Tick Preventative's

[Brennan's Mum]

I know this has likely been done so many times on here, but wanted to ask for my own circumstances. I am moving to Brisbane from Adelaide on October 21st and am wanting to know which preventative is my best option.

Brennan will be 18months when we move to Brisbane ( she was born April 25th 2009.). She has been on Advocate her entire life and she has done well on it. Every 3 months she gets a worming tablet for tape worm from the vets.

Friends in Brisbane use Tick Stop which you put in the dog's water and they have been quite happy with that for their 2 Cavalier's.

I am really in need of help to as we have never had to worry about Ticks before.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Edited August 19, 2010 by Brennan's Mum

[t-time]

I haven't tried this product but I've got to say that if your friends' dogs ever ended up in a vet with a paralysis tick, they would be onto Advantix or similar very quickly

Ticks are minimal inner city but I have picked up a paralysis tick in Red Hill which is very inner city!

After having 2 dogs die from paralysis ticks and I live in a high paralysis tick area Nth of Brisbane, I haven't had any issues since starting my dogs on Advantix.

Killtix or Preventic collars are also very good but in the long run the best preventative is to check your dog for ticks every day.

[Lowenhart]

I'll echo t-time and say the best prevention is daily checks.

I've had dogs go down with paralysis ticks wearing a Preventic collar, nothing is foolproof.

For summer months avoid letting the dog run through bush/overgrown areas and keep your grass low.

Every night check the dog.

[Tilly]

I have used Preventic and Killtix on my older boy - and still ended up with a tick .... even one under the collar. I was replacing them every 3 to 4 weeks (I think they are supposed to last 3 months) and it made no difference.

We were using Advantix when the ticks were bad and washing the dogs in Fido's Fre-Itch Rinse in the hydrobath (this only offers 3 days of tick protection). Neither worked as we nearly lost our older boy to a tick .... thankfully I had taken him to another vet as this was when we found the tick (regular vet said he had an inner ear infection).

After this I did some research, asked around and discovered "Permoxin" ... it is $60 - $100 per litre but we mix in a spray bottle and drench the dogs in the stuff. Normally they get sprayed weekly but if I know they are going into a tick area I usually spray them before we go and then do them again once we are home ... I use a cloth (spray onto cloth rather them on the face) to wipe around their face.

So far so good ... but every treatment still recommends you do regular checks ... particularly around face ... especially the eyes, mouth, and the ears.

[Agility Dogs]

Another alternative is Proban tablets. I use these from September through until April and then top that up with a Homeopathic (don't remember the name) treatment during the cooler months.

We came home from a trip down south last year to a well known tick area and I pulled 16 ticks off the two dogs - all crawlies were dead. Dogs were fine.

I don't use collars because they are a good game for my dogs - steal each other's collars. Spot ons scare my boy so I won't use them either.

As others have said - daily checks are the best way to go. I found one on my girl two years ago 4 days before she was due to go on her meds for the year so nothing is fool proof.

ETA - it is the tick stop you mentioned in your first post. Rowan, owner of animal options likes it, but recommends a chemical treatment to go with it if you ask him...........he reckons they'd be OK with just the tick stop, but says it is still a risk.

Edited August 20, 2010 by Agility Dogs

[aussielover]

how exactly does the tick stop work?

what is the active ingredient?

The website claims some pretty grand has some pretty grand claims imo.

How would the animal become resistant to paralysis???

Edited August 21, 2010 by aussielover

[Everythings Shiny]

I agree with Tilly on the Permoxin, but I also use advantix on my dogs.

With the Permoxin I make it up in a spray bottle and spray the dogs daily with it. It also helps keep flies off of them during summer (the poor dogs get their poor ears eaten by flies)

Daily checks are the best ways to prevent tick paralysis... always check thoroughly around where the dog can't chew them off... esp the face and arm pits.

Aussielover- I can't see how they'd become resistant to paralysis. I have a client whose dog has been in every single year with tick paralysis, even though he uses treatment (we can't get it into their heads to check every day for ticks!) if any dog should get resistance from the treatments they use it would be this one!