I felt so sorry for a lady where I was getting my hair cut recently. The stylist started on her hair and found a tick. I would have wanted to croak from embarrasment although there was nothing she could have done. I've only ever had one tick bite in my life, they don't like me all that much, but my poor DH, they LUV him for some reason. Maybe he's sweeter than me. :lol:
We used a glob of Dawn dish soap on a few last year and they came right out; my MIL uses vaseline or a glob of Vicks and it works too.
After using a weed eater/ blade in some high weeds yesterday, I found another tick on my back. If only they sucked fat instead of blood.
One of my dogs came home with a tick so my SO took her to the vet to get it off. (not skilled in tick removal, lol). Our vet prescribed some sort of flea & tick prevention. It's not Frontline, something that just recently came out and it starts with a "V". We put it on all three of our dogs and went camping two weeks ago at Falls Lake. It doesn't work. All three dogs came back with at least one tick. My daughter and I both had one as well! They also said the safest way to remove a tick is with tweezers. If you pour anything on it or try to yank it, the tick and vomit up the poison into your blood stream causing lyme disease. Just use caution! So anyway, I would stick with Frontline.
We use Pet Armor plus - it is $25 for a box w/3 months' supply, sold in the same weight categories as the Frontline plus. It is the same stuff, just generic. I found it way cheaper on ebay ($40 for 6 months supply of 89-144 lbs) - since we have 8 dogs, I buy the heaviest weight category, and measure out the appropriate amount for each dog's weight; we purchased a kit and it describes how to use the little syringe-type thing to measure properly. All our dogs are under 50 pounds, so it takes about 2 vials for one month. Just passing on the cheapest and most effective way that works for us!
I use K-9 Advantix II on my 2 dogs (one is 55 pounds the other is 75 pounds) and have never seen any ticks or fleas on my dogs. I highly recommend it! It costs about $65 for 6 months from Petco online. A lot of the cheaper "knock-off" brands don't work as well. Having previously worked at a vet hospital we also heard a lot of people saying Frontline doesn't work as well any more either. (I've also become slightly snobbish and won't touch the cheap brands with a 10 foot pole after working at a vet ) Also, if you're going to go for the cheaper brands do not use Hartz, I've heard too many horror stories about dogs having terrible reactions to it and in some extreme cases dying from it.
You probably got Vectra from the vet, the one I used to work at just started selling it when I left in 2010. We heard mixed reviews from our clients about it. If you've found something that works and you don't have any issues with it I would stick with that product. I personally like K-9 Advantix II.
I live in the woods, right behind the fence in my backyard I have hundreds of feet of dense trees. I have been using K9 Advantix 2 on both of my big dogs that spend hours in the yard every day. In the last 3 years I have not found a tick on either of them. Now me, that is another story. I think I have found at least 3 or 4 on me this year and I am out there not even half the amount of time they are. One yesterday was about to bite on to my leg when I caught him. I'll be sticking by my K9 Advantix 2 for a while, it repels them, not just kills them. I usually buy it online, 1800petmeds.com usually. I use Off Deep Woods and Deep Woods Sportsman when I remember. Anything that is at least 25% DEET (they make a Sportsman one that is 95% DEET!). I usually just use it on my arms and around my pants and shoes. Problem is I need to remember to put it on before doing work in the yard.
