Ticks

Yesterday Dillan brushed up against some small bushes to do his business. When he walked away there were 2 ticks clinging to his side. It wasn't a huge deal, they hadn't had time to burrow in there, so I brushed them off.

What is a big deal is that Nathan brushed one off of him last weekend.

And last week I found one crawling on him inside our apartment. Which I flushed down the toilet - the proper solution to any "bug in the house" problem.

After this first incident I promptly applied the Petarmor stuff (off brand frontline). I then assumed that that would take care of the tick issue. Apparently not. 

The Petarmor website says "...providing full-body protection to help keep your pets flea and tick free. And they stay gone for 30 days. It's that simple."

So does that mean that the ticks won't stay on? Or that they shouldn't be jumping onto my puppy to begin with?

Either way, We've been doing thorough body scans before I'll let Dillan back inside. I've also found that ticks are much more active when it gets hotter. So in the morning when we go out, they aren't around. Also, I guess it takes a while for them to get in under the coat to bite.

So, for all you other dog owners out there, beware the summer of the tick. We had a super mild winter, with a lot of days in the 50's/60's and no real snow or big freezes. Ticks have to have warmth for their larvae to grow (eww). Our warm winter promoted tick growth...and I'm sure it didn't hurt mosquito growth or flea growth or spider growth for that matter either.

It also isn't super comforting that I've seen deer twice in the morning along the back of our apartments. And deer population is directly linked to the population of deer ticks, which cause lyme disease, which is bad.

So, now being paranoid, I research some tick bite prevention for myself.

1. Wear light colored clothing with pants tucked into socks.

2. When you return home remove clothes and wash and dry. Ticks can survive a warm bath but not an hour in a hot dryer.

3. Inspection.

4. Infection will not occur within the first 24 hours of tick attachment. And after 48 hours of attachment, infection is only a risk of 12.5%.

5. Insect repellents won't necessarily repel ticks.


Info from source.