Revolution (re: LEO's mum)

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kiwani
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Revolution (re: LEO's mum)

Post by kiwani »

LEO's mum wrote: "I am in two minds about this medication, great that it covers a whole range of stuff, but it goes into the bloodstream. Kinda scary... It works on ticks as well.... Anyone w/ strong ideas on this medication? Please start a new thead, if so...Thanks."

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As for the ticks, the product info I've read so far only mentions the 'American dog tick'. Frontline lists 'deer ticks, brown dog ticks, lone star ticks, American dog ticks". I'm more concerned about deer ticks, and wouldn't use this product anyway.
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LEO's mum
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Post by LEO's mum »

Oh, Kiwani, thank you! I did some surfing reading your comment, and sure enough Revolution is a one tick fighter. The main Lyme carrier in CA seems to be the Western Black Legged Tick. I will look more closely into this, and consult the vet as to what the best solution is for protection against internal & external parasites.
Her coat is just too thick to check for fleas & ticks. I use a flea comb on her paws & face and only once found a live flea. For fleas, I tend to think if I can bath her every week, that might be sufficient to keep them in check as the eggs need 10+days to hatch. The whole house gets vacuumed & washed (murphy's oil soap for wooden floors & pinesol for bathrooms) every week, too. As for ticks, I am more scared because of Lyme disease.... Heatworm medication can be taken separately, that I think is the easy part....
Jeff mentioned drops & collars & also shots which he opted not to, for ticks. I also vaguely remember there was a thread re ticks, so I will search for that as well. If anyone have more thoughts on this please add. I will report back after more research :wink:
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Post by kiwani »

Re: "For fleas, I tend to think if I can bath her every week, that might be sufficient to keep them in check as the eggs need 10+days to hatch."

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You could also add 'diatomaceous earth' to your research on flea control remedies.
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Post by ngraham »

I use Frontline Plus for Koda. I guess that takes care of the tick problem. I did talk to the vet about the difference in FrontLine Plus and K9 Advantix or whatever it is. He said FrontLine Plus lasts longer and doesn't repel the mosquitos, but beings as Koda is on Heartguard also, that takes care of the worry about mosquitos.
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Post by wrat »

as we are having a MAJOR tick problem, for the first time I looked into quite a few things. Denali is on revolution which we got before we discovered the tick problem and Sawyer was on Fronline+..NEITHER is adequate for ticks we found MANY MANY more on Sawyer BUT he is much easier to check than Denali (less fur) we switched Sawyer to K9advantix and that still was not enough..we are going to try the Zema tick detatch collar..we also put down D.E and neem oil in the backyard it did not help and we are not even wooded or anything..our neighbor is an exterminator (who also has a chow) and he is going to treat the backyard so hopefully that will take care of it...ticks SUCK!!!!
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Post by Debbie »

What about Diatomateous Earth for ticks. I googled it and printed off an article and I'm going to look into it for Bones - it doesn't look like it could hurt him and I am at the point where I will try anything natural after 4 treatments of the chemical stuff. I am planning to try to find the product in a local store and ask more questions/further explore on internet etc.

Here is an excerpt of what I found:

What is Diatomaceous Earth?

It is a non-toxic, safe substance made up from crushed fossils of freshwater organisms and marine life. Crushed to a fine powder and observed under a microscope, the particles resemble bits of broken glass. Deadly to any insect and completely harmless to animals, fish, fowl or food. Most insects have a waxy outer shell covering their bodies, Insect stop scratches through this shell causing the insect to dehydrate leading to eventual death.

and

The microscopically sharp edges contact the insect or parasite, and pierce their protective coating, so they soon dehydrate and die. the larvae is affected in the same way. This makes Diatomaceous Earth an excellent and totally natural control, with no indicating of mechanical or chemical damage to the animal tissue. It can be used as a dust for fleas, lice and other external pests by rubbing into the couat of the animal.

Anyone ever heard of this or tried it?

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Post by wrat »

Diatomaceous Earth?

that is the D.E I refered to in my above post..it did not do anything for us
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Post by kiwani »

wrat wrote: "it did not do anything for us"

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It's less effective in humid environments because it plumps, and I don't think it would work on hard bodied ticks, - just on various soft-bodied pests in gardens, fleas, etc.
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Post by kiwani »

Re: "it doesn't look like it could hurt him and I am at the point where I will try anything natural after 4 treatments of the chemical stuff."

