TICKS!

The first thing to welcome me and the five dogs to Fort Mitchell were the ticks. They were thrilled to have new warm bodies to swarm all over. In my first week here, I must have picked close to a hundred ticks off myself and the gang. I went right out and bought Frontline Plus to treat the dogs but still had ticks jumping off them and onto me. Ticks of every size and descriptions, big one, little ones, fat ones, skinny ones. I itch just thinking about it.

Ticks are more than just an aggravation. They carry Lyme disease and • Ehrlichiosis as well as other diseases. While Lyme Disease is a lot more well known, Dr. Rachel Swan tells me that she sees a lot of Erlichiosis in this area. Without going into the medical details, I can tell you that both of these are pretty nasty diseases.

There is not much that I can do as a groomer to prevent ticks. The dips that we used in years past are highly toxic and didn’t last long enough to really be worth the trouble. The best that I can do is a flea and tick shampoo to kill them and then to remove the ticks that are on the dogs. When I use the high volume dryer, I can find almost all of them and remove them.

After their grooming, I recommend using Frontline Plus or Advantage for long term control. These need to be put on your pet approximately 48 hours after their bath. They are distributed through the oils in the skin and the delay lets the skin and hair recover from the bath. Both of these products are available through your local vet and they will tell you which they prefer. I have also seen these available locally at the feed stores. Your vet is the best bet as they will be able to give you the correct dosage based on weight and let you know if your dog needs a vaccination for Lyme’s disease.