Uggghhhh!!! Ticks!!!!!

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

The downside to having dogs.

I just found 2 crawling on me.  They just freak me out.  The pup's stomach is upset so I was snuggling with him on the couch.  He had just come back from doing his business outside.  

YDS took the dog for a walk last week and found 20 ticks on the pup afterward.  

And, yes, we faithfully administer tick prevention every month.

I am here to tell you the the primary scourge of man is the exploding tick population.  

[swamp]

We've had to start keeping the cat indoors.  Whenever he goes out he come back in covered with ticks.  And yes, we give him regular treatments. 

[billisonboard]

Nov 7, 2015 17:17:57 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

...

I am here to tell you the the primary scourge of man is the exploding tick population.  

Some men see it as an opportunity.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

OMG!!!!

He didn't!!!

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Nov 7, 2015 18:59:55 GMT -5 swamp said:

We've had to start keeping the cat indoors.  Whenever he goes out he come back in covered with ticks.  And yes, we give him regular treatments. 

Gonna have to teach the dog how to use a litter box.  

[lurkyloo]

Back in CA it was more a problem with fleas but there was resistance to the standard treatments (Frontline, Advantix) cropping up.  Does your vet have an opinion on whether a different tick preventative might work better?

We took our pup to a particular dog park at one point...picked about 30 ticks off him afterwards and 2 off me    Last time we ever went to that one. There were several trails we avoided as well; nice trails but not worth the freakout afterward.

[Deleted]

Although I'd had dogs since I was a kid, I never had a problem with ticks until I bought my house. My dog got so many ticks on her I was afraid to let her near me or in my house. I put so much different stuff in my yard to kill the ticks I was half afraid I was going to kill my dog.  Fortunately I was able to get the ticks under control in my yard and I haven't had any more ticks on my dogs. I still use pesticides in my yard, but not as many or as much as I did at first.

I don't like bugs period, but the though of a tick attaching itself to me really, really creeps me out. It happened to me in elementary school on a field trip and when my Mom realized what it was I almost had a meltdown. Ticks..... UGH!

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

It's not the preventative.

Like you, it's the trails.  I am surrounded by awesome hiking trails.  Or narrow, winding, country lanes without sidewalks.  So, we tend to prefer the trails.  The leaves are down now and covering the trails.  So, the ticks are finding it easier to hitch a ride.  

{{{shudder}}}

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Last summer I brushed past a low hanging limb in my backyard.

A couple hours later, I glanced in the bathroom mirror while washing my hands and noticed a speck of dirt on the very tip of my nose.

It wasn't dirt.

It was a tiny deer tick.  

A few weeks ago, I pulled one off of my thigh.

They serve no beneficial purpose.  Let's nuke em!!!

[CCL]

Well at least it's not chiggers. Yuck!

[bobosensei]

I think it is a bit of both.  There is an overuse of the preventative stuff, but most of the time when I find ticks on the dogs they picked them up in the woods and the tick is crawling on top of the fur.  You can't stop that from happening.  We've found as many 20 on one dog after a hike.  Luckily our dogs are light colored so I often see the tick.  I've learned to pay attention on walks because it is much easier to pick the crawling tick off the top of the fur than to find it attached and have to pull it off later.  So now when we take a break in the woods I do a quick tick check.  I often pick 3-4 off each dog at every stop.  But the worst is when we find them full and dead on the floor. 

[andi9899]

Funny kid story. Baby Daddy took the girls fishing when they were pretty little. Thing 1 was bored and wanted his brother who was maybe about 8 or 10 at the time to take her exploring. He said fine, but stay close and don't go over to a certain area because they would get bitten by ticks. Naturally they made a bee line for where he told them not to go. I gave her a quick once over when they got back and didn't see anything. I found one in her hair the next day and decided we needed to look again. I went to get rid of the one I had just pulled out of her hair, and when I got back, she told me in her little munchkin voice (she was maybe 4 or 5), "Mom, I got a tick in my pit!" She had one of her arms up showing me a tick she found under it. It was so cute because she was so little, but we checked a lot better for ticks any time they were outside in the woods like that after that, which was not very often.

[steph08]

I have three dogs and the tick population here is crazy. But the dogs aren't the problem - it is DH! He is aways out in the woods hunting so he picks then up. He said he had two dozen on him the other day just walking on our acreage.

I might have had one this year. DD hasn't had any.

They are disgusting but you don't have to worry until they have been attached for more than 24, closer to 48, hours. You usually find them by then. DH gets bit a few times a year but never has had lyme disease.

[tskeeter]

Ticks are usually picked up in tall grass.  More so than in the woods.  Keeping the furry kids out of the weeds helps minimize ticks.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

True, but there isn't usually a clear delineation between grass and leaf fall on a trail, hence the rising numbers of hitchhikers.  

[alabamagal]

We never had a problemat our house in Georgia with dogs. Had some on kids when they played in the woods but we dealt with that.

Moved to Alabama in Feb. In March we started to see some on the dogs. We have fenced yard with woods right up to the fence line. So we put them onthe3 month flea and tick medicine. Brace to. It is expensive but works. When it gets near the 3 month time we start to see fleas and give them treatment.