16 replies to this topic

[KittynDoc]

Until we found two ticks on Wyot yesterday evening, I like many, believed ticks were only a spring and summer issue. Boy have I had an education since then!!!! We were able to take the ticks off, head and all, and only one was slightly engorged...I am VERY upset at this.....but, as you know, nature always has a way to treat this...I gave him a homeopathic remedy called ledum palestre (for all sorts of bites), and I will be giving it to him every three hours for today. I will then follow the protocol outlined in the article below:

 

http://www.dogsnatur...r-lyme-disease/

 

Thankfully, we have a homeopathic kit at home, and when hiking, I usually travel with three important remedies- Arnica for bruises, sprains and strains- Apis, for bee bites, and lastly, the Ledum  for all types of other bites (flea, tick, spider, snake, etc.).

 

Here is an article that talks about ticks being a year round problem. Depending on where you live, of course, but we  (at least I did) thought ticks were only seasonal!

 

https://www.idexx.co...nd-problem.html

 

 

We think that the few thaws we had in the last week or so "woke" them up. We live in the country, so mice are major carriers, not just deer. We have a plastic travel crate for him in the car, and it was on the floor in the garage...we didn't think and were in a hurry to go out, so we just put it in the car, Wyot jumped in as usual, and, well, perhaps that is where it came from. Mice are caught in our traps routinely in our basement and garage, almost on a daily basis!!!!

 

Just wanted to share, as our poor little four legged family members can't tell us....  

[LakeGirl]

Interesting....I also didn't give a thought to ticks in winter, and we've had a lot of freeze/thaw this year. I was concerned about the fleas resurrecting during the thaws. We have rabbits, skunks, racoons and mice in our suburban neighborhood. Last summer the fleas were just crazy abundant and pesky. What do you do about fleas? I really hate to give the neurotoxic stuff to the dog to kill the fleas. Trying brewers yeast this year....we'll see....

[KittynDoc]

Yep, we have lots of racoons and skunks as well....I will be adding brewer's yeast to Wyot's diet, and I already add organic powdered garlic. I also make and sell Rose Geranium bug and tick repellent. It is what started my farmer's market business, which has now extended to more product and doing seasonal shows around my area almost all year long. I have just finished my website (which I still need to work on some of the pictures,  of product). You can bet that I will now be spraying his hind legs and by his tail, along with behind his ears and neck with my  own spray, and doing tick checks!!!!

[Sherab]

I think the bugs in Michigan have anti freeze. We've had moths, stone flies and mosquitoes out side this winter.

[KittynDoc]

I think the bugs in Michigan have anti freeze. We've had moths, stone flies and mosquitoes out side this winter.

 

Yipes!!!! Yeah, I thought I saw a few bugs flying around not too long ago, and I thought I was nuts!!   Anti freeze indeed!  

[Denise E.]

Knock on wood, we haven't had a tick problem down here in South Florida or on our yearly travel.

I should check more often during our travels ....

 

However we not only have regular fleas but sand fleas that bite and then drop back to the ground instead of living on the host.

 

As we have finally had a cold snap for a few days, I noticed bites on Tayamni's abdomen she has very little hair on her abdomen and some places none, so she seems ton get bit more than Coffey.

 

I use a natural spray.  I originally got one with glove in it but she doesn't like it so I use that on Coffey and hers has some mint in it as well as other ingredients that the wo brands have in common.

 

That helps when we are going out (and I remember to put it on).

 

PS  People get bit by those sand fleas also!  It's a Pain - and itches like crazy!

Maybe I should spray some of Tayamni's natural spray on my ankles and calves ....  hmmmm  

 

[KittynDoc]

Very upset, as we found another one on him this morning!!!  I think it was in his crate bedding that he sleeps in at home, so I took that out., and got a completely clean towel (that is what we use for bedding, and he is completely satisfied and comfortable, and he can't chew it and throw the stuffing out).

 

We may have figured where the problem lies. Mice are major carriers of ticks. We have been catching at least two to three mice A DAY in our traps!   No food stays out, and the kitchen is always cleaned after eating, and before going to sleep. When we go out for the day, they must travel right through a tiny crevice in the wall,possibly right by his crate, and perhaps Wyot brings in some scent of food that they even go in there. We do know.that they come in through the fireplace vent holes, and probably have a whole complicated network of ways to get in the kitchen. Well, believe you me, I thoroughly cleaned under his crate, around the walls, and I used hydrogen peroxide to disinfect, etc....and in placing his crate back, I have dug out peppermint tea bags and put them in and around the area of his crate and their possible cracks (they can press through the tiniest holes!!!) Next comes the steel wool to block up the bigger holes, and more traps right below his crate, down in the basement. I will also stuff peppermint in with the steel wool...sage is also another thing that discourages them (smells nicer than feeling like you're surrounded by candy canes or a huge peppermint patty, lol!) I hung two muslin bags at the edges of his crate (he can't get at them)....What a battle!!!!

