Hi all. I used to always use frontline however the last time I used this I did notice my boy was sick and had diarrhoea up to 72 hours after use. Could this have been a one off? I'm due to give him another dose. Would you use the same treatment or is there another?
I know advantage just does fleas. I always check after walks in woods/grassy areas and use the tick remover too.

I use the online pharmacies version of drontal, advocate for the rest if and when needed. Advantix Is supposed to work on ticks, not sure how good it really is though as don't have a huge tick problem here. Removed one off the cat yesterday but the dogs don't seem to get them

Thank you. His never reacted before with any medications or treatments.  It seems certain places here have a few ticks and vets have put up poster in treatment room last summer very heavy.
I'll have a look at Advocate and look at Drontal.. thought 8d get prepared as think spring/summer arriving!

Advantix also contains permethrin which repels and kills ticks.  This is fine for dogs, but this ingredient is highly toxic to cats - so if you have a cat in your household, and your dog socialises with the cat, then the manufacturer recommends that you don't use Advantix

Twarted so this will be a no no as two cats in house. I wasn't aware of this. I'll keep checking

I just remove them as I find them  as I don't use any chemicals. There are a couple of sprays and collars by mercola and one call biospotix all which a natural which if I choose do anything is the route I would  use. Good point about permethrin ine I think that is easily missed

I use Bravecto on our hairy beast who tends to get ticks.  It's a tablet, which I like because I don't put pesticides into the environment and water courses, and onto her bedding and our house and us...ultimately.  Each tablet lasts 3 months. 

There has been some people stating that it has bad side effects - it being a new medication (the first tablet effective against ticks), I think this sort of response is only likely.  But there is no research to support that it causes problems.  I'm sure you could find equal numbers of dogs having problems after spot ons and collars (as yours did), as after Bravecto use. 

If you are worried about side effects, probably the Scalibor or Seresto collars are the safest option because you can remove them immediately and stop things, if something happens.  With a spot on or a tablet, you can't do that.

Rabid yku are right all the products carry risks and some dogs have been seriously ill or died but it's a choice u have to take and only u can take. My particular  stance is not to use them unless absolutely  necessary and with tics I would rather remove by hand.in the uk atm we have a very limited number of types of tics .should that change I may consider other things in particular  the more natural products

As for research  to support problems with any of these I am of the opinion  that as it is not in the interest of manufactures to do this research and very few reactions get reported even to the vet let alone further the chances of anyone really doing this is remote. We general accept oh it didn't suit my dog and move to another or continue to accept low grade problems that the dog recovers from.  Most people arnt even aware that there are systems to report side effects to any of these things similar to vaccination side effects. Something else that we often accept with out using the card system which doesn't require a vet to complete

I think there are big incentives for products to be tested before being released for use by the general public - no company wants the fall-out that would result if thousands of dogs fell ill from their product, it would be the worst possible PR. 

Ticks in the UK already carry Lymes disease and now babeosis has been detected in the south as well and is likely to spread.

Am aware of that which is why I added the caveat that it's up to each of to make the choice .I am happy to continue  how I have at least for now . I am not happy to give monthly  chemicals to mine and am not convinced enough testing is done or feedback given especially  in using a cocktail  of chemicals .but that's just my opinion .

I think a happy medium is the best option.  I only treat the hairiest of our dogs, because she is the one that the ticks will attach to more easily and we are less likely to notice them.  And I only treat in the tick season, not monthly all year round.  I don't treat for fleas because I just deal with those if we get them. 

So I keep it to a minimum, but I wouldn't want to not treat at all because the risk factor would be too great.

> Most people arnt even aware that there are systems to report side effects to any of these things similar to vaccination side effects.

ff, can I ask how you'd report side effects other than through one's vet?  I'm similar to you in that I don't treat unless there's a problem, removing ticks & then keeping an eye on the site & the dog in general.

Vet should be able to give you the paperwork for you to report direct if vet doesmt wish to .If u are in fb or actually if you arnt join canine health Concern there is a link to the reporting forms there. If I remember  I will put the link up when I have a moment. It's like overseas who require rabies as mandatory there are exemption forms for animals who have health issues as there also for micro chips . The other thing that need to be more highlighted is that peope need to know how to report any problems with those too.. I feel it is important that we know these things so real data can be collected and researched bit just anecdotal evidence

I've removed ticks previously and only treated fleas and wormed... last year a high tick population here so I did treat... cats never had fleas I use a treatment...

https://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/adversereactionreporting/?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 rabid hope this works

Lacy that link was for you I got muddled

Thank you, have just looked at Canine Health Concern, very informative & interesting.

Not sure re time limit whether to add on my dog's reaction? Been about 5 weeks..
I'll keep removing if find any and ill look at collars. Never worked with the cats they somehow always got rid of their flea collars or any collar. I swear their Houdihi 1 & 2.

No harm in giving details

Think I'll add it on furriefriends  as I'm sure it was a reaction.

Frontline doesn't seem very effective on ticks now and my golden reacted with inflamed skin with Advantix last year. I have experienced this with this breed before, my Flatcoats always fine. This year I have been using a herbal mixture added to food, herbal spray before walks and a herbal balm dabbed behind elbows and ears. So far, no ticks since using this method, with the mild winter they started early this year and I had already removed a number before starting the herbs. My area is really bad for ticks.

This is the third year I've used a Seresto collar on the dog and it seems to have worked well. No ticks at home, but we often walk in an area where there is and stay frequently at our static van where there is a high tick population.
Having a golden dog rather then a black one has a huge advantage as the ticks can easily be spotted and removed. Must be difficult with a black dog.

