Best Tick Control

[JoanBelleIsle]

If the past few days are any indication, we are going to have a really bad year for ticks.

 

What is the best strategy for controlling the pests? I don't look forward to picking them off of the dogs every day.

 

Thanks,

Joan

[Guest TheDoggfather]

Comfortis.

[BootsyCollins]

I've always used Frontline Plus on my dogs and cats. Rarely see a tick.

[Guest mcsheltie]

Comfortis doesn't do ticks. I use Frontline for ticks. It is the safest product on the market. I know a lot of people use the Preventic collars with success. I have never tried them.

[Batmom]

Frontline.

[OwnedBySummer]

Why would you use Frontline instead of K9 Advantix? Just wondering. I had just decided to get Advantix before GIG. I always use Revolution but I don't have ticks here and Revolution doesn't really "do" ticks. So... why Frontline instead of Advantix?

[Guest JillinMichigan]

I use K9 Advantix also, becuase I don't have cats. K9 Advantix has marked on it's packaging that it is not to be used on cats, and it should not be used on dogs who come into contact with cats. Frontline works good, too. I choose to use K9 Advantix because it has coverage for mosquitoes besides fleas and ticks.

[JoanBelleIsle]

Comfortis.

 

I use Comfortis for fleas (when they show up). I thought that it was only effective for fleas -- not the other creapy crawlies.

[Batmom]

Why would you use Frontline instead of K9 Advantix? Just wondering. I had just decided to get Advantix before GIG. I always use Revolution but I don't have ticks here and Revolution doesn't really "do" ticks. So... why Frontline instead of Advantix?

 

Frontline has no permethrin, which some animals are sensitive to, and does have an insect growth regulator, which helps prevent household infestation.

 

 

Comfortis is for fleas only. Alas. I've heard so many success stories but we live in a woodsy area and have ticks too.

Edited March 17, 2011 by Batmom

[GeorgeofNE]

Why would you use Frontline instead of K9 Advantix? Just wondering. I had just decided to get Advantix before GIG. I always use Revolution but I don't have ticks here and Revolution doesn't really "do" ticks. So... why Frontline instead of Advantix?

 

 

Cause you cannot use that around cats!

 

And I have cats.

 

FYI folks, Frontline does NOT repel ticks. What it does is kill them once they've attached.

[Guest Swifthounds]

 

I haven't used anything other than diet and a wee bit of brewers yeast/ garlic for pests in a while, so I can't offer a suggestion for a topical for ticks ( and I live in tick central). For topical treatment of fleas, Advantage still gets my vote for safety, speed, and efficacy.

[OwnedBySummer]

I'm gonna stay with K9 Advantix, then, for protection at GIG. I don't have a cat so I don't need to worry about that. Swifthounds, Advantage is a different product and according to what I just read on it, Advantage is only for fleas & lice. So Advantage won't help with the tick issue. Unless you have different information?

[DonnaBehr]

Have been using Frontline Plus for years and never have a tick problem. The only ticks I have seen were dead on the floor and not on the dogs.

 

Springtime advertising that their Bug-Off Garlic deters fleas AND ticks.

[Guest Swifthounds]

I'm gonna stay with K9 Advantix, then, for protection at GIG. I don't have a cat so I don't need to worry about that. Swifthounds, Advantage is a different product and according to what I just read on it, Advantage is only for fleas & lice. So Advantage won't help with the tick issue. Unless you have different information?

 

Advantage is not effective on ticks, but is the best for fleas, for the reasons in my above post. I did try to be clear that I was talking about fleas and Advantage - don't want to cause any confusion.

 

I've never found Frontline particularly effective for either fleas or ticks. It does not repel ticks.

 

Advantix would be my choice for topical flea/ticks if I had neither cats, nor sensitive greyhounds. I do have cats. I don't have sensitive ghs, but some hounds will react to tick medications so if you're going to use them, don't make the first dose of the season right when you're going to travel. The last thing you want is a reaction when you have to scramble to find a vet.

 

For myself, and I live in a high tick area and have been traveling to Gettysburg for the last 10 years, I use a good diet, healthy immune system and some added brewers yeast with garlic and have never had a problem with pests. I do also travel with Avon Skin So Soft in the event there is an issue, but haven't needed it except to moisturize dry skin.

[Batmom]

There are only two times we see any live ticks here:

 

1. When *I* go somewhere where there are ticks.

 

2. When people who don't use Frontline/Advantix have stopped by with their dogs. I've learned to ask. A household tick infestation is an ugly and expensive thing.

[OwnedBySummer]

I'm gonna stay with K9 Advantix, then, for protection at GIG. I don't have a cat so I don't need to worry about that. Swifthounds, Advantage is a different product and according to what I just read on it, Advantage is only for fleas & lice. So Advantage won't help with the tick issue. Unless you have different information?

 

Advantage is not effective on ticks, but is the best for fleas, for the reasons in my above post. I did try to be clear that I was talking about fleas and Advantage - don't want to cause any confusion.

 

I've never found Frontline particularly effective for either fleas or ticks. It does not repel ticks.

 

Advantix would be my choice for topical flea/ticks if I had neither cats, nor sensitive greyhounds. I do have cats. I don't have sensitive ghs, but some hounds will react to tick medications so if you're going to use them, don't make the first dose of the season right when you're going to travel. The last thing you want is a reaction when you have to scramble to find a vet.

 

For myself, and I live in a high tick area and have been traveling to Gettysburg for the last 10 years, I use a good diet, healthy immune system and some added brewers yeast with garlic and have never had a problem with pests. I do also travel with Avon Skin So Soft in the event there is an issue, but haven't needed it except to moisturize dry skin.

