Aravynandrea's Blog

I don't know what it is about this year... but Ticks are out in force. It even caught national news attention... only they didn't mention Wisconsin in their report.

For the most part, the main problem around here are the American Dog Ticks. My brother and his wife have been pulling them off themselves by the dozen doing nothing more than walking their dog. My dog had 2 ticks already this year, last year when I first adopted him, he didn't have a single one.

My brother and his wife are enjoying walking on paths through the woods. This is the first time in the 5 years they've known eachother (3 years of Marriage) that they've been attacked by ticks during this past-time. Last year they had one or two, this year they counted 10 in less than 2 days. They've even been picking them up in their yard.

I personally have NEVER seen a tick, EVER, other than in pictures, until this year, and I spend a lot of time in the northern woods where deer ticks are usually numerous. Again, my dog never got a tick on him last year, and this year, one of the 2 he's picked up came from going outside for 5 minutes to potty.

While American Dog ticks are generally not harmful and rarely bite humans, they have been known to bite on occassion, and (less than 1%) have been known to carry Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. RMSF is extremely rare in wisconsin, and again, less than 1% of American Dog ticks nationwide are actual carriers, but with the increased number of ticks this year, there's always more cause for caution. (On the up note... if treated properly, rocky mountain spotted fever won't last long, won't leave lasting effects, and once it's over, you are forever immune.)

For the most part, they're an annoying pest, that is generally more harmful to your pet if they get infested by these blood suckers, than anything else.

In other areas of the country, deer ticks are a cause for concern. National news has noted that there is an abundant amount of deer and dog ticks this year, more than usual, and lymes disease (caused by the deer tick) is on the rise.

Ways to protect yourself...

1. Keep your lawn mowed. Ticks like Shady areas and tall grass.

2. If walking in the woods, wear long pants tucked into your boots or socks, and wear light colored clothes as they are attracted to dark.

3. Liberally spray yourself with a bug spray that contains Deet. (Deep Woods Off contains 25% deet, while general "off" products contains only 10% to 15%.) The smell of deet detracts them, and if bitten, the deet will kill them before they can do much damage.

4. If you've been in an area that may be prime for ticks, take a hot shower and wash your hair at the end of the day to wash away any loose ticks.

5. If you do NOT have pets... think of getting your lawn treated if you find you have tick and musqueto problems.

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Ways to protect your pets...

1. Keep them groomed. Especially if you have dogs with long black fur. Keep them clipped down (this will also keep them cooler in this hot weather- But don't shave them right down. believe it or not, most dogs need a layer of hair to keep cool!)

2. Check them every time you bring them in from out doors to see if they have anything on them.

3. Get them flea and tick preventatives from your vet. Avoid store bought brands as these are generally ineffective. (They are shipped and/or stored improperly which can render them ineffective, and many name brands in the petstores are actually outsourced from places like China, and we know how safe that is.)

4. Also avoid online stores (like petmeds.com) for the same reasons above

Go to your vet and get the meds.

a. They get it direct from their suppliers so they know its been shipped and stored properly
b. If you get it from a vet, most companies will guarantee their product. they will NOT guarantee store or online bought medicine. This is NOT because they want you to buy from the vet, its because they know how the medicine is shipped, they know its not expired and they can guarantee that its not outsourced outside of the US if its from the vet.

5. In personal experience as a former Vet Technician and pet owner, avoid ProMeris. There have been numerous complaints about ProMeris from lethargy, to Diarrhea, to vomiting to ineffectiveness.

My dog had a tick feeding on him. I kept it in a plastic baggie and it lived for 4 to almost 5 days. ProMeris said it would take 3 days of feeding to die. So for one, 3 days is a long time to feed on your pet. For another, 5 days later it was still kicken.

After a file of complaints from owners, my vet clinic switched back to Frontline Plus. No severe reactions, and i found another tick on my dog. It could only have been there for 24 hours at the most because I'm diligant about checking him over... and when I found it, it was already dead. WTG Frontline Plus!

There are other alternatives as well that work better than ProMeris.

If you have cats, there are cat versions of the meds as well.

I recomment Frontline Plus personally...

but avoid products like ProMeris, and biospot as they have been proven by consumers to be ineffective and even harmful.

Compared to 3 pages of minor complaints about Frontline... I have over 20 for ProMeris, and 11 for Bio Spot.

 

And don't forget to get a heartworm treatment to protect your dog from heartworms, which can be transmitted by musqueto bites.

Arigatou all!