# Tick Prevention



## SusanG (Aug 8, 2009)

This year is supposed to be worse than ever for ticks and I'm in a quandry on what to do. I've always been very wary of dosing my dogs with every new product that comes around or shots they don't need or might have a bad reaction to. 

Callie uses Advantix II (she had a horrible nervous reaction to Frontline) Molly reacted badly to Advantix so she is on Frontline Plus. Last year Molly had one tick and the vet talked me into getting Lyme shots for them. Callie was lethargic for days, Molly nervous and shaky. I did a lot of reading and find the shot doesn't always prevent it, and can cause kidney, liver problems and they are not sure if it also can CAUSE Lyme disease. I opted out this year.
I also use liberal applications of essential oil sprays for repellent when they go out and last year, only Molly had a tick and that was before I used anything on them. 
This year I decided not to get the Lyme shot. I've read so many bad things about it (they stopped giving it to humans!) and opted to go with the topicals and essential oil spray only.
We were camping over the weekend, and although I had applied the topicals and went over both dogs 5 times, I found a partially engorged tick on the end of Molly's ear leather the next day. Her ears are so thick and she is silver - hard to see. Callie had none. I think I didn't use enough spray on the ears.

I took her to the vet (who said if there is no lump, antibiotics aren't needed) but he gave me a hard time and argument because I refused the shot and was resistant to use Seresto collar (but it has the same ingredient in it as AdvantixII which put her on the ceiling) This wasn't my usual vet or I wouldn't have gone through this. He said their reaction to the shot was "normal". If it makes them sick and doesn't always prevent Lyme, and might cause systemic problems - is that reason to take a chance?

So now I am second guessing myself. He recommended Vectra but I've read it is very very strong and can have bad side effects, worse than the others.

What is everyone else doing? (My girls are minis) I was thinking of just strengthening the essential oil spray, continuing with Frontline & Advantix and doing a really good job of checking them, fine combing their ears, keeping them out of long grass and weeds. 
Am I a bad mommy?


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## peppersb (Jun 5, 2011)

We are on NexGard, made by the same people as Frontline. I have not noticed any side effects. It comes in big chewable tablets that my dogs don't like. So I need to cut them up and give them like a pill. Not easy. NexGard is fairly new, and I'm a bit suspicious. A systemic medicine that is strong enough to get rid of ticks just doesn't seem like a good idea. But then, you need to do something, and none of the alternatives are very appealing. A year or two ago, I looked at research on line and the monthly NexGard looked better than the 3-month dose of something similar. Not sure if that was because it was more effective or because it was safer (sorry I forget the details).

Anyway, I was just about to order more NexGard when I saw this thread. I'm waiting and hoping that some of you will be able to share some good ideas.

I've heard from multiple sources that Frontline is no longer effective.


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

The reason they stopped giving people the Lyme's vaccine is lack of demand back in 2002.

Just a bit of background I live in the epicenter for Lyme's disease which is Dutchess County NY, which is carried by the deer tick. Dogs and cats in my area have died from Lyme's disease, I had one indoor cat who got out by mistake she got one deer tick under her collar and she died with in a week of getting bitten of organ failure, I had 5 cats get out that day and bitten by deer ticks, one died, one got very sick but eventually recovered and the remaining 3 tested positive for Lyme's and but were asymptomatic.

In my condo complex one of my neighbors lost not one but two Labradors to Lyme's, basically one died after contracting Lyme's and she had gotten another Lab it died from Lyme's as well and with her third Lab she started getting the vaccine for, she still has this one.

I know no less than six people that have contracted a severe form of Lyme's disease requiring hospitalization.

Just a note, Vaccine's in general can a reaction especially in smaller dogs, my Beatrice gets sick every time, so she now gets a shot of Benedryl. I also get one vaccine for my girls at a time spacing them out by two to three weeks. Stacking vaccines or giving more than one type at a time can cause a small dog to get very ill in a rare case kill them.

Because all of this I have my girls vaccinated for Lyme's every spring, I do not use flea and tick treatments unless I absolutely have to and keep the girls clipped short and religiously check them after outings. 

Tidbit, mice carry this lovely tick farther a field than any deer even into your house.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

We used Frontline for years with good results, but Blue plays with Jazz by grabbing her by the neck, which meant we had to keep them separated for several days after we treated them, to keep him from ingesting the med. A lot of trouble and still not always possible, so we switched to Bravecto last year (spring of 2016). It's given every 12 weeks, so we give it from March or April through October or November, then take three or four months off. It's been very effective, and the dogs haven't had any problems from it.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Sorry, somehow quoted myself so deleted the duplicate.