 

Sorry, yes, you were clear. I just wasn't paying attention. My bad!

What is the brewers yeast & garlic recipe and dosage?

Good tip about not applying it immediately before traveling. That's EXACTLY what I would have done!

Edited March 17, 2011 by OwnedBySummer

[Batmom]

The problem is, garlic, brewers yeast, and "the immune system" don't do anything to protect your dog from tick attachment and feeding. Big myth there. If you live in an area with ticks, please protect your dog with proven products instead.

[fsugrad]

I use advantix, but if we are having a particularly horrible tick year....we had a horrible tick year about 3 years ago or so...I buy the Preventic collars from 1800petmeds.com. SoulsMom recommended them to me. I was skeptical. They are good, cheap, and they really work! Our vet ok'd our using these on our hounds.

[GeorgeofNE]

The problem is, garlic, brewers yeast, and "the immune system" don't do anything to protect your dog from tick attachment and feeding. Big myth there. If you live in an area with ticks, please protect your dog with proven products instead.

 

Once again Batmom, you say what I was thinking!

 

I did use K9 Advantix on George a few times before my vet told me it was too dangerous to use since I have cats. He was fine with it.

 

I use Frontline Plus, and he has never had a flea, nor has my previous dog. I've seen ticks walking on George, but in nearly four years, he's only had two embedded ticks. I think he just doesn't taste good to ticks!

 

We go to Nantucket--a hotbed of tick borne diseases. You have to use common sense and stay out of tall grasses, etc., and I always check him over every night. Anyone who doesn't have a tick comb should get one. Easiest way to find the little bastards!

[Guest Swifthounds]

Sorry, yes, you were clear. I just wasn't paying attention. My bad!What is the brewers yeast & garlic recipe and dosage?Good tip about not applying it immediately before traveling. That's EXACTLY what I would have done!

 

It happens. I would rather clarify than risk someone else being confused. You can actually find brewers yeast with garlic together in either powder form (a bit messy) and tablet form at most pet stores or pet supply places online. Most of the makers produce a small pet size and a larger pet size of the chewable tablets and dogs usually like the taste. My hounds think they're treats.

 

I mentioned the timing issue precisely because it's intuitive to think that giving the dose closer to travel to a tick prone area like GIG, thinking it will be most effective that way. Don't want anyone to find out in a strange place that they have an issue, or worse, find out on the road. It's like that rule about injuries never happening during regular hours for the vet...

 

The problem is, garlic, brewers yeast, and "the immune system" don't do anything to protect your dog from tick attachment and feeding. Big myth there. If you live in an area with ticks, please protect your dog with proven products instead.

 

Ticks will attach to, and feed on, the most readily available and vulnerable hosts in their environment. Things like certain unattractive topical oils, scents, and food items that cause the skin to release scents and chemicals do in fact make your dog a less desirable target for a parasite and/or repel pests. The immune system helps by keeping the dog in prime health and in fighting off disease and infection, like TBD. It also helps a lot if there are other, more appealing targets in the environment, like animals that are neurotoxined, chemically treated, unhealthy.

 

I never said that ONLY things I named that aren't neurotoxins are effective, nor did I say that they cannot be combined with one another and with the traditional neurotoxin topicals, and I did recommend Advantage for flea issues. I didn't make a suggestion for a tick treatment because, frankly, I don't know of one that's highly effective and safe around cats, except maybe Preventic. Frontline, Advatntage, Advantix, Revolution, and some of the newer treatments may be very successful at killing ticks in many dogs. Some dogs will have adverse reactions to some of those. Some dogs, and some seasons in recent years have seen some of these more popular topicals be as effective or barely more effective than nothing at all (Frontline comes to mind).

 

Lots of things kill ticks eventually, or kill them once they have been attached for a while (Frontline), but that's only really helpful if your goal is merely to kill ticks, which is silly. You can do that lots of ways that pose no risk to the dog. Ideally, you want to repel ticks or kill them either before they attach or very soon after, to prevent transmission of TBD. Anything that increases the likelihood of repelling ticks or enticing them to seek a more appealing target, reduces the chance of TBD transmission. Where other things can be done to repel ticks either instead of neurotoxins or in addition to them, without interaction and without side effects, it would be foolish not to explore those options - especially if, as everyone keeps griping about, tick seasons seem especially bad and Forntline, etc. isn't getting the job done.

[Batmom]

"The immune system" has nothing to do with repelling ticks, and garlic and brewers' yeast have been quite clearly proven ineffective at repelling them.

[Guest Swifthounds]

No one said that the immune system repels ticks.

 

If your argument is that better overall health, garlic, and brewers yeast are clearly ineffective at repelling ticks, then what...are those of us in tick prone areas who don't find a need for other chemicals special? The chosen? Lucky? Have better karma? My neighbors would love to know the secret, if you know it.

[Batmom]

You're simply lucky.

[Guest fringepup]

Our vet is recommending Vectra 3D. The active ingedients are Dinotefuran 4.95%, Pyriproxyfen 0.44%, Permethrin 36.08%, other 58.53%. Does anyone have an experience with this product? We had been using Frontline Plus and Vectra claims to repel and kill fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, mites, sand flies, and biting and sucking lice. Hope everyone has had their dinner already. Thanks.

[OwnedBySummer]

Biting and sucking lice???????? Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! I have one question about Vectra, which I've never heard of but that doesn't mean anything... What is "other"???? Is it, like, water or some other kind of carrier fluid for the chemical ingredients? What if "other" is something weird or nasty? Why is it just called "other"????? Makes me think of those ingredients that say "may contain...".