does advantix work on deer ticks

[Adk_dib]

Does advantix and other such treaments work on these deer ticks. I have never actually checked my dog for ticks after a hike (I hike almost exclusivly in the adirondacks. About 3-4 times a year in the catskills). On that subject, how do you check your dogs for ticks? Do you simply brush them off and check their bellies and legs?

 

[una_dogger]

K9 Advantix is the best means right now of protecting K9's against ticks -- it repels them as well as killing them if they do attach.

I do a full body tick check on my pups via hand massage in addition to using K9 Advantix.

Don't use Advantix if you have cats in the home, though, its toxic to them.

Hope this helps,
Sabrina

 

[Rick]

Here is my anecdotal evidence: We have a lot of deer ticks in our rolling fields and woodlands (along with a lot of field mice) and were finding them all over our Brittanies when we first moved back to PA last year. We started back up with the Advantix and had no issues. We stopped it in November and when we had the warm spell in January, we again found 4 deer ticks on our dogs - I started the Advantix again and no issues since.

I started using Advantix due to the much larger American Dog Ticks when we lived in MA and as I mentioned, it seems to work well back here.

(BTW, I just called my vet - she says yes, it is effective in the control of Deer Ticks)

 

[jbrown]

Question: what's the best way of removing a tick from your dog if one is found? I've never found any on my dog and the only one I ever found on myself hadn't actually bitten me yet.

(Sorry for the thread hijack, just seemed like a good follow-up question to me.)

 

[chipc]

Question: what's the best way of removing a tick from your dog if one is found? I've never found any on my dog and the only one I ever found on myself hadn't actually bitten me yet.

(Sorry for the thread hijack, just seemed like a good follow-up question to me.)

I use my fingers or small tweezers with good grips at the end to remove standard dog ticks and deer ticks. This has worked well for our labs whose coat is not particularly long, so its easy to spot the tick and get to it. There are concerns about having the tick "break" and leaving the head attached, but I have not had this happen in removing 100s of ticks over >10 years and 4 dogs.

We have used Frontline for cats and dogs in our house; it does work well for killing dog and deer ticks.

 

[Rik]

I have one dog infected with Lyme while on Frontline and one while on Advantix. Both also had the vaccine.
I did have an experience once where we found several ticks on the dogs and us humans. The ones on the dogs seemed to be much less active (almost dead) while the ones on us were crawling around like no tomorrow. Both dogs were using Advantix.

 

[Rick]

Question: what's the best way of removing a tick from your dog if one is found? ....

I have had mixed results with tweezers. Though I admit to trying the hot end of a match or smearing with Vaseline (which would cause the tweezers to frustratingly slip off), I usually grasp them as close to the head as possible and apply slow, very slow steady pressure. It takes up to 2-3 minutes for the tick to release if the head is really buried.
Our dogs have fine coats, so when I do find them, I ultimately pull out some hair as well as the tick.

I have had ticks break a few times leaving the mouthparts burrowed into the skin. I then need a fine sewing needle and a strong magnifying glass while my wife holds a flashlight and I dig the parts out.

I have found that I have better results with a good set of drugstore tweezers rather than a $.99 cent dime store pair which are very sloppy and not too precise at the tips.

 

[Quietman]

Here is a tool that seems to work well

Tick removal tool

and here is a good reference site for removal info

Tick Removal

 

[Artex]

Just a potentially interesting and relevant little piece of information I heard on the news this morning: They expect ticks to be bad this year (while mosquitoes not as bad). That's at least for here in Maine.

 

[MEB]

After I've had my pups out for a run I make sure I do a thorough check on them for ticks...they seem to like the ears for some reason...so that area gets a double check. They both have relatively short hair so they are easy to spot visually but I also run my fingertips over them too. I've never used frontline or advantix on either of them but they do get a yearly vaccination against Lyme's. As far as removing them I'll use tweezers or just pull them out with my fingers.

-MEB

 

[Chip]

I think ticks are attracted to carbon dioxide, so they tend to move towards the head and neck (not that they can't be found elsewhere.)

I may try K9 Advantix this year if they are bad. I've been using Frontline and that will kill the tick, but after it's already bitten. I think the K9 is supposed to do a better job at repelling them before they bite.

 

[jade]

I find it interesting that some folks don't use any tick repellant at all on their dogs. My dog has tested positive for Lyme's disease and had symptoms one time (awful!). I used Advantix on her last year and pulled at least 8 ticks off of her during the summer months. Since she has a vaccination every year, I wonder if it is worth the expense (minimal) and the act of applying dangerous chemicals to one's dog.......Most vets seem to encourage the use of Frontline or Advantix, can't help wondering if it has to do with the profit margin....

...Jade

 

[una_dogger]

risk vs benefits, i'll take the poison

it's a tough balancing act all around..i can only imagine how many ticks i'd find on my pups if i weren't using anything. and after nearly losing a dog to lyme/ehrlichiosis coinfection who now has chronic lyme encephalitis and must take phenobarbital for life; and still paying off a five thousand dollar vet bill ...i'll apply the tick repellent.

