Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Okay, so as a bugaphobic, I was horrified to discover 2 deer ticks on my dogs head and one crawling up my leg!!!!! Any ideas on how to prevent these darn horrible critters, the dog has a tick collar from the vets, but don't know if it's working??? Hubby also sprayed the yard yesterday but any other advice would be appreciated, they are horrible and so small, my skins crawling just thinking about the darn things :frown:

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

You can't be more bugphobic than I am. The day after I got my dog I found a little brown bump on her tummy...I took her straight to the vets and asked him to remove it. :eek:

I don't allow my dogs on the grass and I have never found any ticks on them.

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

See the following article.

http://www.peteducation.com/article....2+2094&aid=601

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Lovely get them between your finger nails pull and crunch :lol:

Garlic in the food helps, but then they get smelly farts :lol:

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Not wanting to alarm you unduly but you should be aware that deer tick bites are also responsible for the majority of Lyme Disease cases in N/E USA. If you are bitten err on the side of safety and see a doc.

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

+1 - drummed into us at camp in CT - which is just up the road from Bethel in New Milford. Nice place.

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Don't think that's true.

I eat lots of garlic, but my farts smell lovely.

My dog on the other hand, has ourtrageously smelly farts and has never had a clove of garlic in her life!

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Give it a few cloves tonight and come back to tell the tale :rofl:

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Are you sure they were deer ticks and not just dog ticks. Deer ticks transmit lyme but dog ticks are just plain gross.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme...leggedTick.htm

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

We found monthly treatment with Frontline was more effective than the collars

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Think I'll save that for the night before I go out of town.....let my wife have the pleasure!

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

they're terrible.

Me and my dog got a bunch last year while hiking in PA. be dilligent is all I can say, plenty of deet for you and I use Revolution tick/heartwom/flea medication for Bruno from the vets.

We're going back onto a trail for a week next month, Bears and snakes I can deal with.... ticks......... different matter.

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

A mate of mine got a case of lyme disease, wasn't very funny for him, but I couldn't help but laugh as he got it at a friend of his place, got drunk and passed out snuggling the dog funny because he's uber careful about ticks when out and about and really into the wildlife stuff :D

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Thanks for all that guys. Yes, they were defo deer ticks, they are so small and very hard to get out, and there's no chance of me pulling them out with my nails :scaredhair:

We got the dog his Lyme shots and I know how bad it is here, one of my neighbours friends has had Lyme and because of late diagnosis, she is pretty poorly a lot of the time so I know the risks. Think I'll go down the road of the frontline stuff if the collar doesn't work, and because he's mostly black long hair, makes the damn things even harder to spot. Not my only worry this morning, as I opened my laptop and low and behold, there's about 40 ants crawling out of it - eeewwwww gross, had the zapper out already!!! Someone tell me again, why did I move to CT :blink:

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

My wife found a tick on her stomach already this year and has already had her first case of poison ivy. It's really weird, she hasn't been in the woods at all, neither has the dog. Son and I are in the woods all the time and haven't seen any ticks or got any ivy. Her kind of luck I guess. We call the tiny tiny ticks (Looks like a sprinkling of moving pepper) seed ticks. I've been infested with hundreds of the bastards before and they are a real pain. Even after I remove them the itchy reaction I get from the bite is agonizing.

Anyway, when I know I'll be in the woods in tick season, I use Permanone (or something else with premethrin) on my clothes, making sure to coat my socks and boots especially well. This spray DOES NOT go directly on skin, and it's best if you treat your clothers and allow them to dry prior to putting them on. In a pinch I have treated my clothes as I was wearing them, but it's probably not a good idea. On any exposed skin, I use something with DEET, but products with higher concentrations of DEET are not supposed to be used on smaller children. For the dog, Frontline seems to do well. Ours still got some ticks but nowhere near as bad as he would have without it.

