Ticks
 

Due to the crazy weather this spring I have noticed a massive increase in ticks.
I would urge everyone to be on their guard as there has been an increase in Lyme disease and other associated illnesses from bites of infected ticks.

Re: Ticks
 

I agree - this year seems worse than ever. We live in the campo & have 6 dogs and seem to be fighting a losing battle against the buggers!

I'm especially wary as OH spent a month in hospital a couple of years ago - literally at death's door - with 'Q' Fever, most likely caused by a tick bite :eek:

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Fleas as well. Apparently it wasn't cold enough to kill them off.

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Well, it was cold enough here - we even had snow!

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Well, ours have scalibor collars, get frontline every month and milbemax every three months against worms and filaria.

(Don't ever give your dogs milbemax unless they are given the all clear for filaria from your vet.)

The labs have been here two years, and so far we haven't had a single tick or flea. Admittedly they aren't allowed to run free in the campo, but even in the garden there is always the odd tick looking for a free meal.

The pups had a few ticks when they arrived, but after a shot of frontline, what few ticks were left were almost falling off.

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Do you attempt to remove the ticks, or just allow Frontline to work its magic.

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We use Scalibor & Frontline too - trouble is, we live in the campo and can't fence our land off so the dogs are free to roam - not that they go far. There's also a goat farm down the road and I reckon they're a source of ticks :(

Re: Ticks
 

Well, When the pups arrived, I picked off what I could see, and then the day after that checked them again.

Only some very sick ones, and no more since.

Do always remember that all the methods of removing ticks, like burning with a cigarette, vaseline, poisons and so on, as well as pulling them by the body should never be used, as all will risk making the tick vomit some blood into the wound which is a very high risk of causing an infection. Pull them off with a hook or loop designed for the purpose, and be careful not to leave the mouthparts in the wound.

If you get bitten, I would suggest applying a hot poultice, as hot as you can bear on the wound for as long as you can. The idea is to heat up the tissues around the wound in the hope of killing bacteria and viruses which can be very heat sensitive.

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Do the ticks manage to feed off the dogs given that they have frontline?

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Well the odd one that we find do seem to be pretty well attached - though I removed one earlier today and it was dead so I guess the frontline is doing its stuff!

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Be aware that it is illegal to let your dogs roam in the campo. If they kill any of your neighbours chickens or bite anyone they will probably be shot or you will get denounced. :thumbdown:
If you can't afford to fence off all of your land, could you not fence off a bit round your house?

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Our vet told us after correctly removing the tick rub the area with alcohol either medical/cleaning alcohol or vodka.

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I thought Frontline didn't provide full protection against ticks? Ours had the collar too after I had a tick. Was stood at the bathroom mirror one morning and looked like a nasty spot on my neck. Putting on my reading glasses I could see it's legs hanging out:eek: You can buy a special tick remover instrument but I can't remember if I bought it in the UK or Spain.

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That's good, but the idea of the heat treatment is to cook any bacteria in the wound where they are too deep to be affected by the alcohol.

Heat also works to stop bites itching.

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Can anyone tell me where one can buy the tick remover please

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Yes I was aware that the tick would react to vaseline, cigarettes etc. I had a loop to remove one from my dog's skull but it just kept bending and I made matters worse, resulting in a nasty infection. All cleared up now though.

Did you remove it yourself?

Re: Ticks
 

We were told that the correct removal method was to use alcohol first, then use tweezers to pull out the tick. Apparently, the alcohol loosens them but you have to make sure that you get all of the tick and don't leave the head buried in!


We've taken many out from our dogs despite them using collars and frontline.

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No I didn't remove it myself, I screamed and OH got it out. Had it checked out at the Doctors.

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:rofl:

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I wouldn't use alcohol.

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Most vets in Spain sell them

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Why?

That's what the vets use 'round here. Or are you implying it's a waste:p

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Having been told not to assult the tick with vaseline, heat or anything that might make it vomit, I just assume that alcohol might have the same effect.

Using it afterwards to clean the wound is fine, and very sensible.

Were I bitten, I'd also use a high thermal mass hot poultice as fast as poss, for as long as I could.

