Part 1 – Why we need one!
In spite of the 30-40 mph Northwest winds today, I think it’s safe to say that spring has sprung here in New England. My crocuses are popping up and the buds are showing on some of the trees and bushes. Who can’t be happy about this after the bitter cold and snowy winter we had? Yet there are still some unhappy thoughts that spring brings to mind now….my sister emailed me the other day to let me know she had found a tick on her beagle. They’re baaaaaack, and that’s a true horror show! We have yet to see one here in our town, but I know we will soon enough. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I hate ticks.
Last year we had a lot of ticks and they said it was because we had a mild winter. This year they are saying we’re going to have a lot of ticks, because the deep snow cover would help them survive. We can’t win, right?
I mentioned last month that I was already thinking about how we’re going to fight the bugs this year. I try to do things all naturally wherever possible, and last year we stopped using chemicals like Frontline on the dogs. I don’t like using pesticides on the dogs, just as I don’t use insect repellents with DEET on myself. We checked diligently for ticks daily, but what we didn’t see coming was the flea problem we had in the fall. We had never had an issue with fleas, and even when we used Frontline we only used it for a month or two in the spring. We don’t see as many ticks once we get into summer and I didn’t want to use it if it was unnecessary.
The month of April has been designated National Prevention of Lyme Disease in Dogs Month by the American Lyme Disease Foundation. As you can see from the map below, we live in an area with a high incidence of Lyme disease. This disease was first found in humans in 1975 in the town of Lyme, Connecticut, where it got its name. It is an infectious disease that is transmitted by deer ticks. It was first found in dogs in 1984. I’ve known at least two people and two dogs in my area who have contracted Lyme disease (or at least tested positive for it). What a lot of people may not know is that it is a far more difficult disease in humans than in dogs. Dogs can test positive for Lyme but never develop the disease, only 5% of dogs exposed to the disease will actually come down with it.
Dogs respond very well to antibiotic treatment and the majority of them recover completely. Some can even recover without treatment. Dogs don’t contract the systemic disease that humans do which in humans can lead to a lifetime of complications. Even so, Lyme is a concern in dogs because you still don’t want your dog to be sick. The clinical signs of Lyme include lameness, limping, and fever. No one wants to see their dog go through that.
Ticks can also carry other diseases: Ehrlichia – another bacterial infection that has similar symptoms to Lyme and affects the white blood cells; and Rocky Mt. Spotted Fever – which when caught early can have a good prognosis, but if not can have long term consequences or even death. Since humans are also susceptible to all of these diseases, it is also important to keep our dogs free of ticks which can transfer onto us. Trust me, there is nothing worse than waking up in the night feeling a tick crawling in your hair that very likely came in on one of the dogs.
Some of these diseases are far less common, and you can see from the maps below if they are more common in your area.
After our battle with fleas last year, I knew we had to do better this year for the dogs. It doesn’t do any good to be all natural if they are still suffering. Both Sheba and Cricket had issues with itching and losing fur. At first we didn’t know what was going on, until I saw the first flea on them. Surprisingly, Kobi never had a problem, and neither did the cats. We were able to get it under control using mostly apple cider vinegar, baths, and a thorough cleaning of all dog beds in the house. This year I want to get ahead of it, preventing it instead of having to treat it. I spent a lot of time this winter researching what to do.
Please come back for Part 2 where I lay out our plan of action. There’s a lot more to it then you might think (much to my hubby’s dismay!).
We are joining 2 Brown Dawgs Blog and Heart Like a Dog for their Thursday Barks and Bytes blog hop (with a little play on the word bytes, as in “bug bytes” – ha ha). Please visit them and others through the links below!
Thanks so much for joining the hop! I am late getting around this week. 🙂 We use Frontline. Our dogs are in so many places with very bad ticks that there is really not a good alternative. We haven’t applied it yet this year but I think after this weekend’s show we will get it done. Since we are not training on the farm this year, it isn’t as much of a concern this early. Yuck I hate those things!
Yes, if you’re in those places all of the time, I really don’t see where you have much choice.
I love to walk on the farm up the road from us, but once the fields start getting high, I don’t go there anymore….avoidance is part of my plan….lol!
I am very eager to read part two and see what you’re going to do to battle these little creepies. I have already pulled 2 of them “out” (not off) of me and 2 out of Bella and it’s not even May yet. 🙁
I just hope we win the battle…or at least put up a good fight! Oh no, I’ve never had to pull one out of myself…knock wood. Geez, they could at least wait until it’s really spring weather-wise!
Looking forward to part 2 because I feel the same you do about these pesky critters. Living in the MO Ozarks… ticks are thick as thieves and I hate them with a passion. We began daily tick checks 2 weeks ago. So far a total of 5 ticks, so I haven’t resorted to chemicals yet. I will succumb, but usually only one or two doses is all it takes.
I always dread the first time we’re going to see one….lol. We probably won’t start the daily checks until we’ve spotted one.
