Hi Val
I know ticks have been a real problem for a lot of dogs this year but I must put out a HUGE warning for any dogs that have border collie in their breeding, either as a purebred or as a crossbreed. 70% of collies carry a mutant gene that makes them allergic to Ivermectin. This is the active ingredient in a wide variety of spot on and collar flea and tick products and even worming tablets.
Please be very careful if you have a dog with collie in it. Neither Barty (nor Chloe when she was alive) could tolerate any of these products and if you have ever seen a dog trying bite and scratch its fur off because of an allergic reaction, believe me it is a lot worse than tick disease. There is also a huge suspicion that some of Jet's litter were badly affected by the Milbemax worming tablets (several ended up in Huguette's on a drip).
Because I have been aware of this problem for many years, I have researched and developed ways of dealing with the pests and diseases that occur here and I am pleased to say that none of my dogs has ever had fleas and we probably get around 5 ticks in a year, which are swiftly removed.
Good health and therefore good immunity to pests and diseases starts with feeding a good diet (dogs cannot digest cereals) based on meat, keeping them well exercised, avoiding over vaccination and not permanently assaulting them with chemicals. I personally use Zero Puce, a natural preventative which guards against ticks and diatomaceous earth (both externally to deal with the harvest mites and internally for Jet at the moment as a wormer) and feed garlic oil tablets during the summer for fleas and ticks.
Anne (the crazy dog lady from Castanet)
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