Advocate "plus?"

[Chequeredblackdog]

I frequent my local dog park (obviously not for the company) and there are some (ok, quite a few) "Know-it-all" people there. Most of the time I bite my tongue about their high and mighty (often wrong or ridiculous) opinions.

Well today one of the ladies was going on about how she bathed her dog today, so that in two days time she could be on her Super Duper Advocate and, then that she wouldn't be able to give him another bath until next month. I told her that the spot-ons are waterfast after 48+ hr. Oh ho! Well she KNEW that blah, blah, blah. Then proceeded to tell the people who were around that it does fleas, mites etc, ALL worms and TICKS! I should have just shut up but moved on.... but she was irritating me and misinforming others. So I (politely)informed her, more for the benefit of the surrounding people, that Advocate DOESN'T do all the worms i.e. doesn't do tapeworms, and that it DEFINITELY DOESN'T DO TICKS!!

I work in Pet Supplies so have a pretty god knowledge of flea/tick/worm etc products. This lady knows this as she has come into work quite a few times and asked for my opinion/advice. I thought maybe she had just confused products, maybe with Advantix. So I asked if she had to apply it 2-weekly for ticks. Well, apparently hers only needs to be applied monthly for ticks and does everything else she said too. And she would know! :laugh: She then went on to add that her's is actually called "Advocate Plus" and is ONLY available through the vet..... blah, blah, rant, rave (at that point I gave up and moved on before I got riled up)

I apologise for the L O N G rant. Long story short- IS there a product that does all this? called "Advocate Plus?" I don't believe so, I couldn't find anything online etc. but if someone could set me straight? It's more for my own justification than anything else!

Edited April 27, 2012 by Chequeredblackdog

[Tralee]

Not bloody likely!

Do you have tick in your area?

Is it paralysis tick?

I work in Pet Supplies so have a pretty god knowledge of flea/tick/worm etc products.

This lady knows this as she has come into work quite a few times and asked for my opinion/advice.

Well the customer is always right.

I know because I often buy stuff. :D

You could try reverse psychology and point out to her that 'Advocate Plus' also vaccinates your dogs for two years against all the known diseases. :D

My vet told me when I arrived here that fleas are immune to Frontline in this area.

So I find out that Big W sells Frontline at half the price.

It makes me wonder if the fleas are paid a commision from the vet. :D

Edited April 27, 2012 by Tralee

[greytpets]

I think I've read somewhere that it is called Advocate Plus in the USA but as far as I know it is the same product.

It constantly amazes me how so many find it so difficult to work out which product does what. I guess its the same as trying to explain to some people that microchips & council rego are 2 different things.

I can understand your frustration. for staying so calm.

[persephone]

maybe she meant Advocate for dogs 25 kg plus ?, or was confused with Frontline Plus?

doesn't seem worth getting riled up about ......

[Chequeredblackdog]

Not bloody likely!

Do you have tick in your area?

Is it paralysis tick?

I work in Pet Supplies so have a pretty god knowledge of flea/tick/worm etc products.

This lady knows this as she has come into work quite a few times and asked for my opinion/advice.

Well the customer is always right.

I know because I often buy stuff. :D

You could try reverse psychology and point out to her that 'Advocate Plus' also vaccinates your dogs for two years against all the known diseases. :D

My vet told me when I arrived here that fleas are immune to Frontline in this area.

So I find out that Big W sells Frontline at half the price.

It makes me wonder if the fleas are paid a commision from the vet. :D

Thankfully we dont have paralysis ticks, if we did I would have said a lot more!

Its hard somtimes with customers outside of work. Ive noticed a lot of them treat you like youre still there to serve them...sigh. Unfortunately for them out of work, i have opinions and rights too!

[pipsqueak]

Not bloody likely!

Do you have tick in your area?

Is it paralysis tick?

Thankfully we dont have paralysis ticks, if we did I would have said a lot more!

I thought that paralysis ticks were pretty much spread right throughout NSW???

[Teebs]

no, we dont have paralysis ticks here. Very lucky

[Tralee]

Its hard somtimes with customers outside of work. Ive noticed a lot of them treat you like youre still there to serve them...sigh. Unfortunately for them out of work, i have opinions and rights too!

Yep

Kerbside consultation.

Its something for free.

[Tralee]

I thought that paralysis ticks were pretty much spread right throughout NSW???