I know plenty of people who will start Frontline or something similar on April 1st, and do it every month for the whole summer and into the fall. I definitely don’t think that’s necessary. Kind of like vaccines which may last much longer than the manufacturers say they do!
Wow – good stuff. Will be back for more. Luckily we don’t have as many of these pests out here as you do back east, but we still get ’em.
Thank you! You are very lucky to have less of these nasty insects out there. There was a time when we never saw a tick around here, I didn’t even know what they were. Now they’ve moved in full force.
I absolutely HATE ticks and fleas. We have been very fortunate on the fleas (knocking on wood) but an occasional tick will show up. Yuck! i am anxious to see what your solution is because i don’t like using Frontline or any of those oily drops. I refuse to give either dog the oral repellent. Our biggest problem is mosquitoes.
Oh yeah, mosquitoes are another whole issue too! One of the things I’m going to try I believe also works to repel mosquitoes, so you might be interested in that. I know there’s a new oral repellent out, but I refuse to use anything that’s new to the market, I just don’t trust it.
Ugh I hate hate hate ticks! I have only found 3 on Shiner in her lifetime thank goodness! We just don’t have them where I live. We had a few cases of dogs covered in ticks when I worked as a vet tech. For dogs with extreme tick infestations, we recommended a prescription tick collar. It contained amitraz, so definitely less than ideal and not doable if there are cats around. Good luck with your bugs. I so would not want to be in that situation! My main battle is with fleas which are only slightly less better than ticks =/
You are so lucky you don’t have ticks where you are!! Yes, the fleas can be nasty too though, and maybe even harder to get rid of once you have them.
Looks like we both had an info packed post today! Thanks for the great information!!!!
(P.S as far as I can see my share butttons are there, I hope I am not the only one who can see them?)
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
GMTA, right? 🙂
We have so many ticks around it is just awful. We haven’t found anything that works 100%, but we don’t trust all natural stuff either. It is quite a mess, but we use Frontline which stops most ticks and Mom finds the rest almost always before they find a place to latch on to.
There probably is nothing that works 100%, I just hope the all natural way will work….we’ll see. I really think the best thing is constantly checking for the ticks and removing them.
That was a awesome post! Ticks and fleas are nasty. I used products and been around products for 25 yrs and I still will use them on my pets until something happens which I sure hope doesn’t but I don’t want those nasty creatures in my house or making my dog sick.
Thank you! They are nasty. I have a thing about chemicals, etc., but I don’t rule out using those things completely, I will if I have to, if it’s something that has been around for a while. I’m just hoping the all natural way will work.
I don’t get the logic about having lots of ticks both years! We should get some relief! I really hate ticks. They just freak me out.
I know!! It’s kind of like every fall when they tell us the foliage won’t be so great…either it rained too much, or it didn’t rain enough….there’s always an excuse! Ticks really freak me out too. Though I have gotten better….I will remove them if my hubby isn’t home. But if he’s home….he does it!
Thanks for joining the blog hop and dang it for leaving me hanging!!! I won’t use Frontline on my dogs, instead I usually use a natural spray which is a bit more involved since it needs to be applied daily. We also have our yard sprayed for ticks and just last year we went with a natural spray for that. I usually brush them out when we get back from our walks and we also check them daily and remove any ticks we may find.
I’m excited to see what you have found!
Well, I originally planned to do it all in one post, but it was getting way too long! Even with using Frontline, we were still finding ticks on the dogs anyway. I got a natural spray last year, but then found out it was not good for cats to get exposed to it (cats are sensitive to some essential oils), and since the animals share beds I couldn’t use it. Actually, I think that was more for treatment than prevention anyway.
Hi
Jodi over at Heart Like A Dog has nominated you to be our guest blogger this coming Sunday on our regular ‘Share It Sunday’ feature. You don’t have to do anything just email us the link to the post you’d like us to showcase and we will do the rest. You also get to make the next nomination so just add a link to the blog for us to contact them. Have a tremendous Thursday.
Best wishes Molly
mollyDOTthewallyATbtinternetDOTcom
Oh cool, thank you, Molly! I sent you an email. That was so nice of Jodi also to think of us!
Oh great information on a few of the ickiest of horrors – ticks and fleas. I’ve never found a tick on Sam OR had a flea problem but when I lived in Florida some years ago we had a constant flea problem no matter WHAT we did. There is a high incidence of ticks in Virginia and we’re always on the look out – – my husband routinely finds them on his jeans after he’s worked in the yard or woods…….they get the “flush treatment” down the toilet! I’ve known someone who really suffered with lyme disease – she was having infusions at the time I was having chemo. Real misery. Looking forward to hearing your “plan of attack” !!
Hugs, Pam
The first time I ever saw a tick was on one of our cats, back when we had outdoor cats. It totally freaked me out….lol. We did have problems with fleas on the cats once, years ago also, but that was it. Yes, the people I’ve known with Lyme also were sick for MONTHS, it’s tough to diagnose and really takes a lot out of you I guess.
I hope to share the plan next week, but won’t be able to say whether it works for a little while!