Re: Ticks
 

On the west coast of Scotland there is the same problem with ticks. My G.P. goes wild if we try to remove them especially if we leave the head in. It can cause big problems as there is still ,a contact directly into your blood stream.
Ok I know it is possible to get Lymes disease but there is a lot of hype and I only know of one person who has been infected with it in about 20 years.
The G.P. advises us to leave them in! and let the nice chappies fall out by themselves. We put perfume onto them and it usually works on humans. The dog would run a mile at the very word knowing that we would extract them, occasionally with a bit of fur.
Pete :thumbsup:

Re: Ticks
 

Again, I'd suggest not using anything like that, but just pull them using a correct tool.

Interestingly, if you are in a lyme disease area, watch out if there are a lot of acorns on the trees. It usually means that there will more lyme cases the following year, and they will be more widespread.

Re: Ticks
 

OK - thanks for that. Luckily they do seem to stay on our land - which is quite extensive so I think we're OK

[QUOTE=adra04778;9427786]Can anyone tell me where one can buy the tick remover please[/QUOTE

We got ours from here - http://www.otom.com/how-to-remove-a-tick



Believe it or - an hour or so ago I discovered a tick on my back :eek:
First time this has ever happened! I pulled it off before I realised what it was and got OH to have a look and put some antiseptic on (see my earlier post about OH almost dying!) Do I need to see a doctor???????

Re: Ticks
 

Unless you start to feel ill there is not much the Dr can do. They could put you on anti biotics as a precaution.
Tick borne illnesses depend on what the tick has been feeding off before. Lyme is only one of many but you will soon know (usually within 24 hrs) if you have an infection.
Hope you will be clear and well, chances are you will be.

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Thank you for that - I've woken up feeling fine so I guess I've escaped any 'nasty'!

First time I've been bitten - to my knowledge - but after what happened to OH I'm a little paranoid :eek:

Re: Ticks
 

The classic symptom of Lyme disease is a red rash in the form of a ring round the bite site appearing a few days later.

If you go to the doctor they will arrange a blood test to check it out. If confirmed a course of antibiotics will sort it out.

If left it goes away but the consequences later can be very serious.

We get ticks on our cats at this time of the year. One simple method of removing them is a dab of Frontline direct on the tick. Personally I use a pair of tweezers and an eyeglass to see exactly what I am doing - if you get them early they are very small.

If you buy a pair of ordinary tweezers they need to be modified by bending the tips inwards at about 45 degrees - that enables them to get right under the tick at its head. Ordinary tweezers will just squash it which injects its stomach contents into the animal! Not nice.:eek::eek:

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I must have pulled hundreds out over the years when living in Sweden where the tick problem was much worse than in Spain or the UK.

I only ever used a set of tweezers, but as Fred mentions they do need to be the right shape to avoid either squashing them or nipping them off at the head.

I've never seen a specialized tool for the purpose, so would be curious to know what it is like and is it of metal construction ?

I watched a Spanish vet removing ticks on one occasion and she appeared to me to be using normal tweezers or something very similar.

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Best one I saw was like a tiny pry bar.

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have a look at this http://www.otom.com/how-to-remove-a-tick

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ooer! that gived me the creeps:eek: I once got one out of the dog and dropped it, it ran across the floor.

Another link describing symptoms

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/ticks.htm

Re: Ticks
 

Top link there. Tick borne diseases are on the increase globally and especially in areas with tick problems everyone should be aware of the dangers.
People should have the same attitude as to malaria.

BTW. Leishmaniasis is another problem here. Transmitted by the sand fly, untreated is fatal to pets and not to good for us either.
Wildlife is out to get us:ohmy:

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So it`s treatable now? ,never used to be.

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Handy tool, though I doubt it will always be quite as easy as it appears on the vid.

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It's treatable but not I think curable.

Under the new vetinerary laws if a dog is found to have the parasite then continued treatment MUST be carried out or the dog will be put down.

It's a very expensive long term treatment so some owners will now have to consider that option.

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Most things are treatable, but that's a long way from saying there are instant cures and from what I gather they are quite a way from having an instant cure in this case.
Many ppl seem to mistakenly think it's caused by mosquitoes, but from what I can gather and have seen myself the sand fly is a different thing altogether, although having a mossie like appearance apart from its more brownie colour.
Unlike the mossies they don't need water and survive quite nicely in dark dry crevices and cracks supposedly only coming out at night-time, though I could swear I have seen a few of them in daylight this year.

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Friend of mind had to do it. Lots of injections, but the cost was peanuts. I think he used human grade stuff as the vet stuff was very pricey.

The filaria treatment on the other hand was about 150 per dog!

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Quite fascinating ... I stared at that for ages, mesmerised. :eek: