Blood-suckers
I have never seen anything like the ticks around here. We’re in the middle of winter; we’ve had several good dousings of snow; the temperatures have been well below freezing on and off for weeks; but the damned ticks seem to LOVE it!
We never had a problem with Maggie getting ticks, and Shmoo has been pretty well protected with a Scalibor collar and Stronghold (Revolution in the U.S.), but Peaches is another story! I’ve found several ticks on her despite that. Our vet thinks she’s more “fragile” and that’s why she attracts them. I think she has a much finer coat than either Maggie or Shmoo and the ticks find it more appealing and easier to crawl on. Whatever the reason, ticks are not a risk we can take here. 15% of them carry an illness that is deadly if not caught quickly.
Yesterday I decided to switch back to K9 Advantix. I had used that for Shmoo until our neighbor’s dog, Roxie, developed sarcoptic mange. I did NOT want to take any chances of that, so put him on something that protected against that as well as other things. Unfortunately, it does not seem to do as good a job against ticks as I’d hoped. And, the Scalibor collar protects against the mosquitoes that cause Leishmania and is supposed to protect against ticks as well, but clearly not so much.
Frontline Plus no longer seems to be as effective around here. Advantix protects against fleas, ticks and mosquitoes, so it’s worth trying. Unfortunately, Peaches had diarrhea this morning, which I understand can be a reaction to the Advantix. She hasn’t had more than the one attack, she hasn’t vomited or seemed lethargic, so our vet said to just keep an eye on her.
Aye Caramba! It’s always something.
Ciao for now.
Randy
Very worrying news about Frontline. I have only ever found one tick on our dog in Aigues-Vives but she’s not allowed back into the UK without being
1Frontlined as those particular ticks don’t exist here and consequently our dogs have no immunity. Hope you find a solution for your animals.
Kathryn, I’m always willing to believe that this is just one of those internet rumors, but I have heard it from enough people that it makes me sit up and take notice. Our vet also recommended Protec-tic, but that doesn’t protect against ‘skeeters…
2Sorry to hear it Randy – seems like you’re not having the best of winters; but as ever, grateful for little vignettes of life over there!
hope summat good comes your way soon
3In comparison to so many other places, we can’t really complain. I always feel worse when the dogs have to suffer.
4Am a 68 yrs old woman french quebecoise from Montreal, Canada, traveling alone. I have finally rented a house in Chalabre for one week, 25 sept-Oct 2nd and another house in Paziols for the following 2 weeks. I will bring my small Yorky, 11yrs old Mini. Here she does not take anything for ticks and fleas since she is always with me and I keep an eye on her skin and hair. What do you recommend I bring from Montreal? Is it tick season at that time? Love to read your blog. Learned about walks for dogs on the railroad track.
5From what I can determine, it is ALWAYS tick season here. She definitely needs to be protected. Usually, it takes 24 to 48 hours for most of the tick products to have spread enough through the hair follicles to be totally active. Talk to your vet about what she thinks is safest for a small dog, but definitely you will need something.
Clearly, if you check her closely you can try to get any ticks off of her before they attach, but if you miss one, it’s risky. I know I wouldn’t feel comfortable taking that chance. Also, your dog WILL be jet-lagged; it took Maggie several days to get over the trip from Los Angeles. If your dog’s system is out of whack, she may be more susceptible to getting ill anyway.
Hope to meet you when you’re here.
6thank you, I will certainly come to knock, I will be on rue des Cloutiers if you know where it is. Mini will be fine since she did 27 trips oversea since 11 years and we will be coming from two weeks in Greece visiting my old friends since I had a house there for 20 years on Paros. I will talk to the vet for sure and give her treatment before we go to Europe. I was so glad to read you liked the Rolland family. I am sure we are related since my ancestors come from the village of Rivel, close to Chalabre and close to where they have their winery. I want to spend some time in the area to reconnect with my roots…I will be around for three weeks, in Chalabre and Paziols. But am so glad you talked about ticks since i did not think about it. In Greece I always used frontline, hope this will work for her in France.
7Yes, Suzanne, I know Leslie and Ashley who have the gite where you’re staying. It’s not at all far (then, nothing in Chalabre is far). You may want to be cautious about bringing Mini around though. My two do love other dogs, but they are very rambunctious and I would worry about a tiny dog getting hurt.
8Randy, Mini loves big dogs, is used to them, runs at them, wants to jump on their nose to salute, but she can be a real yorky defending her territory if she feels threathened. But she also spends a lot of time on my front packsack and I never let her down before all had a chance to sniff each other. Forgot to ask you, is there a Pet shop where I can buy her food for three weeks, she eats Royal Canin for Yorky. And If you feel like real Canadian Maple Syrup, ill be happy to bring you a can. Well am learning a new word with you and have to look at my dictionnary since I am french, I never heard that “rambunctious” word!!!Am also a cook, so if you need any dry herbs I can bring, do not hesitate, got a Iranian super store next door if you care for their curcumin, sumac, etc…
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