Natural tick protection

[Commander Borg]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a natural tick protection for my dog. I just read in the net somewhere to feed the dog every day a little barm (yeast) would help. Has anyone experience with that ? Or something else ?
Best Regards
Commander Borg

 

[Mr. Premise]

Since you're asking for natural protection, that's good because the normal protection (Frontline, for example) is highly neurotoxic. I mix a little neem oil in with the dog shampoo and I sprinkle diatomaceous earth mixed with water on the carpets to control fleas which works really well (thanks, Herr Eisenheim!) for fleas, but honestly it doesn't keep ticks off. The only protection I've found for ticks is to examine my dog every day and pull the ticks out. The bad diseases usually require the tick be in there for a long time. Luckily my Labrador is a yellow one and not a black one. I don't know how people find ticks on black dogs.

 

[Commander Borg]

I found some articles on the net where it says if you give the dog every day 1/16 of usual yeast (for baking) in the food, the dog is allmost tick free. It cost very little and makes also a nice fur. I will try it. I don't want to poison my dog. It is possible that it has something to do with vitamin b. Bucks don't like the blood then.
I just wanted to know if anyone on the forum know about it.
Thanx
Commander Borg

 

[Z...]

Hi CommanderB,
I heard of these claims before but don't know of anyone who actually tried it nor I have ever encountered any proof this really works. If you ask me it doesn't really make sense that ticks would be repelled by vitamin B.
If you want to experiment with this do let us know if there is any effect.
I would be concerned about the effect of all that yeast on the dogs digestive system, though.

As Mr. premise said the best natural protection against ticks is detailed inspection after any prolonged outings in vegetation. If you take your dog on the mowed lawns and landscaped areas there is very little danger from ticks, usually they lurk on top of the tall grass or in the bushes.
Once the tick attaches itself you have time window of 8-10 h to remove it without it causing any harm to the dog by transmitting protozoas or bacteria. This is the time it takes tick to fully gorge with blood and starts regurgitating its saliva back into the dogs blood stream.
Once you find the tick do not pull it, just try to grasp it with pair of tweezers and steady hand as close as possible to its neck and then rotate the tick anticlockwise and gently pull in the same time.

Once you pull them out make sure to douse the suckers with surgical spirit and set them on fire as they have been known to crawl back from the drains if you try to flush them down the sink.

 

[Commander Borg]

Thanx for the advice.
Commander Borg

 

[rrraven]

what we do around here is to squash the tick when we find it and feed it to the dog or cat,it seems to build up their immunity to ticks
now when my cat gets a tick the tick dies from the cat blood

 

[D69]

This is actually kinda interesting.
I am a person who does nearly never get tick or mosquito bites , maybe 2 or 3 crazy/drunk ticks ever got me in my entire life lol .... but I am also a person who has severe candida overgrowth.
I wonder if there is a connection

 

[Z...]

what we do around here is to squash the tick when we find it and feed it to the dog or cat,it seems to build up their immunity to ticks
now when my cat gets a tick the tick dies from the cat blood

Hi rraven, this really doesn't make a lot of sense (at least to me) as the ingested ticks cannot reach the immune system from the digestive system.

In other words I wouldn't recommend doing it.

 

[shellycheval]

Having had a lot of experience with ticks and Lyme's disease myself, I agree with Herr Eisenheim's regimen of tick control, but would like to add that there other means of safely and permanently disposing of ticks other than spirits and fire. (I have this vision of flammable alcohol and fire flashing causing a kitchen fire or something similar!) Take a big piece of heavy tape (gray sticky duct tape works great) and fold the tick up in it without breaking the tick, which could release Lyme and other bacteria into the environment, and throw the wrapped tick into a secure garbage bin. I guarantee he won't be back!
shellycheval

PS: I have seen over the years that animals on the highest quality diets and in optimum health do not usually attract as many parasites, including fleas and ticks, as will other animals.

 

[Commander Borg]

Well i just wanted to ask why you can´t just kill them and throw them away. You just answered my question.
Thanx

 

[Z...]

