Ticks

[Guest mouseams]

What a story I have... I have a 9 year old Grey- Harpo, an 11 year old Shep- Dolly and a husband (age unknown LOL) we live at the edge of state property near a neighbor who insists on feeding the fauna. I would now like to bury him 'neath the fauna.

 

The last two years our Dolly became very lame. We attributed this to arthritis and old age. We used a vet in a more urban area which we were from previously, whom we loved, but the last few years we just got the newbie vets. Every year our dogs went for their yearly exams, but upon her limping foreleg no one thought to test for lyme. Well when her Rx for Rimadyl was up, we went to a country vet. who thought the shep looked like she was in otherwise good shape except for some hip dysplasia asked has she been tested for lyme. He tested and she not only returned a positive result, but we found out several days later she had had it for quote some time and her levels were very high.

 

The same day we got the positive on her I had insisted my husband had an appointment at my insistance for a lyme test. He had numbness in his toes and there was no explaination. He had pain in the knees and elbows, neck photophobia and brain fog. His first test showed only one band in a IgM test positive. The day after his test he broke out in a rash nearly from head to toe. Two weeks later he was back at the doc and insisted on a second blood test. He was told he had aviral infection and it would go away on his own. They gave him a referral for a rhuematologist. A few days later the results were positive for lyme. The doctor never told him, but the viral infection of his rash symptoms was parvovirus. Most likely triggered by the lyme and he works in a public school system in an urband school system... The referral doctor does not have an appointment for him until July! He is sick now, but that is not why I am here.

 

I have already pulled two dog ticks from the grey and unfortunately the shep is mostly black and has thick fur and I can never find the bloody things (no pun intended) on her. I was going to order frontline but now I see there is also K9 Advantix. I was wondering if one is better than the other for the grey. I would truly appreciate any thoughts you might have. We have never administered before now as they are always together and I am afraid of ingestion by one or the other. I will lock them up from on another for a few days if need be. I just wnat no more ticks in my life.

 

Thanks for your help

 

Mary

[Guest crazy4greys]

I use Advantage for fleas and the Preventic collar for ticks. Frontline Plus doesn't work on my greys to keep fleas off anymore.

 

Also, I was told that If you use Frontline Plus, you cannot use the Preventic collar. It can make your grey sick.

 

My vet said that he has seen K9Avantix make some greys sick, so he suggested not to use it.

[Guest SoulsMom]

Preventic collars here also. I live in 'tick country' and even have 22 acres of woods right behind my house. I've never had to pull a tick off of either dog. Hope DH feels better soon! I had Lyme also, but it was caught very early.

 

 

[Guest lotsagreys4me]

I use Frontline with great success.......

[turbotaina]

Frontline Plus and Revolution have about an 85% efficacy rate on ticks. There's a new product out there called Promeris which has a 98% efficacy rate. The tick ingredient is Amitraz, which is what is used in the Preventic collars, however, the flea product is a new one and I don't know how safe it is on greyhounds.

 

I would not recommend K9 Advantix because I have heard of so many adverse reactions to it. One of our adopter's dogs had seizures for two weeks after application. I don't know whether the adverse reactions I have heard are within the normal range for the whole Advantix population, or if greyhounds are just more sensitive to it. There does not appear to be any scientific data on it, at any rate. I would never use it.

 

Here's what my vet had to say about Promeris and tick control in general:

 

We started using ProMeris last fall and so have some experience with it. ProMeris promises to be much more effective against ticks than either Frontline or Revolution. ProMeris contains the same active ingredient that is in the Preventic collar, amitraz. It may potentially be used as a treatment for Demodex mites.

 

Experimentally, ProMeris is nearly 100% effective against ticks (98%?). Frontline is around 85% effective against ticks and so is Revolution (Revolution is labelled for the Dog Tick only, not the Deer Tick, but it is about as effective against the Deer Tick). They are all excellent for flea protection. Revolution additionally provides heartworm prevention, treats and prevents some skin diseases (notably scabies and ear mites), and also prevents some GI parasites.

 

I encourage my Frontline clients to switch to ProMeris when they're getting a refill since ticks are such a huge problem in our area. The downsides to ProMeris are: you can't give it to dogs on drugs like Prozac, it smells funny (eucalyptus/mint?) and is new (so we have less experience with it).