 

[chipc]

I find it interesting that some folks don't use any tick repellant at all on their dogs. My dog has tested positive for Lyme's disease and had symptoms one time (awful!). I used Advantix on her last year and pulled at least 8 ticks off of her during the summer months. Since she has a vaccination every year, I wonder if it is worth the expense (minimal) and the act of applying dangerous chemicals to one's dog.......Most vets seem to encourage the use of Frontline or Advantix, can't help wondering if it has to do with the profit margin....

...Jade

I don't have the exact facts in front of me, but its my understanding that the causative bacterial species for Lyme (Borrelia) exhibits a fair amount of antigenic variation meaning that the current Lyme vaccines are not effective against all strains of the bacteria. In addition, once your dog is vaccinated, it probably will test positive for Lyme at least by the first-line test done at the vets. So then you might have to get the more expensive Western Blot test that looks for several different Borrelia antigens.

I think one's choice of prevention depends at some level on how much exposure there will be. While I wish our dogs only had 8 ticks in the summer months, we live near wetlands and our dogs do a lot of local hikes and field work as well. In metro west Mass, if we have 3 wet days over 40F we'll find ticks on our dogs in January. (So we can sometimes average 8 ticks/week/dog.)

That being said, one of our dogs was diagnosed with Lyme 2 years ago, even though he was vaccinated and was on Frontline. Luckily, he recovered very quickly with his meds.

 

[lumberzac]

Just to remind everyone, there is a vaccine for cats and dogs for lyme. I’d highly recommend getting the shot for our 4-legged friends.

 

[Sugarloafer]

I live in the tick capital of greater Boston and my yellow lab spends a lot of time in the local woods, as well as hiking with me in NH and Maine. We also have a herd of deer that seem to use my backyard as a shortcut. She's two years old and I've been using Advantix since we got her and I don't think I've found more than a couple of ticks on her. Great stuff !!!

 

[bobmak]

I also live in tick heaven. Last week after doing an Earth Day clean up of the Georgetown / Rowley state forest I found several ticks crawling on my khaki colored nylon pants. Luckily, I found them before going into my house and took my clothes off in the garage.

I pull ticks off my dogs on an almost daily basis, a few this morning after a run in a local soccer field, and have had one dog (a cairn terrier) become very sick with Lyme. He was a tough old bugger though, and made a full recovery. I use Frontline on my dogs; Google "Advantix reactions" and you'll see a number of reports of dogs that have had some nasty reactions to Advantix. I'll stick with the Frontline for now. Although it is not a tick repellant it kills the little monsters within 24 hours.

For removing ticks I use a tick nipper on both the dogs and myself (I am good for at least a dozen a season, 4 so far this year). Great tool, I bought mine at REI.

 

[smitty77]

I've used K9 Advantix ever since the vet gave me the OK to begin applying it. Never had a bad reaction, so I guess I'm lucky. I originally started using it because the dog lives outside 24/7, and she had a nasty time with aggressive black flies and mosquitos. The Advantix does a killer job as a mosquito repellent, and seems to repel black flies too. As far as I know, it is the only brand that does which is why I chose it over the others. I continue using it through the winter, and have yet to find a tick on the dog since I started using it. Before I was pulling off 1-2 dog ticks a week, sometimes more. We did a hike down a poweline cut on the Tully Trail last summer, and I was particularly mindful of ticks after Dugan reported finding many on her dog after the same section of trail. I found about 4 on my pants and shirt after the half mile of 6 foot scrub, but none on the dog. This year we did the Lyme vaccine, and given the news reports I'm glad I did. With the costs of treating a pet for Lyme, I'll gladly pay a small price for prevention.

In regard to "pushing" these treatments to help profits, that may be the case for some vets, but ours was selling it at what I now find to be the cheapest prices around. They were cheaper than PetMeds by about $30 per year. However, my vet stopped carrying it due to lack of demand. I was able to get a prescription to get it through their supplier via mail order, but I still pay more than what I was getting it for over the counter. Maybe he was getting a kickback and stopped carrying it because they stopped paying him to do so. Who knows....

As for checking your dog - Up, down, and all around. They will hide anywhere. They seemed to really favor the underbelly when the dog was young, I would assume due to her astonishing lack of hair on her underside as a pup. They were very common just behind the "armpit" of her front legs.

Also don't forget to check your cats if they roam outside. Our strictly indoor cat escaped for all of five minutes, and she picked up a deer tick in her fur while I was chasing her across the front lawn and back into the house.

Smitty

 

[chipc]

Our strictly indoor cat escaped for all of five minutes, and she picked up a deer tick in her fur while I was chasing her across the front lawn and back into the house.

Smitty

Even if indoor cats don't escape you probably should check them periodically. The ticks easily can get in on your dog or you. We have found ticks on our indoor cats and have Frontlined them in high tick seasons.

 

[bobmak]

I think with the Advantix it is a reaction that only a small percentage of dogs have. I have heard lots of good stuff about it as well. Just wanted to point that there may be some disadvantages to using it.

Now if only there was some kind of safe tick repellant that I could use....