I'm mulling over a change in the Muttley Crew's tick prevention routine, and see that there are some new products out there.

I've discussed issues specific to each dog with my vet, but would also like to hear your observations and recommendations, your views on efficacy of the drug you use, any comments on side effects - especially if you are using one of the new oral drugs.

So over to all y'all - what are you using this year, are you happy with the drug?

Many thanks.

We're still doing frontline. It's done well for us. When Lily's due for her shots next month though, I'll ask. There is the one topical application that i absolutely will not do. I forget the name, starts with a C, but it has an MAO inhibitor in it and made my pup absolutely lethargic.

I am also about to try out new methods to keep the ticks away (from animals and humans).

Have read about tick repellent clothing and saw tick repellent shirts for dogs as well. Not sure how good they work though.

Another idea is to wear clothes treated with Permethrin.

Friend recommended rose geranium.. I found geranium tick repellent sprays online and also a DIY here:

In a small container or bowl, combine 4 tablespoons vegetable oil or almond oil, 2 tablespoons aloe vera gel, and 30 to 40 drops geranium essential oil. Mix it well and use an eye dropper to apply the mixture to your skin and rub it in. You can also apply two to three drops to your dog’s collar to repel ticks.

We use ticclip on the collars and it works drug free
Very hard to apply frontline on my Airedale terriers..

From an efficacy standpoint I have been satisfied with the topical applications I have used in the past. Over the years I have probably tried most of the topical drugs out there.

I am considering a change, however, because of two things:

Hooligan - who has had (suspected) epilepsy for many years - this last month had a seizure about 12 hours after application of a topical repellant. Now - it should be stressed that I cannot draw a causal link between the use of the drug and the seizure. She has used various tick repellent drugs in the past with no seizures, and has had seizures at times far removed from the application of a drug. However just to be on the safe side whenever possible I try not to repeat things that might even remotely correlate.

The Belltie is now a pin cushion, getting daily sub-c injections. I wonder about skin reactions, as the area where I inject is somewhat more sensitive now. Probably worrying about nothing in this case, but nonetheless worth exploring all the options out there.

On the other hand, from reading the product literature I see that one possible, albeit uncommon, side effect of both new oral drugs is diarrhea and inappetence. Hooligan has a cast iron stomach, but the Belltie is only just recovered from a long bout of tummy trouble so I am a bit wary there.

Anyway, your comments are all enlightening. Keep 'em coming!

My friend takes her dog into the woods north east of Bern every day. She doesn't like using poisons and feeds her dog one clove of garlic everyday. No noticeable odour from the dog, but so far this year no ticks either, so it seems to be frightening the ticks away around Bern.

Except that garlic can cause anemia in some dogs, and it's not recommended for dogs with autoimmune disease. Used sparingly and carefully, it could be helpful. Depends on the dog.

Our 3 cherubs are good with the Scalibor collars and we have used that for the last 2-3 years. We did use the spot on Frontline, but there was a lot of negative press about them so switched to Frontline collars. However our vet suggested the change to Scalibor as our dogs love to swim and she said the Scalibor effective life is better than the Frontline in that regard.

Can't remember last time we had a tick TBH so guess both are effective for our brood.

As our's never had a reaction we stick with whats working, I know some dogs do have reactions so here is a link to some natural products which seem to get good press.
http://shop.mercola.com/catalog/flea-tick,548,0,0.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Mercola-Natura...ews/B004GTD3UK

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How do you know if a Frenchman has been in your garden.... your rubbish is gone, your dog is pregnant.... but at least your cabbages are pest free

I'm pretty sure I've linked this before in other threads but a good FYI to this discussion:

One of my go-to sites is the Tierarzneimittel Kompendium from Vetpharm at UniZH:

http://www.vetpharm.uzh.ch/perldocs/index_t.htm

This is the database of veterinary drugs, with a summary of usage, dosage, side effects, contraindications, interactions, toxicity, etc. You can search by brand name, active ingredient, etc. Clicking on the active ingredient sends you to the expanded link in CliniPharm.

An excellent resource to learn more about what your pet is taking.

We use tic clip too along with 4drops of black cumin oil each day. It was recommended by the breeder and so far all ok. Didn't even find any yesterday after the monsters 2 hour excursion through the forest when she decided to follow her nose! Luckily she found her way home. Phew!

I used Bravecto recently. I was looking for something for my boy who is in the woods/fields, and more relevantly, water daily.
The vet suggested it, one edible tablet and lasts for upto 3 months.

It is certainly working, I only find dead ticks on him now, and they are not bloated so death must be pretty quick at the moment.

Downside was he went off his food immediately. This coincided with the end of a course of steroids, but I'm very sure it was the Bravecto.

