Ticks - yeuch....

Just back from a week's walking  in Scotland, and I've never known the ticks so bad. Despite wearing long trousers and gaiters, I got several on me - but it was the poor dogs that really suffered. We removed more than twenty from one dog after just one walk, and we seemed to be doing this every day.

 The dogs have been bitten so much that I'm sure they must both be carrying a good number that we haven't found, and we're going to take them to the vets as a precaution and to get something to get rid of them. But in the meantime, does anyone know if ticks  can infest your home? We've only been home a few hours and I have already found one "bloated" one on the carpet. Yuk!!!

I too have been away in the Highlands, I had 1 tick on the back of my leg, our dogs have also had them, have just found one on our kitchen floor. Our dog has been on our bed today!!   oh me.

After a walk up Schiehallion, I had two on my arm, and unless the buggers can jump, I don't know how they got there, as none of the vegetation I'd been walking through was more than knee height.

Since posting, we've found eight more on the dogs. The trouble is that they are almost impossible to find on the dogs until they've started feeding and have swollen to a reasonable size. I hate 'em!

Mike fae Dundee (no to the fence) wrote (see)

 I've had one on the end of my ****! .

Ninja Pussy Cat wrote (see)

Mike fae Dundee (no to the fence) wrote (see)

 I've had one on the end of my ****! .

<shudder>

As to the original question - we've dogs that regualrly have the ticks drop off indoors after feeding - and never had any sort of infestation.

Mind you the little b*ggars we spot tand to get squashed to avoid any further chance of proliferating.

So useful to have an old red carpet

Okay, in case anyone comes back to this, here's what the vet said:-

No, there's no risk of your home getting infested with ticks as it could with fleas. Ticks won't survive indoors, so when they drop off they will die. The best thing to do for the dogs is to keep removing them as you find them, and eventually they will all go. There is no treatment that will kill them all on the dogs.

In future, before going to a tick infested area, consider treating them with a preventive product such as Advantix, which should prevent the ticks getting onto the dogs in the first place.

 (Oh yes, and a bit of advice about Lymes disease, but iwon't go into that as its been well covered here on a number of earlier threads.)

We were told that the Frontline stuff for dogs will put ticks off, or kill the ones that do attach. We also got some stuff called 'Tick-off' from a pet shop which seems to work, it gets sprayed onto any tick you find, and within a couple of hours max it's dropped off of it's own accord. Saves having to take the chance of pulling them off, and leaving it's chewing bits embedded.

nasty little buggers, eh?!

Tick twisters are always worth a mention on any tick thread.  A very quick and easy way of removing ticks, head and all,  from people and dogs.

They cost less than a fiver and are available from most vets and lots of pet shops or online. 

I wasn't keen on using chemicals on Skye but she was picking up ticks all year round on Dartmoor.

Advantix has been really effective for her for the past year.  We'd been picking off several ticks after every walk but since using it she's only had one during the whole 12 months.

Agreed about the tick removing tool. I tried using the tweezers from my SA knife, but was a bit amazed to find they weren't strong enough to pull the ticks off. The little green tool works brilliantly and gets the head out every time. An addition to my walking 1st aid kit.

(We're still finding them on the dogs at regular intervals.)

Ian Mackenzie wrote (see)

No, there's no risk of your home getting infested with ticks as it could with fleas. Ticks won't survive indoors, so when they drop off they will die.

They may infest your garden though!

I use Advantic on my dog, only do two treatments per year Apr & July. and my dog does not appear to pick up ticks. I know thet say use it once per month, but that seems a bit OTT to me

I seem to be hearing more reports of Lyme's disease cases; I know a few people from UKC (yes, one I've met 'in real life'), who have had trouble.  One seems to be fighting the medical profession to get them to admit that she really has it...

I think the medical community seems reluctant to admit that it really is a potential problem (cf the discussion of the issue on one of Bob's Podcasts)...  Or it's a problem that they're not sufficiently familiar with, and one that is increasing in frequency.

So do stay vigilant to the possibility.