No.

None in Broken Hill where its very dry.

There seems to be a zonation, and it starts as the region get wet and warm.

Having said that there were none in Brisbane.

I am sure there would be a chart somewhere.

It would be worth looking up.

I suspect there may be a threshold for rainfall and temperature.

Any Entomologists in here?

Px

[dancinbcs]

Not bloody likely!

Do you have tick in your area?

Is it paralysis tick?

Thankfully we dont have paralysis ticks, if we did I would have said a lot more!

I thought that paralysis ticks were pretty much spread right throughout NSW???

They are only along the coast, anywhere west of the mountains is safe and much of the mountains themself are as well, just depends in how humid and warm it gets. Anywhere that gets very dry or cold does not have ticks. I am in the SW of Sydney and we don't have them here but the eastern and northern suburbs do.

Edited April 27, 2012 by dancinbcs

[coogie]

Hi Tralee,

not sure where you were in Brisbane - we definitely have paralysis ticks on the Northside a friend very nearly lost her Jack Russell to one this summer. Her vet gave her a link to this map -she forwarded it to all her doggy friends. Not sure of the source of the map (other than the website)so can't confirm the accuracy but it would give people a general idea.

Ixodes Holocyclus

[Tralee]

Hi Tralee,

not sure where you were in Brisbane - we definitely have paralysis ticks on the Northside a friend very nearly lost her Jack Russell to one this summer.

Her vet gave her a link to this map -she forwarded it to all her doggy friends.

Not sure of the source of the map (other than the website)so can't confirm the accuracy but it would give people a general idea.

Ixodes Holocyclus

Cool map coogie.

We were on the Redcliffe Peninsula at Scarborough but all over North and South when Showing the dogs.

I didn't see a tick untill we moved to Broken Hill.

It was our first tick and I rang a DOLer at 2 in the morning, freaking out about it.

It turned out to be a brown dog tick

Its an interesting chart.

Paralysis tick is Ixodes holocyclus but the distribution is the same.

The isolated areas at Armidale, Canberra, Launceston and Normanton are particularly interesting.

I'm guessing its the conditions and the vectors - bandicoots

The Paralysis tick can be found in a variety of habitats but are especially common in wet sclerophyll forests and temperate rainforests. They have very few predators, and are more likely to succumb to desiccation from high temperatures and low humidity. From the enormous numbers of eggs (2,500-3,000) deposited in the moist leaf litter by the female before she dies, only a fraction of the eggs will survive and eventually grow to become adults. The six-legged larvae hatch after the eggs have incubated for 40-60 days. To moult to the next stage, the larval tick must obtain a blood meal. In searching for a host, they display a behaviour referred to as 'questing'; whereby the tick climbs to the top of nearest vegetation and waves its forelegs to and fro slowly, hopefully contacting a prospective passing host. This is usually a native animal such as a bandicoot, which is the main host, but also possums, kangaroos, and humans. This questing behaviour is undertaken each time a host is required for blood. Ticks usually do not climb more than around 50cm in the vegetation and there is no evidence to suggest that they fall out of trees.

Department of Medical Entymology for those interested.

Thanks

Edited April 27, 2012 by Tralee

[darlingdog]

Not bloody likely!

Do you have tick in your area?

Is it paralysis tick?

I work in Pet Supplies so have a pretty god knowledge of flea/tick/worm etc products.

This lady knows this as she has come into work quite a few times and asked for my opinion/advice.

Well the customer is always right.

I know because I often buy stuff. :D

You could try reverse psychology and point out to her that 'Advocate Plus' also vaccinates your dogs for two years against all the known diseases. :D

My vet told me when I arrived here that fleas are immune to Frontline in this area.

So I find out that Big W sells Frontline at half the price.

It makes me wonder if the fleas are paid a commision from the vet. :D

Actually I don't think your vet was trying to misinform you....in the area where I live Frontline does NOT kill the fleas anymore and we have all had to move to another product. Perhaps this is the case in your area too.

Edited April 27, 2012 by darlingdog

[coogie]

Tralee that is exactly where we are - friend backs onto the bush behind Kroll Gardens dog park and the vet thought it might be because there is a lot of native wildlife in the area. Apparently there were more dogs than usual affected in this area this summer,although again only anecdotal evidence.

