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Post by mrsk on Apr 27, 2015 23:41:02 GMT -5
Ticks do carry a lot of diseases. We go with the more traditional approach, but our dog runs for miles nearly each day out in the pasture, with dear Hubby feeding cattle (and wildlife) then gets in the pick up. Last week when DH was getting a hair cut, the lady said, "Oh, just a minute, you have a tick! Second one I have found this week!"
If your dog is outside where there are wild animals, and inside with you, it could raise your risk. I have seen it recommended, that if you do get a tick, one should bag it up and freeze it, so that if you do get sick they can test the tick.
Mrs. K
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Post by claude on Apr 28, 2015 6:33:53 GMT -5
You are right Mrs k..if you find an attached tick, and you have no real idea of how long it's been attached or how/when you got it, you should keep it. I never heard of freezing it before but those little buggers can stay alive a LONG time after feeding. The beginning symptoms of Lyme are so Vague..tiredness, aches, a headache, sore muscles...like you overdid it in the garden and you need a good nights sleep. Kind of flu like. If you have the bulls eye rash, then you know something has been transmitted.(well.at least for me). The size of the deer tick can be the size of a poppy seed or larger..that's small! They secrete an enzyme so that you barely notice the bite..like a mosquito. They are easy to miss. The testing on a tick is simpler and more definitive on the tick itself than a blood test on humans..it has to build up in our bloodstream to test positively. My first instinct is to squish it...so I use a lint roller to pick it up. While taking a refresher class for CPR the instructor had a couple of deer ticks in a small vial to show the teachers the size they were looking for..it was still alive after being put in the vial three months earlier.
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Post by brownrexx on Apr 28, 2015 8:17:05 GMT -5
I have never had a dog but I read that heartworm has been diagnosed in all 50 states and that the dog or cat will probably be seriously infected before you notice symptoms. It can cause permanent heart or lung damage even if you kill the worms (parasites).
Heartworm is transmitted by mosquitos so prevention is key. I would not risk a beloved pet because of a fear of "chemicals".
I garden organically but when it comes to my health and that of my pets I believe in prevention. You have to weigh the risks against the benefits. Not using pesticides or herbicides is easy for me and if it doesn't work, then I might lose a crop. Not such a big risk. I can always buy a vegetable if I need to. Getting a disease or losing a beloved pet is a different story.
I have had all of my vaccinations and so have my grandchildren and my cats. Look what just happened with the recent measles outbreak. Children actually DIED from measles and more children would die on an annual basis if the general population was not vaccinated and therefore not spreading the virus.
We live in a time when the average human lifespan is about 85 years but in times before antibiotics and vaccines the lifespan of humans was about 45 years!
Same goes for outdoor cats. The average barn cat lives about 3 years. My indoor cats are 10, 4 and 2.
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Post by lilolpeapicker on Apr 28, 2015 10:40:07 GMT -5
When I first moved back to this area 15 years ago, I found 4 ticks on my dog after a walk. I got the shot for Lyme disease protection for him and then decided to get it for myself. Insurance of course would not pay for that so I was on my own therefore, which I knew beforehand. But I was told by my doctor that the protection for vaccination for the dog was stronger than protection for humans. I wonder if I should do it again...I shoulda thought about it for the cat as I was just at the vet for a different reason. But she only goes on my property since I put her on a leash. So I can check her after the walk.
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Post by brownrexx on Apr 28, 2015 14:17:54 GMT -5
Lyme vaccine for humans was pulled from the market in 2002 and is no longer available. The Pharmaceutical company (GSK) that manufactured the vaccine quit making it due to liability issues resulting from some lawsuits.
According to this article, it is still available for Dogs.
www.nature.com/nm/journal/v20/n7/full/nm0714-698.html
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Post by datgirl on Apr 28, 2015 16:59:57 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback. Yipes!!! I know ticks are bad and I have had the woman that cuts my hair pull a tick out of my scalp too. I hope this Bio-Essentials lives up to it's promises. If not, I have the other option.
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Post by datgirl on Apr 30, 2015 8:46:16 GMT -5
OK, the oil came yesterday. It is VERY aromatic. It contains clove oil, and cinnamon oil and some other natural oils but all you can smell is the cloves. DH is not happy with this. This morning you can barely smell it so he has settled down about the smell. The dog doesn't seem to mind it. I will be checking for ticks as usual and hopefully not find any. Keep you posted.
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Post by claude on Apr 30, 2015 12:39:35 GMT -5
My lab had the Lyme vaccine and when she started acting not like herself I brought her to the vet. She was lethargic. Normally active dog. The covering dr told me that the animal Lyme is not effective... And that she probably had Lyme so he treated her for Lyme..went back 2 x more because she wasn't improving. Her thyroid had stopped working..not lyme.. I'm getting to the point where (new vet incidently) I only give them the basic vaccines..and I question everything...with my pets and family too.
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Post by claude on May 7, 2015 14:08:53 GMT -5
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Post by claude on May 7, 2015 14:16:43 GMT -5
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Post by datgirl on May 8, 2015 7:08:03 GMT -5
Well so far we haven't found any ticks on the dog. The smell of the essential oils is gone but you can kind of smell it faintly if you rub your hand down his back. I know it's early in the season.
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Post by claude on May 8, 2015 7:23:17 GMT -5
Datgirl..does it say to repeat every 2 weeks like this guy says?
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Post by datgirl on May 8, 2015 7:40:32 GMT -5
The directions say it kills and repels for up to a month but can be applied as often as every 2 weeks or as needed such as visiting potentially infested areas.
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Post by OregonRed on May 8, 2015 11:09:30 GMT -5
interesting stuff - thank you for posting.
I choose to only have pet cats, and keep them indoors - because of all this type of thing... it would drive me nuts to stay "organic" and natural with all of it... I had a dog once in my life for 2 years - this was 1976, we used a spray called: Adams (blue 1 qt. bottle) - at that time, talk about coating your pet with poison, amazing they survived - I bathed her 1 x a week, and resprayed her with it. actually, come to think of it, she got brain seizurs when she was 10, got out of the yard for the umpteenth time and never came back... (she was living with my mom by that time)
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Post by waynesgarden on May 11, 2015 18:28:57 GMT -5
Tick control here starts at dawn when the flock of guinea hens swoops down from wherever they spent the night. That they're keeping the tick population on the farm in check is the only reason I can think of for their noisy existence.
Wayne
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