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Ticks can drop off a pet and live for months and months under base boards, down the side of soft furnishings etc. When they need blood...out they come looking for a new host. :eek:

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

I'm afraid that collars aren't much use -- I'd scrap it and use Frontline -- they say once a month, but I usually find that the dogs can go for two to three months between applications, as I don't like to OD on meds. The warm weather we had last Friday will bring out the ticks, I'm afraid. Also, check the children when they have been in the garden or the woods. I use tweezers to remove them from dogs and people, then dab the spot with alcohol. You can save the tick if you are concerned as to whether it might be carrying Lyme and they will look at it under the microscope at your doctor's office and let you know if there is cause for concern. The Lyme vaccine seems to be mostly effective, so your dog shouldn't have any after effects of the ticks.

One of my dogs had Lyme very badly before the vaccine was introduced, but just one has had it (and not badly) since the vaccine. I've had Lyme twice so far -- one has to be careful around here!

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

There are tick diseases other than Lyme, in spite of monthly Frontline we had one dog last year nearly died from tick problems. We noticed a rapid weight loss, took him to the vet and she caught it in time. She told us than had we waited a little longer he would not have made it.

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Absolutely -- anaplasmosis (they used to call it ehrlichiosis) shows up a lot in dogs in CT. And the same unpleasant med, doxycycline, is used to treat it.

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Right, now I'm totally freaked out!!!! I'm going to go with the frontline suggestion as the collar is not working at all. I've had to pull 2 from the same spot so far this morning, had to phone the vet because he's had really bad diahrea so just hope that the ticks haven't passed something on to him, and the fact that they can drop off and live in your house is making me cringe :(

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Well, I hope your vet gets better soon! :lol:

(And your dog, of course :fingerscrossed:)

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Don't worry -- he probably just ate something silly as puppies do! The collars are kind of cosmetic, whereas the Frontline works through the bloodstream -- the tick takes a bite and goes yuk! something's not right here, and falls off. As I said, I've never found it necessary to apply it monthly, though you may want to do it for two months to build up the resistance, and then do it less often after that.

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

A simple blood test is all that is needed to check for tick borne diseases

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Thanks for that Nutmegger, defo going for the Frontline stuff and I'm sure the runs is due to him eating everything and anything out of the yard ;)

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Put him on bland cooked ground chicken and rice to give his tummy a rest, then you can gradually phase his usual food back in again. Hope he's soon better -- puppies can "go" enough without any added provocation!:)

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

You can also give him half a Pepto Bismol tablet.

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Move to Seattle :rofl:

BUT I do frontline my dogs.. it is really good! or another natural remedy is a garlic powder called Bug off - I think that is what it is called...

http://www.springtimeinc.com/product..._garlic_d/dogs

This is a link, I don't use it as my dog is particularly sensitive to changes in her diet - she only likes horse poop, grass and sticks, Garlic would be sure to tip the balance - but I hear good things on it, bearing in mind our tick issues will be minor compared to yours!!

Good Luck!!
:fingerscrossed:

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

This works for ticks as well its cheap and won't harm you or the pets.

HomeDepot, Lowes etc carry it.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...cStoreNum=1022

http://www.ghorganics.com/DiatomaceousEarth.html

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

We use frontline on both our dogs. They roam around outside most days and "touch wood" haven't found any ticks.
We also don't use it every month in the winter, but tend to every month in the spring/summer.

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Here's a good site for tick identification: http://www.oes.org/html/how_2_identi...ent_ticks.html

It also has maps with reported cases of lyme disease showing high risk areas.

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Thanks for all the posts guys, had another 2 yesterday, one deer and one dog, so we obviously have a lot in our yard, Frontline was on my list for the shops this morning so we'll see how we go with that :)

Re: Deer Ticks!!!!!
 

Just starting tick season here again. 2 years ago had one in the belly button. :eek:

The disgust was actually worse than anything else until it was removed....they go in head first, so seeing the legs flapping around in the navel was quite sickening. Fortunately it wasn't a deer tick but they are rampant around here and the dogs pick em up like crazy.