 

Now, something interesting, in how to kill mice without poison (not including the traps, of course. Flaked mashed potato..they apparently eat lots of it, and then it expands in their stomach and ...well, kills them.  

 

We'll see how this latest thing helps keep the ticks away...keeping him on an ultra healthy diet, and besides the homeopathy, I also rotate herbs in his food (he himself gravitated towards some dried herbs that are outside, sticking out of the snow..and I know what plant it is-goldenrod this time- good for infections of all sorts, as well as flu, and keeping the  immune system strong. 

 

Wish us luck in our battle with the dreaded mice!!!

[Denise E.]

Good luck with it!  I hope they are not the Lyme disease carrying ticks.

 

Laughed at the sentence about the stuffing removal.  I used call those beds sleep number beds because Tayamni would take a certain amount od tuffing out of each bed she had.

 

She has a temperpedic bed now and has never torn at it.  I put all sorts of beds down in an aisle at the store and that was the only one she layed down on - immediately.  Go figure.  It's still ended up cheaper than having to keep buying less expensive beds!

[Rik]

Yep, we have lots of racoons and skunks as well....I will be adding brewer's yeast to Wyot's diet, and I already add organic powdered garlic. I also make and sell Rose Geranium bug and tick repellent. It is what started my farmer's market business, which has now extended to more product and doing seasonal shows around my area almost all year long. I have just finished my website (which I still need to work on some of the pictures,  of product). You can bet that I will now be spraying his hind legs and by his tail, along with behind his ears and neck with my  own spray, and doing tick checks!!!!

isn't garlic toxic to the dog? 

[KittynDoc]

No. It is a fallacy. Garlic and onion, given in SMALL doses appropriate for a dog and it's size is fine. Pet stores sell Garlic and Yeast wafers for dogs (and cats), and it is to keep ticks and fleas etc. at bay. I just choose to make my own good food and supplements instead of buying expensive supplements.

[Sherab]

I love google Rik because it can be hard to keep track

 

KittynDoc we have the battle of the critters here also. Last winter we were so over run with chipmunks we had one come in the house in the dead of winter. In the spring they got up on the window ledge and pressed their faces on the glass to tease Waki. We moved at least a bakers' dozen via live traps over the summer. We live in the woods and when we had Grape the Cat he was such an efficient killing machine that even the sparrows haven't returned to our yard and he's been gone 6 years now. He was the Tasmanian Devil of Loony Toons. 

 

This year we've had one mouse in the barn but 2 years ago we were absolutely inundated like we've never seen. Waki eats them and we still had them coming out of our ears. I'm sure it was something in the food cycle and perhaps the death a few of our regular diners. We lost a big red hawk and the owl that pooped always at the south corner of our property. It also may have taken some of our shyer local diners some time to feel ok about hunting so close to the house. We had a fox that would sing in the evening this summer and leave it's markings on the river side and someone else has taken up the road and barn side - maybe a coyote. Anyhow I understand how it can happen that suddenly nothing is different but you are swimming in a sea of unwanted guests. My experience is that the chipmunks are easy to catch in live traps. The curiosity gets them. I learned in the late summer cold to check the traps often. I had to put one on a warming plate - fortunately the bugger revived. We are close to plenty of state forrest close but not too close for the release sites. Also we found that the dumb mice get caught fast and then the smart mice remain. We also learned to check those traps often - some mice seem to stroke out over the stress or something. You may have to resort to lethal methods. We had one mouse we named Einstein who thwarted everything so we started rooting for him and gave up, then we think he got eaten by something. That happened with our rabbit also. Rabbits seem to be very hard to trap but in our experience it's just as well to offer them some alternative food other than my roses and nature takes care of them soon enough. One day, just when you've become attached to the bugger there's a telling tuft of fur in the snow somewhere and no one comes buy for the alternative to my roses. Maybe that's the trick. Get attached to them. 

[Denise E.]

No. It is a fallacy. Garlic and onion, given in SMALL doses appropriate for a dog and it's size is fine. Pet stores sell Garlic and Yeast wafers for dogs (and cats), and it is to keep ticks and fleas etc. at bay. I just choose to make my own good food and supplements instead of buying expensive supplements.

