Rudi

My poor dog has been bitten by at least a couple of paralysis ticks.

Yesterday (Boxing day) she seemed to be breathing badly and when we checked her over we found a tick on her. We managed to find a vet who was open and took her straight there. On the way my daughter found another tick on the dog. When we got there the vet nurse saw her and pulled the ticks straight out - I had not realised you could do this as I thought it was a problem to leave the head in, but apparently not.

We thought we would see the vet as well but the vet nurse advised us that we should take her home and keep an eye on her. Last night we kept her quiet and thought she was ok. However, this morning she was wobbly on her back legs and was vomiting. We were able to go to our local vet today where she has been admitted. She has fluid on her lungs and an increased heart rate as well as the partial paralysis in her back legs. The vet was surprised and obviously unhappy with the advice we had received the previous day and felt she should have been admitted then.

She is going to be sedated and given anti serum today and they hope this will work but she is in a critical condition right now.

We have "protected" our dogs with Frontline Plus, but this has obviously not been adequate. The vet says the most reliable way to keep your dog safe is to check them over thoroughly every single day.

I will keep you updated on how she's going, we are really upset and worried about her at the moment

Love

Rudi
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smiths

Hope your dog is a bit better today.
Whereabouts are you?

Rudi

Hi, I'm just up the road from you by the looks of things! We are in Thornlands - she's at the vet on Boundary Road just up from Vicky Point.

She only went to the vet there this morning and I haven't phoned to get an update yet - I suspect she's just sedated and being kept quiet at the moment. The serum takes a while to start working apparently.

R
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smiths

We have 2 dogs and use the Koala Park Vets.

Have you any idea where the ticks came from?

Rudi

We live on small acreage on the edge of the bush so I guess thats a bit of a tick mecca. My other dog seems fine but I keep checking her now too!!

Rudi
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Nikki.P

Rudi

I just wanted to say I am keeping everything crossed for you and your dog, I truly hope everything goes well and the wee one comes out the other end OK.

Nikki

Cheetah7

I am shocked that the vet nurse gave such advice with regards to paraylsis ticks, Jesus Christ no wonder the vet was cross.

When I did voluntary work at a vet on the Sunshine Coast, they used to have several dogs in a day with this problem.

Hope it all works out Rudi and make a complaint about the nurse as to avoid it happening to any other dog.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

My cat had a tick about six weeks ago now. First of the season according to the vet. Kept overnight for two nights at the vets and managed to survive it. According to the vet all the sprays in the world only give a level of protection. Nothing is 100%.

binbird

Poor you - that's a horrid thing to happen. Just want to let you know that I am crossing everything and hope to hear soon that she has pulled through ok.

Lots of love to you all x

Cant rain all the time2

Ditto everyone elses comments, hope everything is.o.k.

harrip

I did not think Frontline covered this type of tick?

I had the same problem with my King Charles last year. I now use a tick collar. For about $12 every couple of months during tick season they seem a cost effective way to at least provide some protection.

flodsfive

Worried now. we were told frontline drops every two weeks and daily checks. We can't use a tick collar because we have a cat and the vet said it's toxic to cats if they spend time together.

Hope she's ok.

Cheetah7

Ive been told they dont have these ticks in WA?

What a horrible thing for any animal to get.

Rachel69

Hope your dog makes a full recovery. The ticks are a nightmare! Our cat has just spent 2 nights in the vet, and a week confined to laundry room (to keep him, quiet and rested) after having a paralysis tick. we noticed he couldnt make it up onto the sofa one evening, his front legs were fine, but he just couldnt pull his back legs up, but was still walking around fine, and didnt seem to notice anything wrong with his legs, then in the morning he had no use of his back legs at all and was breathing heavily.

We had 4 cats, one we brought over from England and kept her 3 kittens that she had after she got out of the house after coming back from quarrantine, we moved house about 4 months ago and have the bush next to us. The mother cat and now one of her babies have both gone missing, and now this one had the tick, they were all frontlined plus but the vet said it doesnt work on paralysis ticks on cats (and suggests the 2 missing probably had ticks). The vet said there are 2 products effective on the paralysis ticks, one is a tablet given every other day and the other a spray every 3 weeks. We decided on the spray, although it is not easy spraying the cat all over, it takes 2 people (one to hold).

Our cat seems to have made a full recovery so far. Will have to be extra vigillant as he has long fur, and wasnt expecting the tick to be on his back, was checking more round his neck and ears etc.


Good luck!

Rudi

Hi Everyone

Thanks for the good wishes - I tried to post last night but I had computer problems. My dog has made it through the night and seems a bit brighter this morning according to the vet, which is excellent news so far, but certainly still not out of the woods by any means yet. She is still considered "critical".

As to Frontline plus as a drop applied to the back of an animals neck, it IS DEFINITELY a product which claims to repel paralysis ticks. It is useful against fleas etc for 1 month but for tick control you must apply it every 2 weeks. If you apply Frontline as a spray it controls ticks for 3 weeks, but it does have to be worked into every part of the fur and skin really well. However, if your animals goes in water a lot (like mine does!) then it does reduce the effectiveness of these products. It's amazing what you learn in times like this!!

I also have cats and so on the advice of the vet I do not use tick collars as these can be fatal to cats. The product Advantix, which is similar to frontline can also be fatal to cats. I am looking into a tablet called Proban to use with the Frontline Plus as a second defence against ticks.

Take care

Rudi
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