OT: dogs & ticks

NDG

Took my 10 month old puppy swimming in creek for the first time last week.  Checked for Ticks after when I shampooed him and found nothing.  Checked again a minute ago and  found 2.  Plucked them, but I still gotta check the inner ears (PS NEVER GOOGLE DOG EAR TICKS) later tonight with my Wife's help.

I called the VET and she told me they are bad this year.  Just a reminder to all you Dog owners out there - check your fluffs!

ChillyWillis

Ticks are very bad this year in the North East. I was playing fetch with Sam in the dune grass and pulled 8 of the little guy! Thank goodness for Frontline Pro.

tarheelmatt

I use K9 Advantix II for my dog and never had an issue.

henapple

I have my wife check me for ticks every night.

SmokeyPitt

All I read was "GOOGLE DOG EAR TICKS", then I went straight to images.  Ewwwwwwww!!!

500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOlrFe8nQaY

fishlessman

was bad up here earlier in the year but not so much now. pretty much every outside dog i know has lyme disease and i know maybe 10 or so people that have gotten lyme

Eggcelsior

fishlessman said:

was bad up here earlier in the year but not so much now. pretty much every outside dog i know has lyme disease and i know maybe 10 or so people that have gotten lyme

That blows. Do people not realize a remedy exists or are they just too lazy to apply a dropper once a month?

fishlessman

Eggcelsior said:

was bad up here earlier in the year but not so much now. pretty much every outside dog i know has lyme disease and i know maybe 10 or so people that have gotten lyme

That blows. Do people not realize a remedy exists or are they just too lazy to apply a dropper once a month?

my dog gets the dropper, and was vaccinated against lyme and still got it, its not so simple. they had a human vaccine as well that they just stopped making. we get so many ticks at times, ive removed as many as 2 dozen after a 20 minute walk with the dog. google ghost moose ticks if you want to see some mean tick problems, small moose dont make it thru the winter with the loss of their coats up in northern maine

saluki2007

The ticks were really bad this spring here in the midwest.  Went mushroom hunting and pulled 6 off before getting in the car and found 4 more the next couple of days.

ChillyWillis

fishlessman said:

was bad up here earlier in the year but not so much now. pretty much every outside dog i know has lyme disease and i know maybe 10 or so people that have gotten lyme

Yup, I got lyme about 5 years ago. 104 temp when I got to the doctors. Not a fun time. My knuckles still hurt to this day because of it.

tarheelmatt

The one thing that most folks don't realize is that you need to protect your animals from mosquitoes as heart worms can be transmitted.  If you ever had a pet with heart worms you will make sure to have some type of preventative on them. 

I went with K9 Advantix II due to its ability to repel biting flies.  They are terrible in my area.  They would gather around my dogs ears and make terrible sores.  I was using Frontline Plus and it did nothing. 

saluki2007

My weimaraner had heart worms when she was younger.  It's a pain in the ass.  Now give heart guard every month.

Legume

Our dogs have had a tough time with ticks the last few years here in central Texas, despite using advantix, frontline, etc.  We switched to Seresto and it's worked better for us than anything else.  It's a collar that you put on the dog, it's ~ $50 and I think it lasts for 6-8 months.  Coverage for fleas, ticks and a number of bugs - kills as well as repels them.

tarheelmatt

@saluki2007, I use both, Advantax II and Heartguard.  The Advantax II for replant and the Hearguard to kill them in case it fails. 

My chocolate lab had heartworms and it broke my heart man that I alowed this to happen to him.  I had him treated and that was torture.  He took it well and lived a while longer.  After two years his heart just couldn't take it any longer.  I miss that dog so much and still feel guilty today. 

I promised myself that will never happen under my watch again. 

Here is.. His name was Levi.  Dog was a show stopper when at the lake.  Jump off piers, plung through the water to get whatever was thrown.  Tennis ball was his favorite thing in the world and for someone to throw it for him.  He would wear your arm out throwing the ball so much. 

tarheelmatt

@mountaindewbass, what do you do for mosquitoes?  Mosquitoes is the number one cause of heart worms in our pets. 

Yes we don't want fleas and ticks on them, but mosquitoes can do just as much harm. 

tarheelmatt

@mountaindewbass I got you.  Mosquitoes are pretty bad in our area with no standing water, which is not always breeding ground for them.  They stay in the ground, mulch, and other areas just as well. 

saluki2007

@Tarheelmatt  Sorry for your loss.  He looks like he was a tank.  Some monster paws.  Growing up we never treated for heartworms for our dog.  The winter would kill most of the bugs that carried the disease (so I thought).  When I moved south, never really thought about treating our dogs because never had in the past.  She got them when she was only around 1 year old.  It's been 6 years since and she is still going strong thankfully.

tarheelmatt

@saluki2007, thanks for the condolences. 

He was for sure.  We didn't treat or give preventative for them either growing up. We would give them a dip in flea/tick stuff and they would wear a flea and tick collar.  I just didn't know the repercussions of not giving the proper meds and care, until now. 

That is awesome your dog is still around. 

What prompted me was one day Levi just passed out in the middle of the yard.  Like he had a seizure or something.  I was freaked out for sure.  I took a video of him and went to the vet, and they confirmed it was heart worms with a test.  Oxygen was just not flowing through his bloodstream like it should.  Does help that he was a high powered dog on top of that so he needed as much oxygen through his blood as possible. 

The treatments really take a toll on them though, plus he was 10 years old, which age was getting to the old boy too.  Man I miss that dog.....

Legume

For tarheelmatt.  My Levi @ 3 months.

tarheelmatt

@Legume, oh buddy!  What a show stopper.  He will be your buddy for a long time for sure. 

NPHuskerFL

Advantix & Trifexis.