 

Yes, I have been instructed also that SMALL doses are OK.  I don't give it on it's own, but have read some treat ingredients and have seen garlic listed at the bottom.  They have been 'natural' or 'wholistic' treats.

I think the lists we find now on the internet and at Vet offices err on the side of caution, which is a good thing because I know we don't want to accidently hurt our animals if we haven't learned acceptable dosages.

 

I think of it like Tea tree oil.  Have seen it listed as toxic for dogs on internet and then have bought it in natural wound creams for them.  It has to be diluted correctly to be safe and not taken internally.

Funny though - what dog doesn't lick the salve off his/her wound????   My dogs even lick Musher's wax off their paws!

[KittynDoc]

Sherab, wow, you have a LOT of critters!!!! Yes, Wyot hears coyotes, he sees the huge crows and wants to follow them now that he sees them overhead, flying...chipmunks he hasn't seen yet, but come spring, there have been a family of them living under our porch, and their tunnel goes under the stairs..and right past the kitchen sliders, where Wyot loves to sit...so, I can't wait to see him when he sees them run by!!!!  Squirrels run like crazy, and on the few warm days we had, they came out, be he hadn't noticed them yet... I expect the tazmanian devil run to start when he sees all these critters, lol!!!

These mice are big fat critters, too....at least two each day in our traps...the peppermint is doing the trick, though...no ticks since then.

 

Deer cross our creek and he will see them soon, too, as the deer trail runs in the back of our property. He has found their sleeping spots in the field behind the house, and he has also found "M & M's" (deer poop), and EATS them...yuckkkkkkkkkk!

 

Denise, that is absolutely correct. the dilution has to be just right. Too much and it can be toxic, too little, and it won't be effective. 

[jasonparkin]

Yeah, check to see if your vet offers the lyme disease vaccinedefinitely seems worth it. Vetriscience also makes these great wipes that are all natural that we use on him and those seem to work well. We have ticks like crazy in the NE, and we have Shiloh on Advantix 2 (although I'm still on the fence about it just as far as being toxic, but he seems to be fine with it). I think some other owners on the forum have mentioned it, but I would check out the Vetriscience wipes: https://www.chewy.co...-tick/dp/108735

Good luck!

Edited by jasonparkin, 05 February 2017 - 08:44 AM.

[KittynDoc]

Yeah, check to see if your vet offers the lyme disease vaccinedefinitely seems worth it. Vetriscience also makes these great wipes that are all natural that we use on him and those seem to work well. We have ticks like crazy in the NE, and we have Shiloh on Advantix 2 (although I'm still on the fence about it just as far as being toxic, but he seems to be fine with it). I think some other owners on the forum have mentioned it, but I would check out the Vetriscience wipes: https://www.chewy.co...-tick/dp/108735

Good luck!

 

 I myself have had debilitating lyme's disease for four years....and have come out healthier and stronger than before. It was an education, and a journey towards opening my eyes to truths...I have seen others like me take meds (anti-biotics and other things), and become sicker than before, while not taking care of the actual problem, and driving it in deeper. Some people have been okay after their course of anti[biotics, but were sick during the whole process, then symptoms came back a year or so later.  

 

The trick here is PREVENTION. By that I mean keep the immune system strong (both human and animal). Eat and feed your animals the best food you can. Herbal supplements can help (dried herbs are best added to foods). Comb your pet at the end of the day and do tick checks on both you and them. I spray him down now with my own Rose Geranium tick and bug repellent that I make and sell...and so far, so good...I have used it myself, and then I have had avid second home owners who come to our farmer's market and have bought more after using their whole bottle...because they said it worked! Look up rose geranium...it is non toxic, smells good and ticks really do not like it. I will check out  the Vertriscience wipes you mentioned.

 

I gave Wyot a homeopathic remedy (and still give it to him at the moment)  that is specific to bites of all sorts- including lyme's. There are homeopathic Nosodes that you can give to your animals instead of vaccines (which have lots of poisons like mercury in them). 

