
Ticks are a major problem here on Exmoor and my cats have taught me that catnip is a repellant. I rub cats,dog and horses with fresh leaves when the ticks are rampant(also deters flys!) because although frontline spray works and kills the ticks it does not prevent them attaching and the benefit from the spray only lasts for about 2 weeks and I don't want to overdose my animals with this rather nasty poison.

If you want anymore tips on killing ticks I have many methods of disposing of the little blighters!
Click to expand...

HAHA I am not far from Exmoor, yeah we are riddled here, we are surrounded by woods, long grass and Deer... I had one on my leg latched on last year (puke) and have had a couple crawlers this year (yuckeroonie) Tell me about Catnip lol.... do I rub it over his nose?
 
Poor boy.

I read somewhere that you shouldn't vaseline ticks as this causes them to regurgitate the blood they have sucked or secrete more saliva into the wound and this can pass on diseases, such as Lymes Disease, directly through the blood.

It's best to remove them with a tick remover (or tweazers), making sure you get all the head.
 
Hexx said:
Poor boy.

I read somewhere that you shouldn't vaseline ticks as this causes them to regurgitate the blood they have sucked or secrete more saliva into the wound and this can pass on diseases, such as Lymes Disease, directly through the blood.

It's best to remove them with a tick remover (or tweazers), making sure you get all the head.
Click to expand...

hehe we cross posted! Yeah not too worried about getting them off, but wouldn't mind a lovely miracle cure! :-) I wonder if this Avon stuff everyone rants on about is good for ticks?
 
Devonshire dumpling said:
Does anyone know if the Avon soft stuff deters ticks too?X
Click to expand...

I reckon anything that makes the skin/coat slippery has got to help. I hate ticks, was always picking them off dogs and self when we lived on Exmoor.

If your horse is picking them up in the field then cut down any areas of bracken, I always found they were the worst places for the little blighters.
 
It's not the horses that the ticks are attracted to here, it's my flaming hubby! They love him and it's disgusting. They gross me out so bad but I get the job of pulling them out! If you put Vaseline on them then doesn't that cause them to panic and spit out poison?
 
His field is long full stop, only grass and a few weeds, but he will soon graze it down..... you even get them gardening there in the perfectly kept gardens, its just full of them, totally gross! So I don't really want to go down the Frontline route etc, as it will be forever, we sometimes get red deer grazing with the horses:eek:

Someone must have come across something they rub on their horses :-)
 
Butox Swish is the only thing I've found to work. Its not licensed for horses, but its amazing stuff. I put it on every 6 weeks or so and it keeps flies away, and I never see a tick on them. Before I started using it they could pick up 20 or so ticks overnight :(
 
claribella said:
It's not the horses that the ticks are attracted to here, it's my flaming hubby! They love him and it's disgusting. They gross me out so bad but I get the job of pulling them out! If you put Vaseline on them then doesn't that cause them to panic and spit out poison?
Click to expand...

Yes in the vets we dab Frontline on, or just pull out! But don't advise people to put whisky/vaseline/etc on as this tends to make the regurgitate their stomach contents and increases the risk of Lymes XX With your hubby, if he ever gets a red ring around the site of the bite a week or so later, make sure he goes drs, if you take antibiotics it knocks lymes on the head ! X

shysmum said:
URGH poor Freddie - that is yucky :eek: No idea what to suggest !! sm x
Click to expand...
Gross isn't it!!
 
Dexter said:
Butox Swish is the only thing I've found to work. Its not licensed for horses, but its amazing stuff. I put it on every 6 weeks or so and it keeps flies away, and I never see a tick on them. Before I started using it they could pick up 20 or so ticks overnight :(
Click to expand...

Might be worth a go! He's as heavy as a cow!! lol and looks a bit like one!:D
 
You know you can "tickle" a tick to let go?

If you can bear it - put the ball of your finger on it's bottom and roll it gently anti clockwise. It makes the tick dizzy and it lets go.

Then burn/stab/disect said insect until deceased. (Horrible little critters)
 
This thread is making me feel queasy! Luckily I haven't come across them in this part of the UK, but when I lived in Africa as a girl the dogs would get them and it was my job to de-tick - yuck! Foul creatures! :p
 
Not a treatment suggestion, but have you considered keeping Guinea Fowl?
Ticks are a Guinea delicacy!!;)
They are so easy to keep as happiest living wild roosting in trees etc and really do spend all day foraging for insects, not nearly as noisy as folk generally tend to make out but have the added bonus of being good burglar alams too!
 
Yuk, yuk, foul horrible disgusting things - my dog (also called Freddie!) picks up loads despite wearing a tick collar. I just use a tom o tick hook to take them off. There is some stuff called 'Advantix' too but I'm not sure its licensed for horses.

I just grit my teeth and keep removing them day after day after day after day.... this year does seem to be particularly bad for them though - has anyone else noticed that? Mine normally gets 2-3 every few days but I'm taking off more like 5-10 a day at the moment!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top