A tick question

I pulled an engorged tick off Riley last night. I called the vet this morning and they said not to worry and they didn't need to see her. I've been using Frontline Plus on my dogs forever (Riley is 6) and she hasn't been bathed since the last application. All my other dogs are fine. I really searched all of them well when I found it on Riley. I have no idea how long it was on her since I was away since last THursday and just got home last night. Hubbie had the dogs and he's not real observant about that kind of stuff. So, my question is, if I did get the tick off (looked like either a dog tick or a deer tick, I couldn't tell) is there any cause for concern? And how can that happen with Frontline? Thanks,

To kill ticks, you need to apply monthly, did you do that? It doesn't stop them getting ticks but the tick will die.

I am so religious with my applications of Frontline. They each get it on the first of every month. I know this tick was still alive because when I pulled it off and put it in a cup of alcohol, the legs were moving. Gross! Hopefully I got it off before it transmitted any disease.

Yes, I don't think they die instantly even when attached to the dog. I couldn't take one off myself :grnyuk:

Hi Bev, sorry I don't have any advice since I don't have much experience with ticks (knock on wood!). Miles had one when he was really young, on his ear, but luckily my vet-tech friend was at my place and she just pulled it off. I called my breeder and asked if I should take him to the vet and she told me no, not to worry about it. Have you called the breeder? I found she was helpful (it's so nice to know someone else who has the same breeder!).

I'm surprised that Riley still got a tick since you use Frontline...mine aren't on anything, but I guess I should check them more thoroughly now that you found one on Riley. I'm surprised you found it, those B&T's have such a thick black coat, they would be hard to find!

Thankfully, we don't have ticks here in town were we live, and I have successfully used Advantage on Dottie and never see a flea on her. However, we recently traveled to Idaho/Wyoming and I switched her to a dose of Frontline before we went, to prevent ticks from attaching. We never saw any evidence of ticks on her or the other dog we were with, but when she came home I found 3 live fleas on her!

Needless to say, I have switched back to Advantage and once again, no sign of the evil little critters anywhere. Advantage seems to work the best on the wildlife that I work with also, such as raccoon, opossum and squirrels that some of you might refer to as "varmints"... (Remember, they need love and respect too.) I understand Advantage also has a brand called Advantix that treats for fleas and ticks. Next time we travel, will look into that treatment for her.

My first experience with ticks was this summer. We came back frm a holiday in Scotland with 15 little passangers, 10 on Pippin and 5 on Maddie. We use Stronghold for our flea prevention, and I hadn't realised that it doesn't cover us for ticks. I spoke to the vet and he wasn't too worried, but recommended I spray the house with something called RIP fleas. This kills ticks as well when they drop off the dog. Apparantly it only needs to be applied once a year to the carpets, soft furnishings, bedding etc, which is just as well because it wasn't cheap. Unfortunately frontline or frontline plus isn't an option for us because we seem to attract fleas that are immune to the active ingredient.

Now, as far as I know frontline plus only kills ticks once they've drunk some blood, and I don't think it's an instant death either, which could be why it was still alive when you removed it. Next year when we go to Scotland we're going to use Advantix (I think that's the name) which kills ticks on contact. I wouldn't want to use it regularly though because I think it's a combination of 2 very strong chemicals.

On a reassuring note, Pippin was none the worse for all his little passengers, although 3 did come up in lumps where I removed them. It was fun finding them though as he's B&T and has quite a heavy coat.

I have my dogs on Advantix and my collie got at tick that gave him tick paralysis anyway this summer. It was scary, but the cure for tick paralysis is simply removing the tick (once we found it, we got it off and he was fine). The danger with tick paralysis is it is fatal if the tick remains on (it causes ascending paralysis which causes respiratory arrest once it reaches the diaphram). We had all kinds of tests run for spinal injury, etc because he was having trouble controlling his rear legs and we didn't know why. He is so hairy we couldn't find the tick and neither did the vet. My daughter found it later on the way home from the vet that night.
What the vet said is that in our area in Georgia, the vet has been seeing a high number of tick related illnesses, so she put Laddie on tetracycline for 30 days as a preventative in case the tick was carrying anything else as well.
I think if your vet felt there was a big risk in your area, they would have prescribed something. I wouldn't worry. We have woods behind our house and even with preventative, we pull a few ticks off throughout the summer. Usually I find them early, and then you normally don't have to worry so much. The risk is when they are on for a longer time like Laddies was (his was about the size of a small grape )

Advantix

I have heard that Advantix is very toxic to cats, and that if you have cats your dog should not be on it since the cats can become very ill just being around a dog that is on it. Has anyone else heard this? I believe I heard this from my homeopath vet...just wanted to put it out there in case it's true

cy1266 said:

I have heard that Advantix is very toxic to cats, and that if you have cats your dog should not be on it since the cats can become very ill just being around a dog that is on it. Has anyone else heard this? I believe I heard this from my homeopath vet...just wanted to put it out there in case it's true

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You may be right, but I've never paid attention to the risk since I don't have cats.