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## Asta's Mom (Aug 20, 2014)

Ticks have been a problem here too. I use Bravecto on Asta. He likes the big chewable tablet once every 3 months. Have not had a tick on him since starting Bravecto. He has been on Bravecto for over a year and no problems.


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

My guys are on Nexgard, and it seems to work well. Cleo eats the chewable tablet happily; Archie spits it out so I have to feed it to him in a pill pocket. He's picky about treats, though. They've never had a problem with it. It was recommended by both our old vet up in Northern CA and our new vet down here in Los Angeles, so I feel pretty good about it.

That said, I haven't taken them many places where ticks are prevalent so I'm mostly judging the effectiveness based on fleas. I've never found a tick on them, but I can't say if that's due to the Nexgard or just good luck the few times they went through really brush-filled/tick-heavy areas.


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## Theo'sMom (Mar 23, 2011)

You are not a bad mommy! It doesn't feel great to use potentially toxic chemicals or a potentially toxic vaccine. I do give my standards the vaccine because Lyme is rampant here in southern tier of upstate ny and ticks are really bad around here, especially this year. We pick up ticks from lawns this year, which hasn't happened before. Theo had Lyme before he was vaccinated and I don't want him to have to go through that again. My vet said the current vaccine is newer and causes less of an autoimmune response. Cornell veterinary hospital is strongly recommending the vaccine this year.


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## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

Bravecto here, too. There's a new tick illness popping up in my area that is dangerous to humans as well as pets. https://patch.com/wisconsin/brookfi...isease-wisconsin-has-3rd-highest-number-cases 
Be careful with yourselves, too! I hate ticks!


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

We started the dogs on Bravecto in late March, haven't seen a tick on them this year. Yesterday, though, I took my first nap of the season in the hammock, found three ticks crawling on my neck and arm during the afternoon and evening. I'm thinking about starting Bravecto myself...


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

twyla I live in Suffolk County which is right behind Dutchess in human Lyme case reporting. My vet was out from work for months last year he was laid so low by Lyme and he is a very fit, healthy, nutrition conscious person. I also have friends whose dogs have been made very ill by Lyme and by Anaplasmosis (another tickborne disease) and we have now had reports of powassan (a tickborne encephalitis virus). Long Island also has very high rates of tickborne Babesiosis (similar to malaria).

All that being said combined with my interest in tracking with the spoos I am very careful to protect them as completely as I can from ticks and tickborne diseases. We used to use Advantix II, but because of some protection failures in our area and also based on cost we have switched to Bravecto for the poodles and a Seresto collar for Peeves as of March. I can't put the Seresto collar on the poodles since they cannot wear two collars in performance rings and it is impractical to try to take it off and put it back on. We also switched from Iverhart to Interceptor for heartworm control. I took the spoos to Georgia and back on the Bravecto and we have seen no ticks on them. I also just got their LymeVax boosted. Neither of them has had any adverse reaction to this vaccine other than a bit of sleepiness (maybe) the next day.

I understand people's worries about adverse reactions to immunizations however I also think that the internet perpetuates a tremendous poorly founded in fact mythology about horrors of vaccines. Are there adverse reactions possible? Yes. Are these adverse reactions common? No. The balance between individual adverse reactions and public health benefits favors immunizing populations to provide herd immunity. While we will probably not achieve herd immunity with Lyme disease in dogs, this herd benefit is why rabies is now sporadic in companion animals. Each of us should make an informed decision in consultation with our vets as to the risk for tickborne diseases against the potential risks of tick protection based on the prevalence of these diseases and their vectors in our geographic area.


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## rj16 (Jan 30, 2017)

I've only ever seen ticks a handful of times in my life but they really freak me out. When we discussed it with our vets they were not at all concerned and at their recommendation, I've been using revolution on Monty since April. I vaguely assume that we are in a low probability area but I'm going to look in to that.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

rj16 your risk probably is pretty low, but you can Google search to finds risk maps for your area. For example here is a link to such a map for New York State. Even though it cuts off the east end of Long Island which would be orange it gets the point across.

http://www.lymebook.com/new-york-map.jpg


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## rj16 (Jan 30, 2017)

Thanks Lily. I did just that before seeing your reply and while I live in a relatively safe area my parents are in a hotspot so I'm going to bring that up to my vet. 

Incidentally, I live very close to Powassan, _the_ Powassan.


