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TICKS! Freaking out!

2K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Basset Momma 
#1 ·
Tell me if I post too much! LOL! I feel like I must!

I came back from visiting my husband in Oregon for a week - we had to leave the bassets behind, so I left my inlaws in charge to take care of them. I came home and somewhere between my back yard and theirs my sweet Dixie face is COVERED head to toe in Ticks. I'm thinking it must be my yard because I saw a couple of fleas and bathed the dogs immediately in dawn dish soap (the best flea shampoo ever) and made a mental note to pick up more frontline. This morning I was "wrestling" and cuddling my babies when I saw brown spots on Dixie's stomach... Not just big ones but little tiny baby ones as well. They were ALL ticks, hundreds of them. I can't even over-exaggerate the amount!

Now I'm freaking out. Ticks carry all sorts of diseases not just for dogs, but people as well and my face was practically on them (this is really making my head itch! LOL) I'm going out immediately to get frontline and yard treatment (and house treatment).

What's the best yard treatment ya'll have used? Any sort of home remedies? (I know vacumming daily after putting salt in your carpet will kill fleas).
 
#2 ·
We had a flea infestation last summer(I think from the rabbits and squirrels who nest in our yard) and called Scott's Lawn Service who came and spread little pellets which lasted for 3 months. After they spread the stuff, we had to keep the dogs off it until it rained and the pellets disappeared. I didn't feel good about the chemicals, but we had hoards of fleas jumping on us if we stepped outside, and it worked immediately. I imagine tick treatment for the lawn would be similar?

We have a big problem with Lyme disease in our area- I had Lyme in December of 2004 but was lucky enough to have a rash, so was able to have it diagnosed and get on doxycycline right away. Murray tested positive too, so we took our meds together for 3 weeks.

About 1/2 of those bitten by a Lyme infected tick don't get a rash- if you think there's any chance you've been infected, I would talk about it with your family doctor-
 
#3 ·
oh that is so scary!! I went to the vet and got frontline and some adams flea and tick killer from petsmart (on their recommendation). I also got ortho insecticide for the yard and sprayed it in the "hot spots" they like to lay and around the fence. I don't think I've had any on me (although my head still totally itches when I think about it! LOL) so I'm hoping its all taken care of now. The pups are inside on their new bed i bought yesterday that has some sort of cedar scent in it (ironically for flea and tick control lol) while I wait for the yard to dry.
 
#4 ·
This is being taken to another level. Yesterday after applying the adams mist and frontline I sat and picked about 50 ticks off dixie. thinking I had won the battle, the ticks apparently are ready for war. I turned her over tonight and again she is COVERED... about 40 more. her skin is horribly irritated and red, she's itching like crazy too. I found 2 spots on her circular and dime sized that were bloodied where I removed a tick (wth is that?). I don't know what to do!! I read somewhere that a saltwater bath might help but I'm afraid to wash the frontline off and the wounds might really sting... I don't understand why they like her so much. Darker hair? I found maybe 5 or 10 on Stonewall but she just is covered.

I know it wouldn't be terribly fashionable but does anyone think shaving her belly would be a good route to go? I could at least pick them off easier if I did that. My poor baby girl! :(
 
#5 ·
Frontline does not wash off-it is a systemic which stays in their skin for about 30 days.

If this were me, I would do 2 things:

1. Take her to your vet to get help getting the ticks off her.Because of the Frontline I don't know if they can dip her, but hopefully they would have some way to help.

2. Call a lawn service asap to have your yard treated. It only cost us $70 to have our very large backyard treated for fleas last summer. It lasted for 3 months.Tick prevention would probably be about the same. You will probably have to have this done regularly- if deer are coming through your area and bringing them to your yard, it will continue, and I think professional application of insecticide on a regular basis will be needed- lots of folks around here who have property bordering woods do this because of the Lyme threat.

As a person who had Lyme a few years ago, I would tell you that ticks can pose a serious health threat to you and your dog- I wouldn't mess around with this situation.

I'll be interested to see how it goes- good luck!
 
#6 ·
My Eloise was diagnosed with Lyme this past Spring. She wasn't symptomatic, but it was there all the same. She was on antibiotics for a month and is fine now, but Lyme can pose serious, even deadly, health problems. A tick infestation can also cause anemia due to blood loss. This is nothing to fool around with. Get Dixie to the vet ASAP for treatment. They may opt to give her meds just to play it safe.
 
#7 ·
Ticks are becoming a bigger and bigger problem everywhere. I know where I am, I used to wander around as a kid and *never* got a tick. But that's impossible these days. In the summer, if I go outside of a certain area, I'll pick up 10-20 ticks, even if I use Off Deep Woods or similar.

In any case, I second Aruuuu. Get your little darlin' to the vet asap to check for tick disease.

And if you can, get chickens or guineas. Absolutely nothing will clean out the ticks quicker and more efficiently than a few chickens or guineas. Seriously.

Otherwise, I'll use Spectracide at the beginning of the warm weather season (around March), then again around July. But be aware that in Texas and Oklahoma, there are ticks year-round and you have to use tick protection on your pups year round - every month. It seems so obvious, but it still too me a long time to figure it out. :blink:

Good luck. I battle the little devils all the time.
 
#8 ·
Yikes! I'm sure our weather out here lately is making the perfect breeding environment. We had ticks like that in our house many, many years ago- We "bombed" the place and stayed in a hotel for a day... then repeated in about 2 weeks... We didn't have any more problems there. We have found a few ticks so far this year but not too bad where we live now. I would take them to the vet for a check up... my Abby had some sort of tick borne disease a few months ago based on her blood work- though the actual "tick" tests showed negative. They treated with doxy and her blood work came back normal after that. Good luck!
 
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