Any tips on preventing Tics

Anya and Nelson have garlic and dont seem to be troubled by fleas, but the tics obviously arent bothered by garlic. Anyone out there got any suggestions on preventing or reducing them - we've got a cool little gadget for removing them but would rather prevent if poss!

I use the frontline stuff at the beginning of the season when they are bad and thats it. Luckily ticks arent bad here. I only use it once a year because i dont want them exposed to extra chemicals.

thanks Lora. How much do you use? I've looked on hyperdrug and they only seem to cater for dogs up to 40kg. Both of mine are in excess of 56kg - and Nelson is still growing!!! lol

that means you use one on the neck and one above the tail to make up the body weight

Thanks Cheri, will get some - we must have lots of wildlife trotting through the garden - Anya has a habit of getting them on her eye lids or around her nose - very entertaining to get her to sit still and as for Nelson he sees the little green tool and hes off!

in australia we use advantix , better than frontline ! can get it on ebay , google it and see what you think. We also have flea and tick rinse here.

thanks for the tip - will have a look

ourfairview wrote:

that means you use one on the neck and one above the tail to make up the body weight

OOOh not on the tail... Its put on the neck so they cant reach it to lick it. Its toxic to lick. Put all of it in the neck. Combine the packets to equal the weight or your dog.

my vet has always said the rest should go at the top of the tail as too much in one area is bad. it will make them sore,

tbh i cant comment too much as i dont use it!

( daisy will get the odd tick on her face if she finds a hedgehog to play with! but think weve sorted that issue now thanks to a "crazy hedgehog collecting lady!")

funny how vets are so different... just like bloat prevention advise.

I was told it was a pesticide and they are not to ingest it. Luckily we dont have a problem here so I only dose them 2x per year. Last year, i didnt dose them at all. Less chemicals the better in my book.

I totally agree about not using chemicals, however its an almost daily task at the moment and I would hate for either of them to get ill from a tick!

Hi Tracy!

Hannibal's lovely rough coat is simply a magnet for ticks!!

I no longer Frontline.

Rather we change the areas where we exercise Han during from around Easter through to after the first frost!

Sounds bizzare - I hear you say!!! Reason is that he picks up far more of the horrid little arachnids from the ferns and undergrowth in forested/wooded areas than in open contryside so, with regret, we don't take Han on his beloved forest walks during the height of the tick season!!

Sure, he still gets the odd tick now and again - especially around his muzzle and on his face (which are obviously the areas that come into most direct contact with vegetation) but we just whisk these out with our tick remover.

This works for us - he just has them crawling all over him when he goes romping through the forest during the summer months!!!

Would love to see some more pics of your Nelson!

Take care!

Bee

My vet recommends a tick and flea preventing shampoo but it's so expensive. I will ask the name of the product and will post it here.

I live in South Africa. Northern part, on a game farm, so I won't lie if I say I life in tick paradise. I had one smooth dog that got tick bite fever 3x in 2 months. The last 2 times 2 weeks apart.
I have used Frontline. USELESS.
I have used Certificate.... Useless
I have used any other possible variant of top spot applications. Then I started to dip. First one a month, then 2x then weekly. The last incident was actually 4 days after the last dip.

Obviously it's MUCH worse because we had a very rainy summer which is very seldom the case. I have long grass (from the bush) just outside my garden, so it's real hard to get ticks out.

BUT, then a vet told met to try the 'new' tick collars. You get a couple, but the most expensive one claims to last 8 months. Since I was desperate I tried it. It works by paralyzing the parasites jaws.
It's week 5 now, and NONE of my dogs have a single tick, flies or fly's... Just now to see if it really lasts 8 months.

It's called Cerresto, and really works... I can recommend it that it work in the HARSHESD of conditions.