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## peppersb (Jun 5, 2011)

lily cd re said:


> ... We used to use Advantix II, but because of some protection failures in our area and also based on cost we have switched to Bravecto for the poodles and a Seresto collar for Peeves as of March. ...


I am curious about the Seresto collar.

1. My poodles sleep in my bed. Is that safe? Is it a problem if they bite each other's necks? (They do a little bit of that when playing, but not a whole lot.)

2. Any thoughts about how safe it is and how effective it is compared to NexGard?

Sam is not currently being shown (and neither is Cammie), so that is not a problem.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Peeves generally sleeps on his own bed, so we hadn't given the question much thought about having them close to us while sleeping. I can only say that at the moment Seresto is my vet practice's preference and we went with Bravecto for the poodles mostly because of the show requirement issue, although I think it would annoy me to groom poodles that had the Seresto collar on them since it stays on all the time for a full 8 months.


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## thekarens (Apr 16, 2017)

We also use Bravecto. I know there's controversy about it, but the fleas and ticks are so horrible here. We literally had tried everything else here first. 


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## Verve (Oct 31, 2016)

Lyme is a big problem here, along with other tick nasties (which are useful to keep in mind). I used Bravecto with Phoebe with no issues, and have switched to Nexgard for both now. I would not use an internal med like that for fleas, but ticks are a whole other level. 

The Seresto collar makes me uneasy because they sleep in the bed with me and I snuggle and hug and kiss them a lot. 

I also use tick tubes in the yard and hope that they help keep down the tick population. I heard that one of the problems in this area this year is that we had a huge acorn crop, which leads to a larger mouse population.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Verve, yes, mice are more important hosts for ticks and Lyme than deer in most places. I don't have ticks at my home. The chickens have taken care of any that might have been there (along with slugs and some other ickies, now if I can just get them to understand they could eat snails too).


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## sunfunartist (Mar 24, 2017)

Frontline works well, the problem is they crawl off my poodles on to me. They are really bad here in VA. What methods do you use to check your dog for ticks? It is really hard to find them in poodle fur. I found this website http://www.tickencounter.org/prevention/tick_control#top. 


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Verve said:


> Lyme is a big problem here, along with other tick nasties (which are useful to keep in mind). I used Bravecto with Phoebe with no issues, and have switched to Nexgard for both now. I would not use an internal med like that for fleas, but ticks are a whole other level.
> 
> The Seresto collar makes me uneasy because they sleep in the bed with me and I snuggle and hug and kiss them a lot.
> 
> I also use tick tubes in the yard and hope that they help keep down the tick population. I heard that one of the problems in this area this year is that we had a huge acorn crop, which leads to a larger mouse population.


Our vet uses a heartworm treatment that kills fleas but not ticks, then adds a med that kills ticks and fleas. He says there isn't any problem with doubling up (maybe the two drugs take different pathways?), but it makes me uneasy. Besides, my dogs wouldn't willingly take his heartworm med, which was a large pill, so I had to break it into smaller pieces and force-feed them. Altogether not a satisfactory situation. 

I went back to Heartgard, which they'll gobble up, for heartworms and intestinal parasites, and Bravecto for fleas and ticks. I never even considered the Seresto collar--Blue probably would have chewed it off Jazz's neck and eaten it, and the grandkids would have come in contact with it. Just not an option.

What are tick tubes?


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## SusanG (Aug 8, 2009)

I've broken down and agreed to get the girls Lyme shots tomorrow. I don't think I have much choice as bad as they are. I'm praying they will be ok. Last year Callie was very lethargic for 24 hours, but they tell me that is normal. I'm not about to leave them for a minute until I feel confident they are not going to have a reaction.
I'm uneasy about giving them any flea/tick treatment to ingest. At least with the topical if they have a reaction I can quickly scrub it off them. 
I'm also not comfortable with any kind of collar since the girls play and might get it in their mouths, also they come on the bed and furniture with us.
The way I check them for ticks is to put them on my lap and part their hair 1/2" at a time and look at their bare skin (very hard with Molly's thick thick coat). Since Molly had one on her ear I missed, I bought a fine tooth comb to comb out her ears every time she goes outside.
When we went to the park and I saw several ticks on them, I put them in the tub, scrubbed them down and then blew them dry, little bit at a time - found several ticks even after the bath and plucked them off with tweezers before they could attach. It took me 2 hours to do both dogs - no more park - at least not that one again! 
Going over them with a dryer on "cool" works well on dry coats too, for finding ticks as it blows the hair out of the way to reveal the skin. Time consuming any way you do it!


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