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I wouldn't put it *on* the dog, because of the breathing-in of dust factor, just as I wouldn't use flea powder on dogs, but many do use it that way. It's used around baseboards, under furniture, under kennel decks, around the house perimeter, etc.
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Post by Auddymay »

DE is great against slugs, but would be unsuitable in this instance.
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Post by kiwani »

Re: "DE is great against slugs, but would be unsuitable in this instance."

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There's a 'horticultural grade' DE, and a fine dust 'food grade' DE (used in storing grains), sold as flea control for dogs.
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Post by Jeff&Peks »

Anyone ever see a tick after it has been on your Chow for awhile? Last week when I took Pekoe to her Oncologist I noticed she had a bump on her head so I ask them if they would look at it, the Tech felt around and said oh its a tick then pulled it off so all was well. friday night I was petting Pekoe and felt this large bump in the same place on her head just behind her ear so trying to get Pekoe to sit still for a minute I found this long white thing about an inch and half long sticking out of her head I guess the Tech didn't get the head of the tick, anyway I pulled it off gross looking thing,

I don't know if anyone remembers the post from a few years ago where the lady came home and for some reason her Chow couldn't get up on its hind legs so she went to the vet and the vet told her the Chow had hip dyslexia, showed her the X-rays and said her Chow needed an expensive hip operation, so she went out and got the money set up the appointment for the operation Then for some reason went to another vet and it turned out the only thing wrong with her Chow was a tick, I guess what happened was the venom from the tick had somehow gotten into the brain and was causing the problem of her Chow not being able to walk. A few hours after the tick was removed the Chow was fine and could walk. I guess the first vet was a crook and must have shown her x-rays from another Chow. (Watch those Vets)

Anyway my reason for posting that was when Pekoe went in they had to sedate her, after 2 days of her stumbling around and me not liking sedations anyway I called the oncologist and rather upset said what the hell did you do to Pekoe, two days later and she can't even stand up. I was told they had to give her a double does she should be fine if not bring her in. I don't know if it was a coincidence of the amount of time for the sedation to wear off or me pulling the tick off her head but she's fine now and all is ok. I doubt it was the tick but I thought i would bring up the story since your talking about ticks.
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Post by kingalls »

Ticks - yuck!!! Shiloh had many ticks and fleas when she first showed up. One of the times that I was able to "get" her and pet her. I felt a few "things" on her skin....So gross! Jeff pulled the ticks off - I just got ill thinking that I touched it.
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Post by LEO's mum »

Re Tick Control, I found this page by whoelse but "Placerville Vets"!! Guess they should really know being the tick capital of Northern Califoria! Right, Jeff? Anyways, they recommend Preventic dog collar for ticks specific and Revoluition for general use. You can see it on http://www.placervillevet.com/tick_control.htm . I'm now going to surf for tick distribution maps, esp around the route we take to Tahoe. Yesterday was just too much snow bucketing down. Spent 3hrsX2 in the car and only 4hrs on the slope. It was just too much of a good thing. Oh, my thighs...
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Post by Jeff&Peks »

If you ever take that side road off the highway in Placerville to the old mining town, there are hundreds of full tick traps hanging in the trees and along the streets that's why I call it the tick capitol of the world,. I don't think you have to worry in Tahoe we went to Tahoe almost every weekend in the winter and summer Pekoe never got a tick up there I think the altitude is to high for ticks, I may be wrong we may have just been lucky. As many tick infested places that I have walked Pekoe she has only had maybe 3 ticks in her life, I've walked her all over Placerville even in the mining town all over Tahoe south and north shore but never really had a problem. I have no idea where that tick came from last week, probably got it from someone trying to pet her. When we lived in SF I did get her a lyme disease shot every year plus a tick collar toped off with Advantage. You might want to ask Dr Jagels about the lyme shot but if I recall he didn't think the lyme shot was necessary, I think it was him that said that but I know I got the shots from him.
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Post by ciaobella »

