Ticks! Help!

greenacres · #1 04/26/10, 10:50 PM

I am having a lot of trouble this year with ticks. Is is because I don't have any poultry this year other than 2 ducks and 2 geese. I have never had ticks this bad. I spend the evening pulling them off the dogs. Can anybody recommend something to put on them or bathe them in? I don't want to use tick and flea shampoo so often. Thanks so much!

Minelson · #2 04/26/10, 11:05 PM

I use Frontline and Pyranah horse spray on their lower halves before walking in the tall grass or woods. Ticks are REALLY bad here this year...It's impossible to get them all and we find them on ourselves, the dogs, cats, in the truck, in the house, in the bed, on the couch...sigh. everywhere. Once it gets hot and dry they will be gone.

tamsam · #3 04/26/10, 11:48 PM

A couple guenias [sp] will help keep them at bay and make good alert birds also. Nothing move without those things making a ruckus. Good luck with the ticks. Sam

Willowynd · #4 04/27/10, 12:24 AM

First thing- keep grass cut and weeds cut down. Ticks need some moisture/shade and tall grass and weeds are just thier cup of tea. Second, I keep the dogs out of tall grass that is where I cannot cut in the treeline. Third, if I am taking dogs hiking to woods, camping and such, I spritz them with a mix of skin so soft and water. It lasts for several hours. My worry here is about flies...the neighbor is lax about keeping her horse manure cleaned up in the barn and what she does scoop out is a pile about 100 ft from my kennels. So I use bug block for horses on the dogs ears in warm weather and will spritz thier hindquarters as well during bot fly season as I have seen spotless and dry puppies only out for a couple hours come in with eggs laid under thier coat on thier back above thier tail and gals in season are always a target. Bug block you spray for several days in a row and then only every 7-14 days (but I reapply sooner if they played in water). This also works to repel ticks. Please watch your dogs for any signs of lameness and if they come up lame INSIST on a lymes test. I had a gal years ago that came up lame and crate rest did not solve it...and found a swollen tick in her ear at the vets. Vet foo foo'd when I asked about Lyme's and did not test. He did give her doxy to "make me feel better" and by the next day she was fine. But the amount he gave was only a weeks worth- need 30 days for lyme's. We did not realize it was lyme's until she had a couple severe recurrances and she has athritis as a result. Lots of suffering that could have been avoided had he just run the test like I asked and treated accordingly.

seagullplayer · #5 04/27/10, 05:43 AM

Letting the chickens free range around the house has really helped.

We use frontline on our dog.

watcher · #6 04/27/10, 06:32 AM

Low grass around the house and call out the heavy artillery, chemicals. IMO, there are times when a complete kill is necessary and when the yard is full of ticks or fleas is one of those times.

GoatsRus · #7 04/27/10, 06:56 AM

Ticks are bad here too. We've been spraying our outside dogs with Adams flea/tick spray. It works really well. If we don't have any on hand, we dust the dogs with Sevin and make sure to dust their sleeping area. The inside dogs get frontline or something similiar, as do the cats. Even using these precautions, we still do a "tick check" on the animals every night and pull a bunch off.

fishhead · #8 04/27/10, 07:11 AM

Get some Frontline Plus on eBay. My vet office says that it is very safe for the dog.

Ticks are bad here too. My dog has anaplasmosis even though I put Frontline almost the day the snow left. That's what killed my last dog.

We went hiking Sunday and I picked over 30 off me before I went to bed, checked myself from head to toe and still woke up with 5 attached to me. My dog is on antibiotics and is protected with Frontline so she's protected but still has dozens of dead and dying ticks on her.

Curtis B · #9 04/27/10, 11:57 AM

Garlic works. Throughout this time of year I cook garlic and rice and feed it to the family and dogs. It really seems to cut down on the ticks. Supposedly it has something to do with you body "weeping" a slight garlic oder that ticks don't like. Kinda like the skin so soft thing.

wy_white_wolf · #10 04/27/10, 02:57 PM

Garlic works better if you eat it raw. It also keeps away the unwanted nieghbors.

Curtis B · #11 04/27/10, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wy_white_wolf

Garlic works better if you eat it raw. It also keeps away the unwanted nieghbors.

Cool, dual purpose!!!!

MN Gardener · #12 04/27/10, 03:58 PM

I second the frontline, it works really well for our dogs.

Ohiogal · #13 04/27/10, 04:27 PM

I use Revolution on my cats, because it kills the ear mites too. I just ordered some and got it for $9 a dose, using a coupon. I have 7 cats so it gets pricey and I only apply it when I see a problem going on.
Ticks have been bad here too - can't figure out why as the Spring has been pretty dry. I find them crawling around on the cats coats, but nothing attaches as the Revolution kills them pretty quickly after contact.

Pennsyltucky · #14 04/27/10, 06:32 PM

Mice are one of the biggest culprits. They host ticks and spread them all over the place. Luckily you can use the mice to reduce tick #'s around your place. Get yourself some permethrin, cotton balls, and cardboard tubes. Permethrin is a commonly used pesticide for ticks. Kills on contact and is considered fairly safe. Low mammalian toxicity. Soak the cotton balls well in the permethrin. Stuff the tubes with the permethrin soaked cotton balls and hide the tubes in places where mice will frequent. Near fallen logs, in brush, etc. The mice will use the cotton in their nests and any ticks will be killed on contact.

DaleK · #15 04/27/10, 07:46 PM

Got this today from a facebook friend.

TICK WARNING! I hate it when people post bogus warnings, but this one is real. Please repost this as your status! If someone comes to your front door saying they are checking for ticks due to the warm weather and asks you to take your clothes off and dance around with your arms up, DO NOT DO IT! THIS IS A SCAM! They only want to see you naked. I wish I'd gotten this yesterday. I feel so stupid .....

Wildwood Flower · #16 04/27/10, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaleK

Got this today from a facebook friend.

TICK WARNING! I hate it when people post bogus warnings, but this one is real. Please repost this as your status! If someone comes to your front door saying they are checking for ticks due to the warm weather and asks you to take your clothes off and dance around with your arms up, DO NOT DO IT! THIS IS A SCAM! They only want to see you naked. I wish I'd gotten this yesterday. I feel so stupid .....

Good one!

simplycountry · #17 04/27/10, 09:30 PM

Greenacres, luckily for me we haven't had a problem with ticks here. But when we go down the our South Carolina deer lease everyone comes home with ticks. I have always used Skin So Soft from Avon. Guineas are great from what I've heard also! Good luck!

apphorses · #18 04/27/10, 10:26 PM

This is an interesting thread. We've been battling ticks (and chiggers, I'm ate up now) since we moved here. We've tried just about everything, which kills me to use the chemicals.

We'll be tryin' the permethrin soon. I'm tired of itchy tick bumps everywhere!

Loree in OK

amylou62 · #19 04/28/10, 08:25 AM

I have been giving my dogs ivomec for about three years now and they never have ticks and it's alot less expensive. Doesn't do anything for fleas though. Just give orally .01 ml per 10# of weight. Works great!

SueMc · #20 04/28/10, 08:38 AM

Believe or not while reading this post I felt something crawling up my leg!! It was a tick. I just got home from a 24 hr. call at work, went outside and walked around my yard looking at what was coming up and brought a tick in! Now I'm going to "feel" like I've got ticks on me for awhile.
I've been pulling them off the dogs even since they've been treated with frontline!