 

Thanks for the info! :)

[Jane]

Hi all,
We live in the epicenter of Lyme disease. The ticks that carry Lyme, analasma and babesia are so tiny that it is very difficult to see them. Lucy was positive and treated for Lyme twice. I did have her vaccinated for a few years. Not sure how I feel about the vaccine but she did not get Lyme again. Ruby was symptomatic ( a limp) and was positive for anaplasma when she was less than a year. At that time we used frontline to prevent the ticks. Around here that has stopped working. Since then we have been using the collar which is supposed to last about eight months. I looked into alternative remedies but friends who have tried them did not have good results. If we lived in a place where tick borne illnesses were not epidemic would def consider an alternative. Also I would never not treat Lyme or other tick borne illnesses with anything other than proven antibiotics. I have seen terrible long term consequences in dogs and people and horses who did not get timely treatment. Just my two cents. Oh and yes the ticks are out all year unless we get a long sustained deep freeze. Just pulled two off my horse and we had a blizzard a few days ago....

[KittynDoc]

Hi all,
We live in the epicenter of Lyme disease. The ticks that carry Lyme, analasma and babesia are so tiny that it is very difficult to see them. Lucy was positive and treated for Lyme twice. I did have her vaccinated for a few years. Not sure how I feel about the vaccine but she did not get Lyme again. Ruby was symptomatic ( a limp) and was positive for anaplasma when she was less than a year. At that time we used frontline to prevent the ticks. Around here that has stopped working. Since then we have been using the collar which is supposed to last about eight months. I looked into alternative remedies but friends who have tried them did not have good results. If we lived in a place where tick borne illnesses were not epidemic would def consider an alternative. Also I would never not treat Lyme or other tick borne illnesses with anything other than proven antibiotics. I have seen terrible long term consequences in dogs and people and horses who did not get timely treatment. Just my two cents. Oh and yes the ticks are out all year unless we get a long sustained deep freeze. Just pulled two off my horse and we had a blizzard a few days ago....

It is an awful epidemic disease! As I have mentioned, I myself have had the worst symptoms that keep coming back as something different each time (that is what the lyme's spyrochetes do, they hide deep in your tissues, only to re-emerge at a later time). However, the  only thing you can do, is to be vigilant about your way of eating , ie. diet, exercise, and keeping toxins from products you use daily at a minimum (this is why I have created certain non-toxic products for people to use).. Keeping your immune system super strong is the next step, through a balanced, clean diet, staying and eating more alkaline foods, the more vigilant I am about eating well and not lapsing on doing what is truly healthy, the more I do not have symptoms emerge every six months to a year as they used to.

 

Many diseases have become resistant  to anti-biotics...Stephen Buhner has written many books on Lyme's, and has an all natural protocol to follow-. It DOES work! Keeping your immune system strong IS the only way to stay healthy. Vaccines truly do not offer any protection to this horriffic disease. Treating Lyme's with an effective alternative course (as outlined in Buhner's book), will not only help the Lyme's, but also make you stronger, NOT weaker, as anti-biotics do (they get rid of all the good bacteria in the gut, and may initially attack the lyme's, but it does NOT effectively kill it...the bacteria is much smarter than that, unfortunately. Like I mentioned I have come out of Lyme's debilitating effects by only using alternative -and actually only 100 years ago, so called "alternative" treatment was normal treatment...I know first hand the medical industry and how medications are there  for profit more than truly helping  any disease!- we are not "parts", we are a whole person, and unfortunately, the medical people only treat the part that is ailing, and not paying attention to the rest, which may also have plenty to do with how the disease manifests itself.

 

Homeopathy has worked for over a hundred years or more, and it works similar to vaccines, but in a non- narcotic, much more body friendly way. It stimulates the body's own immune system into gear. We only need to be patient, as this takes time...and a correct, very CLEAN diet will definitely heal. I do understand in today's day and age of convenience and so called medical advances, that it seems easier and "safer" to take  anti-biotics (which have been abused and overused, and not necessary for many things)...we need to keep an open mind about so called "alternative" medicine, and let it do its healing. 

 

I have been through this dreaded disease and know it still lurks inside me, but I am on top of the healthiest eating I can, and keep up on taking herbals that are appropriate so my immune system can keep beating the Lyme's at its dirtiest game. I intend to be vigilant with Wyot as well, and his food has become really clean, and he gets lots of exercise and fresh air, and pure mountain water. I do add herbals for a short period of time to boost the immune system, especially after I found the ticks...he also got the appropriate dose of homeopathics for a week.

 

I apologize if I come on strong, and certainly do not feel people need to agree with me. I only seek to put information out there, that I have come to know  through my own experiences.(between my husband and myself, we have had two family members and three very close friends die of cancer needlessly, and sadly, I know that this can be overcome...)

Thanks for listening, and thank you for sharing and posting your own two cents, as that is always appreciated.