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Look Out Ticks About


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Ive just put Advantix on Jonty for the first time as he's not outside very much, Ebony has her tick collar on year round as she lives outside.

I just cant believe that at the end of July I havent even been needing a jumper on in the house in the evenings! :vomit: And no, the house isnt heated - it's just been so warm!

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Yep, I found a tick this week too :rofl:

Thankfully I had only just Advantix'd a couple of days before and the sucker was dead :vomit:

One of my fosters got tick poisoning last summer and I am NOT going through that again.

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Yep over the last month have pulled out about 3. Seemed a bit on the dead side by the time I got them so the protection is working to some degree.

They love humidity so the rain will have brought them on, also will be spring soon so expecting an early tick season.

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For us "newbie", can someone explain how to check you dog for ticks properly??? I've been just running my hands over her & feeling for bumps, but I'm never sure if I'm doing it properly? I also look in her ears, at her gums/lips and try to feel between her toes. I'm guess I'm just scared that I'm going to miss something & she's going to suffer for my ineptness.

Edited by squeak
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I know how you feel, squeak. We get a bit slack down here in Tasmania, as most of our ticks are not paralysis ticks - though those are down here too. It's almost a relief when you find a tick, 'cos you know you can - if that makes sense.

Sounds to me like you're doing the right thing - just add the anus to your list of places to check. I've had a couple of different vets tell me they've found ticks there!

I'm heading north in October, and freaking out a bit about ticks. I plan to use Frontline Plus 2 weekly - but maybe add a tick collar as well? What do people think. We'll be travelling up NSW coast to Tweed Heads.

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Hi Sheridan

I havent seen a map as such, but Eastern Seaboard, this is for paralysis tick that we are talking about and I think you will find that they are not in Geelong :party: check with your vet anyway.

I'm in Canberra at the moment but I assume it's too cold here for ticks???

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I'd say so Sheridan re Canberra, we are from NZ and didnt have these pblms there. Many moons ago we had a cocker in Sydney who picked up one in Newcastle.

Squeak all you can do is what you are doing by running your hands all over you dog. Then also use the tick collars/and spot ons, some people also use proban which is a tablet given orally every second day.

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Squeak

For us "newbie", can someone explain how to check you dog for ticks properly??? I've been just running my hands over her & feeling for bumps, but I'm never sure if I'm doing it properly? I also look in her ears, at her gums/lips and try to feel between her toes. I'm guess I'm just scared that I'm going to miss something & she's going to suffer for my ineptness.

Get into the habit of checking twice daily around 12 hours apart. Start with the head, run your hands around (your dog will think it is getting wonderful pats) the face first, examine eyes and gums to see it anything is there. Next go around each ear in a complete circle, then look as far into the ear canal as you can see. Then starting from the top of the head do the entire neck. Feel behind the head and around futher back behind ears, the throadt and especially and creases or natural wrinkles. Then go all along the dogs back and sides, then flip the dog on its back (gently) :) . Start at the throat and down to the chest, look into any swirls or fur, then the underarms the rest of the chest the abdomen and belly and the under legs, go all the way down to the genitals and anal area. (In serious tick areas ticks can go into the anus). :party:

Next examine each leg right down to the paws, inbetween the toes and a pad divisions, I once found one sneakily attached under the little web between the toes, almost invisible. And dont forget the tail.

It sounds a lot, but if you do it right your dog will soon enjoy this as a treat of your attention, and co-operate.

Observe your dog and get to know their normal behaviours, if your dog seems a bit agitated and starts acting strangely, like extra naughty or yapping or something check for a tick. Also if the dog suddenly becomes a bit depressed or shows any weakness in the back legs, look to finding a tick and removing it asap. Usually weakness of the back legs requires immediate vet attention, but I recommend finding the tick first and removing it as a priority.

Anecdotally I have heard that any tick protection can fail. If you are in a heavy tick area consider a Killtix collar and Frontline Plus applied fortnightly. There are other good protections as well. If you have a very hairy dog or a large dog consider an internal treatment.

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I just pulled a paralysis tick off my boy - an hour after picking him up from the groomer where he was washed and clipped! We figure he must have picked it up somewhere between the groomer's and home. Needless to say, we're staying in tonight and watching him for symptoms. Ahhh, what a way to spend Saturday night...

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Hello All

Does anyone know if there are ticks in the Sydney City Area? Especially Centennial Park and the Bondi Areas?

Also is it harder to spot ticks in long haired dogs with black coats? i.e poodles

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Argh ticks - they are so horrible. When we were in Tsv we got an awful infestation of the blighters - thankfully, just normal ticks as Townsville doesn't get paralysis ticks. Nonetheless, it was awful and they get EVERYWHERE - ears, between toes, under legs, backside.

We just made a habit of regularly (three times a day) checking the girls and pulling them off. And of course getting yard done for them and frontlining girls etc. Finally got rid of them but we were terribly pleased to move to Canberra where they don't seem to be . . .

Was no harder finding them on our black dog than our gold one - particularly once they were big (YUCK).

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