The active ingredient is Fluralaner.
I don't think I'll use it again now I've read into it a bit more.

Thanks for the reminder - I'll go and pick up this year's Scalibor collar today. Like Papa Goose's crowd, the ships dog hasn't had one tick that I've seen since using it and it lasts all season.


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I won't use Permethrin at all. I react badly to it in mosquito repellants and it's toxic to cats, but safe for dogs.

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...n_spot-ons.pdf

The product I've had the best results with is Incognito from Holland & Barrett. Wonder if it would be effective on ticks and if there's a animal equivalent, or at least something with similar ingredients.

http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/sho...llent-60083768

Since ticks are already present, I thought I would add my 2 cents worth.


We always used Scalibor. Last summer one of our dogs was apparently bitten by a tick and she became very ill. She was diagnosed with Ehrlichiosis, which is a tick-borne disease of the white blood cells, caused by infection with a type of bacterium called Rickettsia.


The vet (in Germany) who was treating her told us that he would not use Scalibor. He gave us a product called Simparica to give to the other two dogs. It is a chewable tablet. They did not have any adverse reactions or any tick bites.


http://www.simparica.com/
This product is not available in Switzerland. Is there a comparable product sold in Switzerland?


I am undecided whether to just go ahead with the Scalibor.

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It looks similar to Bravecto, which is now available in CH. it comes in two dosages, efficient for 1 or 3 months.

All dogs are different, but my two relatively small monsters (2.5 and 6kg) tolerated it very well.

As I have young kids, I didn't much like Frontline which you have to apply on the skin. I was scared my kids could get some on them when they hug the dogs. I'm happy it's available in pill form.

Here in deepest darkest SZ we have apparently the highest tick burden in inner CH and have tried just about every tick treatment known.

We spend most of the day either in the forest or on the mountain and for our 25KG terrorists the only effective treatment is to use both a Scalibor collar and Bravecto - this does work and we have seen no contra indications. I should add that we do this with the approval of our vet.

So protecting the dogs here is covered however dear EFrs and from bitter frequent bitten experience! please remember the risk to yourselves of not just Lymes disease/Borreliosis - for which there is no known vax, but also tick borne encephalitis and meningitis for which a vaccine exists and is readily available in CH. Course of 3 injections protects humans for 5 years then a booster for a further 5. Well worth doing if like me you are mostly outside.

Finally - and apologies for the length of this post - there is a useful app called Zecke - Tick V2.0 developed in CH which enables the user to not only view the risk in any area in CH but prompts action and monitoring in the event of a bite and gives useful info in relation to Tick lifecycle etc. Also by using the app and reporting bites it builds the database and supports further research - Try it

Best

Rep.

Just to add another tidbit of info that I've posted elsewhere but bears repeating in this thread:

Tick Born Encephalitis, or Frühsommer-Meningoenzephalitis (FSME) in German, is something to watch for in dogs, but don't panic right away should your pooch test positive after a tick bite.

It is estimated that something like half the dogs in Switzerland will test positive for FSME after a tick bite - but this does not necessarily mean that the dog is affected, merely that the dog's antibodies are kicking into overtime to fight off infection. The active disease is still not common in dogs.

Our long journey to diagnosing Hooligan's epilepsy started with a positive FSME test, which ultimately turned out to be a red herring.

If your dog has been bitten and is showing any symptoms, get thee to the vet sharpish and do the relevant tests. If FSME shows positive, before you hit the panic button a referral to the the Zürich Tierspital (Dr Frank Steffen is the neurologist) or another specialist hospital might be prudent.

Bringing this back up...

We have had to stop all tick preventative meds with Hooligan. Which, living in high risk Schwyz, leaves me uneasy.

Since I can't use an effective tick preventative on the dog, I'm turning my focus on trying to create a garden space that might be less 'tick friendly'. (Removing dense or tall plantings, etc.)

I've read a little about claims that beneficial nematodes can help to reduce tick populations on lawns. Have any of you tried these on your lawn? If so, did you see any noticable difference? Any downsides?

Or is the idea mostly quatsch?

Many thanks.

No personal experience, but my grandmother (Newfoundland beeeder in upstate New York) uses them, and she has zero ticks despite being in a pretty high infestation area. She also feeds her dogs raw food, don’t know if that has anything to do with it or not. I used to use garlic supplements specifically for dogs, and that worked okay for me in Nebraska, though ultimately I switched to a pill for them. I couldn’t ever tolerate the spot on treatments, and once the Westie seemed to have a reaction, so that’s when I switched them to a pill. Here in Switzerland still haven’t decided what to do...

Not sure, if you're allowed to have them, where you are, but guinea fowls (Perlhühner) are known to be avid tick eaters. You could free range them in your garden and you might get the odd egg for breakfast, too