30/06/2025
Ticks are terrible, dangerous (we have deadly paralysis ticks her in Australia which kill lots of pets), and can infect your pets with awful diseases like Lyme, Ehrlichiosis, and other rickettsia and mycoplasma nasties. And fleas are downright NASTY.
Problem is, the prevention chemicals are known to injure, harm, and even kill pets. Especially the isoxazoline family ones.
So what do you do?
Your pets may need tick prevention to save their lives, but the tick preventions are toxic and might kill your pet.
This is a classic rock and hard place conundrum - something all pet owners and vets have to wrestle with a lot of the time when it comes to making choices about pet health.
If you like in a high tick risk area, the risk/benefit equation might lean towards giving your pets tick prevention. But you need to do this with awareness of the risks of the chemicals. There are no easy answers here!
I occasionally treat my dogs for fleas. I use Comfortis, because I believe it is less risky. I only ever treat them if I find felas on them. I don't believ in prevention for fleas, only treatment.
We live in a place without deadly tick, or lyme.
But when I did live in a paralysis tick zone, I used an old school kiltix collar (organophosphate) which worked pretty well, but only because my dogs didn't like swimming.
If you do feel you need to use tick prevention chemicals, watch your dogs carefully. If they show ANY signs of being off colour or unwell after using them, stop, and try switching to a different family of chemicals.
If you have a chronically ill or fragile pet, you can simply check them all over with your fingertips all day, and remove any ticks immediately (use a tick freeze/kill spray before extracting them).
In fact, I recommend daily whole body checks (in between toes, inside mouth, a**s, ge***al area) for all dogs in tick areas, because ALL tick prevention methods fail sometimes.
Also- the healthier, stronger, and more vital you keep your pets, the less likely ticks will get on them.
You can use natural repellant sprays (they'll work at least some fo the time) and utrasonic or 'energy'tags. They might help, but don't count on them!
If you do have to use tick prevention, try to avoid the isoxazolines, and always check your dogs all over very carefully every day.
Let me know in the chat- how do you deal with ticks on your dogs? And fleas? Have you ever found anythign natural that really works?
I help animals all over the world heal and be well + happy with holistic veterinary care, kind training, and energy healing. If you want me to help your pets, message me! Zoom and in person appts available.
