Help...ticks On 9 Wk Puppy

[persephone]

We have only ever found ticks on visiting dogs before....tonight, I found our 9 weeker with his little ears FULL of the buggers( I think brown dog ticks...not in a paralysis area)

The only things I have at my disposal are

malaban wash( do not use on anything under 12 weeks)

Advantage

Permoxin (12 weeks & over)

excelpet flea/tick tabs (12 weeks & over)

Tea tree oil

lavender oil

prayer!!

Any advice please???

Edited January 30, 2005 by persephone

[persephone]

anybody,PLEASE???????

I am thinking of just swabbing the ears with permoxin..he won't be bathed in it..would this be OK??

[Staff'n'Toller]

I think metho kills them, just a drop on each tick.

Mel.

[persephone]

Thanks mel..his little ears look like pine-cones!!

[Greytmate]

Ok, this is what I would do (because I don't know any better)

I would just pull them all off, and check every single day for new ones.

I would not use any of the products you have, but I would ring Bayer or another manufacturer to get some advice tomorrow.

[Greytmate]

Don't forget to check under and between his toes, and up his nose, and everywhere else. (I'm sure you already know this)

[persephone]

Thanks..greytmate...I pulled a few off, but he has a couple of dozen!!

They weren't there last night...where DO they come from?

[Staff'n'Toller]

Yeah I would just pull them off too, with some tweezers, but he might not be happy about that!!

Wouldn't hurt dabbing some metho on first tho, methinks.

Mel.

Edited to say: Sounds like he's put his head in a shrub or some long grass somewhere. Once my old Kelpie went out to the toilet, stuck his head in a shrub a little to closely and got bitten on the face by a spider!

Edited January 30, 2005 by StaffordsRule

[persephone]

Ta...shall go & "play"

This is embarrassing...but up until recently we had NEVER ,in around 70 yrs. of living here, & having dogs,had TICKS of any description,so they are not part of my repertoire...

I shall learn some more....

Edited January 30, 2005 by persephone

[NorthernStarPits]

HI,this is from personal experience,when i was a kid living in QLD i used to go bush quite often and i would end up covered in little bush ticks, Metho was the method used to get rid of them(As stated above)a little cotton que tip dipped in metho and wiped on the ticks would make them fall off in a minute or so..

I might be a little bit feral but ime not as bad as i used to be

[aatainc]

I am pretty sure advantage is safe for those over 6 weeks too - maybe try that?

[persephone]

Thanks folks,I am getting lots of ideas...I will let u know how we went!

The advantage, I use on wee puppies for fleas..it is brilliant ..we have (with vet advice) used it on 2 day old bubs!

[Cordelia]

The advantage, I use on wee puppies for fleas..it is brilliant ..we have (with vet advice) used it on 2 day old bubs!

Advantage has always been safe to use on bubs from 2 days old.

Not sure how effective it is against ticks though?????

[YappyLittleDawg]

Hiya persephone - I got this information for you from an international forum I am on which has many different inerest groups. This group is called "

Ask the Vet Techs" and the answer come from a qualtified Veterinary Technician in America. Hope this helps.

From:    Angela H

Date:    Sunday, January 30, 2005 -  6:59:58 AM

Subject: Hi September-

This is a tricky situation.  The advantage will not do anything to ticks.

Frontline is approved for use in puppies over 10 weeks and will kill ticks.  But

if this little guy has that many, waiting on a topical to kill them off (up to

48 hours) can jeopardize his health from the continued blood loss.  So first

priority is to try and remove as many as you can making sure you get the head of

these things out of his skin.Many methods have been tried to remove ticks, many

of which are not recommended. Applying a recently extinguished match or even a

still lit match to the body of a tick will NOT cause it to back out and fall

off. The mouthparts only let go when the tick has completed the meal. Also,

applying fingernail polish, insecticides, vaseline, and other oils will kill the

ticks but will not cause the ticks to fall off.  The best recommendation to

remove a tick is to use a tweezers or commercially available tick removal device

and pull the tick off. Do not touch the tick since diseases can be transmitted.

Consider wearing gloves when removing a tick.  With a tweezers or tick removal

device, grab the tick as close to the head as possible. With steady, gentle

pressure, pull the tick out of the skin. Frequently, pieces of skin may come off

with the tick.  If the head of the tick remains in the skin, try to grab it and

remove as much as possible. If you are unable to remove the entire head, don’t

fret. This is not life threatening. Your pet’s immune system will try to

dislodge the head by creating a site of infection or even a small abscess.

Usually no additional therapy is needed, but if you are concerned, contact your

family veterinarian. There are surgical instruments that can be used to remove

the remaining part of the tick. I've included a link with information about

paralysis ticks including an indentification chart that shows these ticks at

various stages of engorgement.  TICK INFO

[ninaandted]

HI there - very scary I know - we have the bush ticks and the paralysis ones here so I get freaked out everytime I find a lump on the puppies.

tea tree oil does make them retract and then they are easier to remove. use the saturated cotton tip on the bite area and be ready to remove as they retract.

Do make sure you remove the head of the tick (as someone else has already said) the poison/anti coagulant is released from there. You can pick up tick removers from the pet store and they are better and easier to use than tweezers. get them to give you a demo on how to use one.

I use frontline top drop fortnightly. there was a thread on the use of frontline - some people don't like it so it is up to you but neither frontline or the collars will kill the ticks - they will just retard and go some distance to prevent them latching on in the first place. they are NOT like fleas. once they are on you need to do the removal and killing yourself ASAP. (and the crunchy crushing is very satisfying!!)

they pick them up from long grass, grass clippings and anywhere near the bush. obviously they are worse in summer but you should still be on the watch all year 'round. I'd say he's shoved his head in somewhere - curious puppy! slash back any areas of long lawn if you can.

Take care and best wishes that all is safe and well and he recovers okay

[persephone]

Thanks to all...we spent some time last night dabbing with meths & tweezering..got lots!!

he was vERY good...only wriggled when we had to get one from way down in the ear canal

I put panalog on the little wounds.

This always happens a day or so AFTER we go to town ..We won't be near a shop( around 100 km away) again until at least thursday..so will grab something then.

Now...to check all the others....

[shmoo]

tiger balm.

makes them drop off straight away. ticks hate the stuff. just rub some in his ears.

[YappyLittleDawg]

tiger balm.

makes them drop off straight away. ticks hate the stuff. just rub some in his ears.

Ooooh, that's CLEVER! I must remember that - I always have Tiger Balm in the house, as I use it myself all the time. That's definitely one for the Doggie First Aid Kit.

[Mystiqview]

aatainc,

Advantage does not do ticks. Frontline Plus is the only one that includes ticks.

Pers:

posted something else in general discussion re your question.

[Pitchick]

Hi persephone,

When Jeep was little we took him down to my parents property and he was covered in ticks (not paralysis) we just pulled most of them off with tweezers, but keep checking even a few days later, cause we were still pulling them off him. They were a lot bigger by then and easier to find and he didnt get sick from them.

Everytime we go to visit my parents i dose my dogs up on frontline plus a day or two before we go down.

But please keep checking for them.