 

Since ticks are rampant around here, I use Revolution on my dogs on the 15th of the month and ProMeris on the 1st. You can give Frontline and ProMeris together also, they recommend spacing it apart by a certain number of days (2?). Today, if I had to choose between Frontline and ProMeris, I'd choose ProMeris. Revolution isn't a good comparison since it covers other things. I am personally a fan of Revolution because one time after giving my dog her Heartgard she threw it up. Fortunately I saw this and was able to give her another dose, but if she'd vomited outside I'd never have known. With Revolution, I know she is getting it. Depending on who you talk to, Revolution isn't as good against ticks as Frontline, but clinically I see lots of dogs on both Frontline & Revolution who contract Lyme disease.

 

To recap, so far ProMeris is a good product and I have heard of no negative reactions. My favorite combos are Interceptor + ProMeris, or Revolution + ProMeris, or Revolution + Preventic Collar.

 

[Guest vahoundlover]

We use Frontline Plus. I don't like the Preventic collars because of the dogs mouthing each other around the neck. I've heard good things about ProMeris, it's too new for me to feel comfortable using it on the hounds.

 

I can't find the website that was very helpful to us (we were finding dozens of the suckers a day) in reducing the ticks on our property, it involved removing all leaf litter, brush, weeds and tall grasses in our yard and surrounding areas. We had quite a bit of ornamental grasses and we removed all of that as well. We created a *dry* barrier to our yard, no mulch, no nothing around plants. We don't have any grass in the back and we do spread pine needles lightly in the middle of the yard. We use tick tubes outside of the fenced area for any mice (white tailed mice, if I remember correctly) traveling thru the area, (they are generally your worst carriers) We use Sevin Dust 5% or granules in ajacent areas as well.

 

It takes staying on top and quite a bit of work but it has been worth it to us...so far we have only found 1 tick this spring. *knocking on wood*. If I can find the website, I'll post the link.

 

Hope your DH feels better soon, TBD's are scary!

 

 

[Guest ishapespace]

Our group was recently passed a warning about ProMeris:

 

"WARNING: POTENTIAL HAZARD of using a new Flea & Tick Preventative called ProMeris. GPA/LA has gotten some disturbing information about bad reactions to the new flea & tick preventative, ProMeris.

 

One reported reaction involved most of a lady's 6 Huskies and an Airedale/Golden mix. Within two hours after administration, the dogs' symptoms included unusual salivation, vomiting, disorientation and one was dragging his rear leg. Ultimately all 7 of the lady's dogs were hospitalized and required treatment (fluids, etc.). In addition, the lady had a serious allergic reaction: her "lips were swollen; eyes very red; mucous membranes such as eyes, nose, and mouth were stinging; she became disoriented, dizzy and unable to drive." She had to be treated at an emergency room. She further indicated the ProMeris has "a highly noxious odor that permeated the house and is just starting to dissipate after 3 days."

 

The other report involved a bad reaction by a senior Corgi to ProMeris. The reaction occurred after administration of the second monthly dose - the onset of symptoms was not until 24 hrs after applying the ProMeris. That reaction is believed to be the result of an interaction with another medication the Corgi was on. Three other Corgis in the family had no reaction.

 

The other report involved a bad reaction by a senior Corgi to ProMeris. The reaction occurred after administration of the second monthly dose - the onset of symptoms was not until 24 hrs after applying the ProMeris. That reaction is believed to be the result of an interaction with another medication the Corgi was on. Three other Corgis in the family had no reaction. "

 

 

[BootsyCollins]

We use Frontline Plus on dogs and cats. I live in the city, but we walk in the woods a lot, and I've never seen a tick on any of them.

[MP_the4pack]

I live out in the country..........LOTS of ticks (I wish I could put Frontline on me!)

 

I don't have a problem with fleas, just ticks, so I use Frontline regular. I don't have a problem with it.

 

 

[Guest paulamariez]

We lived in the Kettle Moraine Forest in Wisconsin, which is loaded with ticks and we used the Frontline Plus on our hounds for years with much success. I highly reccomend it.

[Guest mouseams]

I just wanted to thank you all for your help and advice. I think I will go with the topical treatment. We took our first long walk tonight and the shep who in the last couple of years would lag behind limping, was now pulling and tugging the whole walk. She has found the fountain of youth and seems five years younger.

 

 

[Guest vahoundlover]

I just wanted to thank you all for your help and advice. I think I will go with the topical treatment. We took our first long walk tonight and the shep who in the last couple of years would lag behind limping, was now pulling and tugging the whole walk. She has found the fountain of youth and seems five years younger.

 

Glad she's feeling better!!

[Guest Dillymom]

Glad she's feeling better- hopefully your hubby is too. I had Lymes disease years ago but was diagnosed very early b/c I got the tell tale bullseye rash.