Gun Dog Forum

It's that happy time again here in ON. I use Nexgard for ticks and Heartgard for heartworm from mosquitoes. Never see a flea. What do you use? I thought this thread might be useful to new gundog owners.

Seresto collars

Ivormec for heart worm. FRONTLINE for ticks. Never have fleas. Bravecto for our little Dachshund..........Cj

Frontline Plus for ticks & fleas, Iverhart Max for heartworms.

Bravecto

We had been using Heartgard and Frontline Plus for years and recently my vet suggested switching to Simparica Trio. It's a once-per-month chewable that she says is actually more effective for fleas and ticks than the topical Frontline. It also has the heartworm preventative and roundworm and hookworm preventative in it.

Now I don't know if the same is true for dogs... but I notice when I'm taking Vitamin B I don't get mosquito and spider bites all during the summer. I'd assume the same would work for ticks. But that's only if you want to monkey around and try something new (*which I'm sure you don't*).

Tick borne diseases are not something I would want to get. Neither me or my dogs want Lyme disease. I don't think I would take the chance that the vitamin B regimen would protect us, so I think I'll stick with proven pharmaceuticals. We use Bravecto for the dogs, and I use repellent spray with icaridin in it.

In the United States, some ticks carry pathogens that can cause human disease, including:

Anaplasmosis
is transmitted to humans by tick bites primarily from the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) in the northeastern and upper midwestern U.S. and the western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) along the Pacific coast.

Babesiosis
is caused by microscopic parasites that infect red blood cells. Most human cases of babesiosis in the U.S. are caused by Babesia microti. Babesia microti is transmitted by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and is found primarily in the northeast and upper midwest.

Borrelia mayonii infection
has recently been described as a cause of illness in the upper midwestern United States. It has been found in blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Borrelia mayonii is a new species and is the only species besides B. burgdorferi known to cause Lyme disease in North America.

Borrelia miyamotoi infection
has recently been described as a cause of illness in the U.S. It is transmitted by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and has a range similar to that of Lyme disease.

Bourbon virus infection
has been identified in a limited number patients in the Midwest and southern United States. At this time, we do not know if the virus might be found in other areas of the United States.

Colorado tick fever
is caused by a virus transmitted by the Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni). It occurs in the the Rocky Mountain states at elevations of 4,000 to 10,500 feet.

Ehrlichiosis
is transmitted to humans by the lone star tick (Ambylomma americanum), found primarily in the southcentral and eastern U.S.

Heartland virus
cases have been identified in the Midwestern and southern United States. Studies suggest that Lone Star ticks can transmit the virus. It is unknown if the virus may be found in other areas of the U.S.

Lyme disease
is transmitted by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) in the northeastern U.S. and upper midwestern U.S. and the western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) along the Pacific coast.

Powassan disease
is transmitted by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and the groundhog tick (Ixodes cookei). Cases have been reported primarily from northeastern states and the Great Lakes region.

Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis
is transmitted to humans by the Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum).

Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF)
is transmitted by the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni), and the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sangunineus) in the U.S. The brown dog tick and other tick species are associated with RMSF in Central and South America.

STARI (Southern tick-associated rash illness)
is transmitted via bites from the lone star tick (Ambylomma americanum), found in the southeastern and eastern U.S.

Tickborne relapsing fever (TBRF)
is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected soft ticks. TBRF has been reported in 15 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming and is associated with sleeping in rustic cabins and vacation homes.

Tularemia
is transmitted to humans by the dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), the wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni), and the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum). Tularemia occurs throughout the U.S.

364D rickettsiosis (Rickettsia phillipi, proposed)
is transmitted to humans by the Pacific Coast tick (Dermacentor occidentalis ticks). This is a new disease that has been found in California.

Centers for Disease Control



I am very health conscious. I exercise regularly. I eat a whole foods plant based diet, with wild caught fish and game sparingly mixed in. I take a couple natural supplements that have withstood testing and peer reviewed critique. I don’t smoke. I drink in moderation and I, my child and my pets receive our recommended vaccinations among other things in attempt to live a safe, long and productive life.

In my estimation, one of the best things I can do to achieve this goal, is to keep the critters “fleas/ticks” which have been historically responsible for 50 million plague related deaths around the world, untold suffering, as well as the aforementioned diseases off my pets and out of my house. If this requires a bit of pharmacological chemistry/technology for my pets, so be it. I’d rather it my dogs in their 12-13 years of life (they don’t live long, no matter our attempts to buck the tide), than me. Health comes down to our ability to avoid disease and injury. The most logical and responsible order of operations to this end, is the elimination of the scientifically proven causal relationships, while living with the unproven, minutely possible correlations, in the safest means possible. Frontline Plus.


Garrison

marysburg wrote: ↑

Tue May 17, 2022 10:39 pm

Tick borne diseases are not something I would want to get. Neither me or my dogs want Lyme disease. I don't think I would take the chance that the vitamin B regimen would protect us, so I think I'll stick with proven pharmaceuticals. We use Bravecto for the dogs, and I use repellent spray with icaridin in it.

I didn't say it was proven. I've never tried it on dogs myself. I've used Bravecto a few times for one of my dogs in the past, but I didn't see a difference tick-wise because I've never noticed a tick problem with her. (I've actually never saw a single tick on her since she was born, but I don't really do much for tick searching, either.)