I need advice - Page 1

Hi,

Could any of you please give me some advice. In 2 weeks we are moving to a farm & there are ticks.

I called 2 vets and boths told me that the best option for my dogs would be the seresto  collar. After reading all these posts I think I should stay away.......but what should I use? Isn't anything like a poison to the dogs? I really am afraid of tick fever so I know I should try to prevent it, but how?

The vet also said apparantly there is a new pill that last up to 4 months in the blood stream (preventing ticks&fleas), but this product is new and they couldn't really tell me if it works. Also doesn't sound very safe, it stays poison...Please help!

chantelfouche@webmail.co.za

You might want to look into these products:

http://www.alzoo-vet.com/2012-11-19-09-21-40

I've never used them personally, but just started looking into them for my grooming clients.

 

 

 If you are open to the idea, chickens and guineas eat ticks 

Melissa

Go over the dog every day and pull any ticks. Even if you use a poison, you still need to go over the dog day each during tick season....very few products are safe or effective when it comes to ticks. I have seen a total of two ticks all year, total. I don't use any poison, but if I did, I would be touting the efficacy of the the product. My dogs go to the woods and fields with me, we have an abundance of deer...in fact last week, on my way to feed my old horses, I counted six deer, standing in the woods watching. Ticks are not as big a problem as the sellers of tick poison make them out to be.

I like the idea posted by k9gsd78. I have used essential oils with great success on all four of my dogs, have not had a tick on them once since I started using the oils, and our neighborhood is infested with deer. Also, as Joan posted, you have to go over your dogs every day during tick season no matter what you use.

I take it from the email address that the OP is located in Zaire...in which case, I think the risk from the products used to control the parasites has to be weighed against the disease potential in that area. It's easy enough for the respondants in the US & Canada to tell you that a pesticide product is probably not necessary--hell, I live on a farm in Northern Michigan, and in the 15 years I've lived up here I have taken exactly TWO ticks off my dogs, despite their exposure to wooded areas and tall grasses and brush on a daily basis. I don't use anything for fleas or ticks unless I'm taking them to the kennel for boarding, but I do check my dogs daily for ticks, plant awns, seeds and burrs, etc. The tick situation in countries other than North America may be vastly different, however, and I know that the risk of tick-borne diseases in other countries IS significantly different.  What I would do if I lived in the Middle East, or on the African continent, is markedly different than what I do at present.

If the OP IS in Zaire, I would suggest you discuss your concerns regarding the pesticidal products with your regular vet, and see what he or she recommends accordingly.  Additionally, you can try clearing the area where your dogs would spend the majority of their time so that it's free of tall grasses and underbrush, and keep the area well-trimmed and regularly remove grass clippings, fallen leaves and other organic debris, which will help by making that area less appealing as tick habitat. You could start out that way, along with doing a daily tick-check [it must be a thorough one--between toes, in every skin fold, inside the ears, and may require the use of magnifying devices in the case of 'seed' stage ticks], and see how things go for a few weeks.

The natural products referred to by k9GSD78 look interesting, though I haven't tried them at present. Looking at the ingredients, however, I see that they are made up of the same oils used in two brands of natural mosquito repellent products for humans which I have been using for the past few years, and I've been quite satisfied with the results--I can't tolerate the synthetic repellents, such as DEET or pyrethrins, but I'm also allergic to biting insects [mosquitoes, gnats, black flies, midges, etc.] so I have to use something for protection. My only hesitancy on using the natural flea & tick products at that link in the post above is with regard to length of efficacy--while I am happy using the human version of those products, they do have to be reapplied every two to three hours, and more frequently if I'm sweating or it's raining. Consequently, I'm not fully convinced that the collars and spot-ons would provide the long-term duration of repellancy as claimed.  Still, I don't see anything that's alarming in the ingredients, so they would be worth a try. I'd still do the full tick-check every day--but I'd recommend doing that regardless of what you use, be it a synthetic repellant/pesticidal product or a natural one. Nothing is 100% against ticks, except napalm, and that has an adverse effect on the dog, too.

I do not use chemicals or store bought chemicals any longer.

My body and my dogs body like natural things and in the last 3 yrs I have spent many hours studying nutrition and how to eat and keep my body and my dogs bodies in better shape and not kill the good antibodies and the chemical balance stay in place by not using chemicals and it is a long study and a long road and takes time to do it.

I use DE, and garlic and oils in and on my dogs

I use candles and plants at my home to ward off the pests...

Citronella, cat nip , marigolds and many others...Wake up america and go back to the earth for your trace minerals and you upkeep of you and your dog..

 

Drink ZEAL  the drink that will heal your body and you do not have to swallow 53 vitamins to correct what you spent the last years harming by crappy food and instant quick processed food for you and your dogs.

 

YR

Good point, hexe, on the difference on continents. Africa would deffinately be a much bigger cahallenge....I think I would be more worried about fly borne disease than ticks, as ticks generally need time attached to transmit disease. Flies, a quick bite is all that's needed to transmit life threatening disease. Insect borne disease likely depends on where in Africa one is.

yea but Hexe is up around the Alpena area in Michigan.  Now if you had to beware of jack pine trees then you might have a concern.  Summer isn't very long up there to have much of a tick season.

Down here in Florida (the Michigan retirement home) I probably see more ticks in a week then she has seen in several years.  So even just where you are in the states makes a big difference.

Reggie

 

 

 

 

Hi Everyone!

Thank you so much for your feedback, I didn't realize how many people would reply! I should have mentioned in my email that I am from South Africa(didn't think) as this makes a big difference.

To give an example, if I was to take my dogs for a walk in the forest, there could end up about 10 -20 very very small ticks on them. Even if you do a thorough check, it is very easy to miss one of these small ticks.

So this is already different than where some of you would only have about 2 ticks on the dog. I hardly ever take them on these walks, because I am paranoid! I know not all ticks cant give tick fever, but once they get it the survival rate is not very high if it is not treated as quickly as possible. 

So I have to use something that really works to prevent this from happening. I use garlic tablets, but this would not prevent ticks from getting on them, therefore they could still get tick fever.

Im going to have a look at all the options that you suggested!