flea and tick meds

[julie1990]

What do you use to keep fleas and ticks away for your bulldog?

 

[Marine91]

We use Sentinel, various plants and make our own lavender/lemon spray to keep the critters away from Harlea. We also have our house and yard treated every other month.

 

[NewEnglandBully]

Great question Julie!
We haven't had any issues w/fleas - thank goodness - but can not keep the ticks away, unfortunately.
I am still researching oral flea and tick guards and have not yet chosen one (conservative when it comes to certain products). We did opt for the Lyme vaccine though and during the high tick months here in New England I try to cover Bass w/natural deterrents, i.e.. coconut oil, vinegar, ect.

It's pretty much inevitable that he will end up w/a tick and that drives me bananas with the scare of Lyme, tick born illnesses and co-infections…but if I find an engorged tick that looks like it has been attached for more than a day I save it in a baggie just incase he shows signs of illness - for future testing.

If a dog has a flea issue, I recommend the Dawn/Apple Cider Vinegar remedy…from what I have read, it has had great results.

 

[2BullyMama]

Sentinel and Vectra 3D

 

[raghu]

@Julie

We have never had fleas. But ticks yes. Bella goes to training class and has attended a few shows. So ticks jump over.
Once you spot ticks, it is always good to have the vet give an injection to kill all the existing ones. And some dogs get tick fever.
Remember, medication only kills of live ticks. The eggs can be still present.

How to remove ticks. You will need a cup with 1 tbsp oil, tweezers and rubbing alcohol
1. Visually check for ticks on the body. More difficult if your dog is dark colored. If they are big they will show up as bumps when you run your hand over the body
2. Check inside ears, folds, tail pocket, genital area, armpits, inner thigh, between toes and paw pads
3. Once spotted, use tweezers to pull out the entire tick. Sometimes you may see a spot of blood
4. Drop the tick in oil. Rub the area with alcohol
5. Do this over 2 or 3 sessions each lasting 10-15 mins with a break of 30 mins in between

Once you are done removing the visible ticks, rub coconut oil generously all over the body and soak for 30 mins. Wash with shampoo.
Repeat this oil treatment every 3-4 weeks. Added benefit of coconut oil is that it hydrates skin and makes coat smooth and glossy.

Ticks breathe via exoskeleton, hence the oil. It kills them and also prevents eggs from hatching. Nothing else does it so effectively.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[Petra]

We decided to go natural, we have chickens to eat the ticks and we also powder areas in the garden with diatomaceous earth for both ticks and fleas. So far I haven't seen any pests on the dogs or the chickens since we stared this treatment I'm very happy to have found this, I hope it keeps impressing me since summer isn't over here yet. It's natural but it's not safe to breath it in so care have to be taken while powdering it, that's all.

 

[cefe13]

This year Castor tried Bravecto and not one single tick, so we were very happy.

If we do get ticks here, we remove them with a tick lasso - very efficient for humans as well as dogs. The good thing about the lasso compared to tweezers is that it's easier to remove the head and thus less risk of an infection.

 

[julie1990]

Unfortunately Roxy and I live in an apartment so there is nothing I can do about spraying the grass. I have only ever found one or two fleas on her that she picked up at my friends place and a tick that was just crawling on her. I've just been weary about using anything topical because of her sensitive skin. In Texas fleas and ticks are a big problem... knock on wood it hasn't been for us but I'm afraid to not treat her at all and it becomes a problem for her.