Having had a lot of experience with ticks and Lyme's disease myself, I agree with Herr Eisenheim's regimen of tick control, but would like to add that there other means of safely and permanently disposing of ticks other than spirits and fire. (I have this vision of flammable alcohol and fire flashing causing a kitchen fire or something similar!) Take a big piece of heavy tape (gray sticky duct tape works great) and fold the tick up in it without breaking the tick, which could release Lyme and other bacteria into the environment, and throw the wrapped tick into a secure garbage bin. I guarantee he won't be back!
shellycheval

If I was a tick I would prefer quick death in flames after being anesthetized with alcohol to slow death in sticky tape :). If you do it in the sink its quite safe.

PS: I have seen over the years that animals on the highest quality diets and in optimum health do not usually attract as many parasites, including fleas and ticks, as will other animals.

I totally agree with this

 

[shellycheval]

If I was a tick I would prefer quick death in flames after being anesthetized with alcohol to slow death in sticky tape Smiley

Good point--even a tick deserves a quick exit with no torture. I am totally projecting my own fears here, but the thought of burning appalls me and the idea of
drowning and suffocating terrifies me--so in truth, I do usually seal them in something, tape, wad of paper, etc. from which the blood will not escape and then quickly bash them. My vet warned me about bacteria being exposed when they are squashed so I am hesitant to actually recommend it to others. Lyme's is such a wicked disease that I worry about someone catching it if they get the tick blood on themselves somehow. When I am pulling ticks off myself (where I live it is inevitable that I will have five or six tick bites a year) I dose the tick and surrounding area with alcohol before and after I remove the tick, then wash the area and my hands with soap and water. I do not know if this has any real protective qualities, but it makes me feel like I am doing something to prevent disease spreading, and I have not gotten Lyme's again in the last eight years even though I have had plenty of bites since then. Though, I am always careful to check for them daily during the long tick season here and probably get them removed before any harm is done. When my Ex and I were together we used to check each other for ticks and joke that it was our new "foreplay," , but tick borne diseases around here are no laughing matter (my neighbor was gravely ill with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever) so I'll do what ever it takes to keep them under control short of poisoning my pets, self, and the environment. I may get some chickens this year--I hear they eat a lot of ticks. I case you can't tell, ticks are my least favorite and most bothersome insect, followed by horse flies, and mosquitoes.
I am quite ambivalent about the occasional brown paper wasp or hoard of lady beetles who like to sneak in and over winter in my house, and the endless stream of ants that come and go. C'est la vie.

 

[Z...]

don't forget its not us who actually own this planet its insects :)

 

[Gimpy]

I may get some chickens this year--I hear they eat a lot of ticks.

Guinea fowl are supposed to be great tick eaters, but they are a noisy bunch. ;) We live in a wooded area and do get them(ticks). I use diatomaceous earth because we use bird feeders and I don't want to kill wildlife. It works quite well and the bugs do not become immune to it. (I would love to keep fowl, but am too allergic to them.)

 

[Gimpy]

Since you're asking for natural protection, that's good because the normal protection (Frontline, for example) is highly neurotoxic. I mix a little neem oil in with the dog shampoo and I sprinkle diatomaceous earth mixed with water on the carpets to control fleas which works really well (thanks, Herr Eisenheim!) for fleas, but honestly it doesn't keep ticks off. The only protection I've found for ticks is to examine my dog every day and pull the ticks out. The bad diseases usually require the tick be in there for a long time. Luckily my Labrador is a yellow one and not a black one. I don't know how people find ticks on black dogs.

We shave our chow-lab down as soon as its warm to make tick checks easier. Right now I think half his weight is fur, and its starting to shed, which makes vermin checks really tough. (Plus he won't hold still, the stinker)

His favorite 'human game' is to run out through the green burr plants and become covered in them, because he knows I will make him sit there until I can comb them all out. He'll come in with a huge doggie grin like he's just won the lottery.