[angelbaby]

So some of you know Im lucky enough to live somewhere where I have NEVER seen a tick in my life. Never had issues with them or any concern. I have vaccinated a couple of my dogs for it however.

Now we are looking to move sometime between october - spring to a 1400 acre ranch where they DO have ticks. I would prefer to get all my dogs prepared before we go there and need to know what you all do to prevent anything , what you use to fight ticks?

I thought vaccinating against them was best but someone recently told me not to vaccinate and they sent me this link to read about it and I am more confused now then before.
Canine Lyme Disease Vaccination and Treatment Issues

When I talked with my vet he was the one who recommended we vaccinate for lymes just incase. Those of you living in areas with ticks do you vaccinate? if not what products do you use on your dogs and how often do you apply them?

I think this is the only thing im actually worried about with this move are the ticks and wolves LOL.

Note the dogs are still going to be inside dogs, if anything we may build indoor kennels for them as well. We are looking into getting watch dogs though and they will be outdoor dogs year round there.

 

[KMdogs]

Honestly, nothing.. Just about everything on the market is poison, in essence as a preventative.. So the question really becomes take the risk or use poison..

I use something along the lines of Adams for shampooing during heavy tick season, i also use dawn (blue) for fleas occasionally.. I haven't used any sort of preventative in at least a decade and never had an issue with lyme disease or any other disease associated with.. Of course it all boils down to experience, some think i'm a fool others have similar experiences...

Find a tick, pluck them off, watch the spot for 24 - 36 hours and carry on.

Unfortunately i may have to go with some poison this year as ticks are already getting bad and its not even really into spring yet.. Worst i've ever seen it so if i do i'll let you know what i end up getting..

 

[angelbaby]

Thanks KM I have read in some studys that a big percent of dogs who test positive for lymes show no signs , and are able to fight off the illness naturally where others come down with symptoms. Guess just depends on the dogs immune sysytem and how healthy they are to fight off the illness. When you watch the site of the tick what are you looking for? inflammations? redness? and if you see something what would you do then?

 

[Vilebeast]

I use front line plus (i think its called) and I did get the vac for lymes, but I nearly lost a pup about 20 years ago (I was to young to have sole responsibly of a dog). Also in my county in FL its a rather large fine not to be utd on ALL shots, and have monthly use of flea/tick prevention.

But also consider, I have feral cats on my property that my AC watches to makes sure I don't kill them. Ticks where I live in FL are really bad almost year round.

But that's my experience.

 

[angelbaby]

So they mandate tick prevention there? here the only thing they mandate is rabies.

 

[ames]

Frontline allows the ticks to attach and bite and then they die from the eating the blood. Advatix prevents the ticks from attaching in the first place, I believe, so the ticks dont have a chance to bite at all. If you don't have many, I would do the Lyme Vaccine, but forgo the monthly treatments until you actually see a tick. Ticks themselves don't do much I dont think, its when they have Lyme Disease that causes the issue. Not all ticks can carry Lymes disease, so I go for the yearly and watch for the others..

 

[angelbaby]

Ya I have never been up that far north so not sure how bad it is. Seen a article where they had jars full and said it was from 1 season they collected off 1 horse. Hopefully its not that bad. Did you read that article ames on vaccinating?

 

[KMdogs]

Thanks KM I have read in some studys that a big percent of dogs who test positive for lymes show no signs , and are able to fight off the illness naturally where others come down with symptoms. Guess just depends on the dogs immune sysytem and how healthy they are to fight off the illness. When you watch the site of the tick what are you looking for? inflammations? redness? and if you see something what would you do then?

You want to watch for the skin becoming extremely scaled over, red, swollen, etc.

Its all in who you ask really, i don't believe in giving my hounds any preventions or medications unless absolutely needed. Not about price or anything just about health.. Known of plenty dogs get ill or in rare cases die from preventatives and in my honest opinion not worth the risk unless its truly that bad.. Obviously you don't want to risk tick infestations however pulling one or two ticks off every few weeks ain't no big deal to me.. So long as its peak of season, this year already had to pull a few off each so not a good sign.. Just use best judgement and common sense really.

 

[angelbaby]

Ya I dont like putting stuff on my dogs had a cat get real ill from using a topical treatment like Advantix and after seeing how bad they worked on my dogs just for fleas we went natural with garlic and been flea free since. Is there any natural repellant that works for ticks does anyone know? obviously if its risking there health I will use what we have too , just trying to get all the info we can BEFORE we do this move. If we move in the winter I have a bit to prepare but if we opt to do a spring move we may be in the midst of tick season when we get up there. Thanks for the info everyone.

 

[ames]

wow I had not, but I did and I hear what they are saying. I guess I maybe over paranoid since my mom got it. The doctors took FOREVER to diagnose it, and my friends dog was in the same boat. maybe they test more often, or maybe once a year test when I bring him in would be OK, but if he got it, I saw what it did to my mom and friends dog, and I would never want anyone to go through it. her pup was never the same after she got it. So sad. But thanks for the link, def something to ponder the next vet visit...