Another organic alternative (for outdoors):
http://nematodary.com/noflea.htm

You have to keep the treated area watered (20% moisture) and it doesn't affect ticks, but it does zap Japanese beetle larvae, always a nice bonus.
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Post by LEO's mum »

Nematodes... I used nematodes against slugs when living in UK. It wasn't 100 cure but I was happy it worked to some extent. I am now leasing in a open park environment, no gated yards, and there are much restrictions as to what I can and cannot do to my bit of the yard. But I would recommend someone who wants to do things organically to look into these little creatures. I would like to make sure it doesn't hurt earthworms, bees or butterflys...
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Post by goodas_AU »

O.k Here's a story that will make your skin crawl!!!!!

When we lived on my Mother's farm, she had a few dogs. One a little black lab was pregnant and ready to give birth! But my Mom could'nt find her anywhere, so she asked me to walk around the farm and see if I could find her!
Well.... after a long search. I found that she had made herself a beautiful little den, in a .. .......old groundhog hole!!!!

I reached in and one by one pulled out the pups, I think there were about seven, and a few days old, can't remember, it was quite a few years ago!

Anyway when I brought them back to the house, to put them in their proper den(lol)
I noticed that they had little holes in them(actually they were quite big) all over their little bodies ( about 4-6 on each one) in each hole was a little wriggly tick larve!!!!
I called my brother who was in vet.college at the time to ask what to do!

With a pair of tweezers I had to exam every square inch of these little babies and pull out of every hole I found, about a inch long,white ,plump, squirmy little larve. and everytime it would sort of make a slurrpy pop sound when it came out!!!
It was the grosses thing I've ever had to do!!!!
I felt so sorry for these little puppies, I could see right down to the bone in one of the holes!
But it was also pretty amazing how quickly they healed up once the larve was out!

I'm just glad I found them when I did!

EWWWW!!!!

just thought I'd share

Leigh
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Post by Jeff&Peks »

Have any of you that have never seen a tick or had any ticks in your area starting to see ticks? I live in the middle of the city with city parks, the other day after walking Pekoe in a populated park across the street I found a tick on my arm then a few days later I was at my office and one of the secretaries tells me I have a bug on my neck, it was a tick. Pekoe has had a couple of ticks in her life but that was understandable because of where we were but now ticks in the city, I wonder if its a global warming thing. I may have to go to Petsmart and get a tick collar for myself.
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Post by LEO's mum »

Thank you Jeff for sharing your experience. Horribe creatures, ticks. I wil be on a look out. Esp. so after reading Leigh's piece. Ah, that gave me the chills. I almost feel faint... I've got a vet appointment w/ a new vet near me on Wed, so will ask whether or not to keep her on Revolution. The last batch I gave to her on 7th of April... My hunch is to trust the Placerville Vets & go for Revolution + Preventic collar, which I still haven't purchased.....
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Post by chowfrnd88 »

Special Dark is on Frontline also, by applying these medications are we guaranteeing that they won't have ticks or fleas (then it's just us humans who need the collar as Jeff says LOL) or do these simply decrease the possibility?
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Post by LEO's mum »

We went to see a new vet yesterday, and he was great! Told me we have ticks in Presidio and as near by as Marin Co., too. They drop down from the bush and normally hangs on to where there is less hair, like around the eyes or the ear area. Hard to see for furry-er kinds, so to feel around the area regularly. His recommendations were the same as Placerville Vets'. Revolution, plus Preventic 24hrs before & 48 hrs after going into the heavily infested area. Preventic is good for 90dys if not exposed to air, so store in airtight bags inbtw use. I got both ammunitions in my cupboard now.
I really liked him. His examinations were thorough, and he is not afraid of dogs :wink: He's shown me scars on his arms, from mostly chows he said, and on his neck. An old chow lunged on to him and he needed 50+ stitches!! Socialization from an early age, he said, is the key. He also mentioned the different growls, LEO did grrr a bit when he examined her mouth, but he said a cautious, non nasty growl is nothing to be scared about. He then took her to the back to give her a bordetella shot, and there, she let him examine her mouth w/o a fuss. Sometimes being close to mum allows them to behave too baby-like... :wink:
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