Ticks, what if anything do you do?

Tinkerbee

Tinkerbee

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I've never really given them much thought before but new pup seems to be a magnet for them... So far I've just been checking him over every day and removing with the plastic tool thingy, but he's a hairy so and so and I might well miss one.

Do you use any repellents? I try and avoid flea sprays/spot ons etc, never had any real issues with the pests, but have known a dog nearly die from a bad reaction to the spot on. However I'm wondering if I should take more tick precautions, particularly as I will be taking him to France in late summer.

Any thoughts?
 
I just use a tick hook. Most treatments do not activate until the tick has actually latched on and then it kills them, by that time they are already on. I found a few big dead ones on my garage floor after the 2016 trip lol.
Before travel I just use whatever the particular vet has given me (and the spot-ons do give my dog a rash on the back of his neck).

I would urge extreme caution about putting things on the tick (Vaseline, booze etc), this can make them expunge whatever and whoever's blood they have already consumed, back into the dog.
I almost flambéd a dog of mine by first trying whiskey and then a match, right in the middle of her forehead. Doh.
 
You could use a Seresto collar or give a Bravecto tablet.
I can't comment on the Seresto collar as we wouldn't consider them for our dogs as they work.
There seems to be a lot of bad press from the general public on the Bravecto tablet, however i have used it on three of our dogs and all of them have been ok. I remember reading a post last year about someone who was using Bravecto but was cutting the tablet up and only giving something like a 1/4 every 3 months which was still giving the desired results.
There are multiple natural alternatives, perhaps have a look on this site www.allnaturalpet.co.uk, they also have a FB page
 
Anti flea powder - kill ticks although they often don't say so because they haven't been tested on them (told to me by a vet). I think the spot ons do too but not sure I want that stuff swimming around in my dogs' systems more often than necessary
 
CorvusCorax said:
I almost flambéd a dog of mine by first trying whiskey and then a match, right in the middle of her forehead. Doh.
Click to expand...

:eek3: OMG, that made me smile!

I remember an old guy in Ullapool picking ticks off the dog once he’d applied his fag to them. We then picked loads more off flying down the motorway and then across the Forth Bridge :eek3:
 
I use bravecto and it works. I agree with previous poster it does seem to have a bad press but I've had no problems with it.
 
14 yo JRT had a tick recently on the side of his face (his first ever tick). We didn't have a tick hook (we do now) so took him to the vets and the vet nurse removed the tick. He came home with a Bravecto tablet which he's had with no problems. Didn't know there were any issues with Bravecto?
 
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Maybe a coincidence but I use NAF silky shine on the cocker to make cleavers seeds easy to remove, it has lavender and rosemary oil in it and he's had no ticks for ages!!! If I do find one I have a tick twister tool...
 
I use stuff from my vet. It’s called MiVet flea and tick. I do them once a month in the summer as we have a lot of ticks around and not at all in the winter.

I can’t bear the bloody things :(
 
Thanks everyone, will keep removing them as and when and speak to the vet about something for going away.
 
I’ve used Bravecto with no adverse effects. Rufus is a tick magnet so I was all set to give him another dose as soon as I clapped eyes on the first one this spring but nothing has latched on thus far. I can only think that his previous dose of Bravecto is still working but it’s several months since his last tablet.
 
I use Bravecto - only Bravecto and Nexguard kill the tick rapidly enough to prevent transmission of tick borne diseases (Lyme, Babesia etc) - we are in a Lyme hotspot here.

If you're travelling to France where both Babesia and Leishmania are an issue I would treat with Bravecto (lasts 3 months) and apply a Seresto or Scalibor collar for the duration of the trip to reply the sand flies which spread Leish. Ensure her worming is up to date also
 
I use nexguard as the spaniel swims in every bit of water he finds so I don't really trust that frontline will last. Not heard of bravecto... Will definitely look into that. Any that I do find attached get twisted off with the green tick hooks.
 
We recently had a week's holiday on Exmoor (beautiful and so unspoilt, please don't tell anyone) Stanley came home with several ticks on his face, I'd removed some whilst we were away! My vet took off the ticks as I had nearly lost a finger trying to remove them and gave me Bravecto for Stan. It gave Stan the squits but he was otherwise OK. I am told that 25% of Exmoor ticks carry Lymes disease, so I will be watching him carefully for the next 6 months or so. I am intending to continue using Bravecto as it is one of the few treatments that kill ticks before they transmit LD, which is becoming much more prevalent.
 
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