Luckily mine are both short coated and easy to check over a couple of times a day if they have been near any risk areas. Personally I don't trust any of the products available 100% and prefer to check thoroughly as back up anyway. Our vet has always maintained that although the efficacy of the worm component of the spot ons is not reduced by swimming/baths after 48 hours it does reduce the effectiveness of the flea/tick component - not sure if this is the case but have switched to Panoramis anyway for other reasons so no tick cover with that. Glad "your" tick was not a paralysis one!

[Tralee]

Tralee that is exactly where we are - friend backs onto the bush behind Kroll Gardens dog park and the vet thought it might be because there is a lot of native wildlife in the area.

Apparently there were more dogs than usual affected in this area this summer,although again only anecdotal evidence.

Glad "your" tick was not a paralysis one!

Lucky you.

We really miss the dog beach at Scarborough.

We've been to rivers and beaches since but there's no comparison.

Last season was an extremely prevalent year for tick, so not anecdotal at all.

We now live in the tick capital.

The last season was particularly bad.

Some of the dogs had 3-4 a day.

I have become quite adept at managing tick and have not lost a dog yet.

I really don't think there is any excuse for it these days.

Edited April 27, 2012 by Tralee

[Clyde]

They are only along the coast, anywhere west of the mountains is safe and much of the mountains themself are as well, just depends in how humid and warm it gets. Anywhere that gets very dry or cold does not have ticks. I am in the SW of Sydney and we don't have them here but the eastern and northern suburbs do.

It gets very very cold here - and there are ticks.

[Clyde]

I have become quite adept at managing tick and have not lost a dog yet.

I really don't think there is any excuse for it these days.

That's really unfair. I have lost two dogs to ticks, one from the tick itself and one from complications. The first was about 18yrs ago from visiting a tick area and being unaware of them, the second was a tick inside the eye lid on a dog with problematic eyes anyway. The can lodge in a dogs gum, and a friend of mine lost her dog to a tick inside the dogs anus. The poor girl is now so paranoid that her other dog has an internal rectal feel out every day. I had a grooming business in a tick infested area for 7 years, the places these guys get are unbelievable - some dogs react a lot worse to ticks too.

[Tralee]

I have become quite adept at managing tick and have not lost a dog yet.

I really don't think there is any excuse for it these days.

That's really unfair.

I have lost two dogs to ticks, one from the tick itself and one from complications.

The first was about 18yrs ago from visiting a tick area and being unaware of them, the second was a tick inside the eye lid on a dog with problematic eyes anyway.

The can lodge in a dogs gum, and a friend of mine lost her dog to a tick inside the dogs anus.

The poor girl is now so paranoid that her other dog has an internal rectal feel out every day.

I had a grooming business in a tick infested area for 7 years, the places these guys get are unbelievable - some dogs react a lot worse to ticks too.

Education is the key

First day.

Symptom 1 - dog is not eating/vomiting

Symptom 2 - dog cannot stand on rear legs (usually about 7 to 8 hours after symptom 1)

Now there is about 2 days before intervention will not help. (So there is no need to panic)

Vetinarians are very adept at treating paralysis tick.

It is one area that I will give them their due.

I have had a dog at the vet becasue I couldn't find the tick.

The vet nurse found it in the dog's paw.

Clyde, I do not feed my dogs with hoppers or leave them abandoned for any length of time.

Generally, I find a tick by patting them which occurs often, frequently, and throughout the day.

Given the early onset of the first symptom I feel confident enough not to use a preventative.

We should not blame ourselves for something that happened nearly twenty years ago or anything that occurs unrelated to tick vigilance.

These days, paralysis tick should not be too great a challenge.

Regards

[Clyde]

Thanks for the 'education' - I am an ex vet nurse so well aware of the symptoms. My friend who lost her dog to a tick in the anus is also a vet nurse. Sometimes the tick is just unable to be found. My Dane X boy was at the vet for 2 days until the tick was found, he was rushed there as soon as he started showing symptoms. He still died beside the best of care. Things aren't always so cut and dry Tralee. It's great that you have been lucky so far but don't always assume that what happens in your case might happen in others. That's purely ignorance on your part. After vet nursing and grooming, I have seen enough cases to be able to be more open minded. :)

[Clyde]

Oh, and one of my indoor cats had to be treated for tick paralysis. Thankfully he is still with us