Even though I live in an area populated by sheep and deer there is not a tick problem so I don't routinely treat my dogs.  However, I have a cottage in the Highlands where ticks are rife and so I either treat prior to going, or check the dog every day for ticks and remove and treat the site of the bite as quickly as possible.

It is much easier to spot them on the face and around the eyes which seem to be the favourite area, elsewhere can be challenging due to coat length/density! I worry if they are not spotted soonest about Lymes and now Babeosis, hence trying the herbal route. I had thought about a collar but I know of some dogs reacting to them too. Good solution though if they suit ones dog.

I've been using bravecto for about 2 years now and really like them, previously with frontline I would still find the odd tick but not with bravecto, I like the fact that it's a tablet so I don't have to worry about how often they are swimming and also I like just treating them every 3 months.

I've tried several different things, herbal products, seresto collars etc and none have been 100% effective, we walk in heavily tick infested areas.

I thought about using Bravecto but a bit worried about dosing internally for fleas and ticks. I may have to consider it if the herbal spraying gets too much of a faff! Yours are obviously fine on it Chaumsong.

I think there used to be a combined flea/wormer tablet called Program and I was very wary about that too. Since I lost my last cat some 18 years ago, I have neve seen a flea on my dogs, ticks are a major concern here though.

I too have used Bravecto the last 12 months, well I dosed in May and August last year and never saw a tick whereas usually we have loads. I am just about to dose now for this year having found one this weekend. I like them and my dogs had no reactions at all. It's all about weighing up the risks you are prepared to take and the risk for me is that we walk in deer and sheep areas and ticks are rife. I feel it's better not to chance finding them randomly with long haired double coated dogs. Often the first we see of them is the engorged tick crawling about on the floor ! If they attach to eye lids etc it's easy but a tick on a bernese  deep in the coat is only ever felt not seen !! and by the time you feel them its too late.
Aileen

That is really good to know.

Yep I'm the same Bestdogs, I use the bravecto for ticks, never seen a flea on my dogs for 25+ years but there are so many tick borne diseases now that I can't simply let them bite and feed and remove them when I notice them.

Bravecto works on fleas as well, so that could be helping!

Think after hearing lots of positive for Brave to ill try this! July we go to Yorkshire with dog to our favourite cottage and first time in summer. . We walk through woods/fields with sheep and also known deer so I want to be prepared. We found ticks in October last year on his coat whilst up there luckily found on return from walk so little blighter hadn't had a good feast.

So looking forward to the long evenings and walks to pub and just inhaling fresh air...

Hi all. I used to always use frontline however the last time I used this I did notice my boy was sick and had diarrhoea up to 72 hours after use. Could this have been a one off?

I've used frontline on one or maybe 2 of my other dogs and it worked ok with no side effects, though I have heard some dogs react badly to it.

My current dog is a recent 'victim' to a tick & used a tick twister instead of chemicals, I think vets use & prefer these. It worked no problem and although I found it easy to use on this first time use I can't say I am over confident myself with them, once the tick is big enough it was not as fiddely as it looks, the twisting starts to twist the ticks head & they let go, it was quite quick, even so I would feel uncomfortable about doing it again, anyway for once there are dozens of videos on youtube of people using them without problem (same as I had, so go to the link below & see for yourself, second link is where to get them.

1.
Plenty Tick removal videos ....the tick twister vids show a green bit of forked plastic on the vid thumbnail.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ticks+on+dogs+removal

2.
O'tom tick twister adds
https://www.google.co.uk/search?client=opera&q=tick+twister&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
.

I use a loop tick remover which is fine if you can get them early enough ie face/ eyes but anywhere else as Merlot said they could have done their damage by the time they found!

Tried order Bravecto  online it's advising I need a prescription.  Do I ask the vet to give me a copy? Will they charge?

yes you need to either buy it direct from the vets or get a prescription, which most vets will charge for. I think all vets practices are doing the 'buy 3 get one free' offer still so although you may pay slightly more than online it's probably cheaper overall from the vets. You don't have to buy all 4 tablets at the same time either, though I do with 4 dogs.

I order it online without a prescription from deadfleaz.com  It's an Australian pharmacy which ships to UK, and it's not a prescription product in Australia. 

However, I should add that the first time I got it, I got it prescribed by my vet to make sure it was suitable for that particular dog dog.

> I order it online without a prescription from deadfleaz.com

Whoa! It's so expensive though from there. $96 for 2 (20 - 40kg) tabs, about £65, I get these for £22 from my vet. I don't pay a consultation charge because I just collect them from the receptionist.

£65 for two is about £32 for one, which is what I pay at my vet's. 

My vet won't dispense prescription meds unless they have seen the dog in the last year.  This dog is pretty healthy, so having to haul her there just to go 'ta da' - can I have some Bravecto please?  Is a bit silly.  And the consult itself is £37 - so ordering online is far better.

Yikes, mine haven't been to the vets for years, the receptionist gives us bravecto - around £22 a pill, buy 3 got one free. If I had your vet I'd buy them online too :)

See the other thread re my vet charging £47 for our last consult, because it was 25 mins(!).

Wow that's very high.  Is it a good vet thou and your happy with vet?

It's a large practice with loads of vets working from it, and we are making our way around to find out who we like best at the moment.  It definitely has the best facilities and 24hr onsite vet/nurse...