I hate ticks. I've found two so far in the last week - one of which was on Ava. I really need to find something to keep the ticks off, but I have a few issues. Ava can't tolerate the topicals out there (Frontline/Revolution/Advantage/Advantix/etc) at all. We do Comfortis for fleas, but only when I see a flea, so we haven't used it since 2010, and it doesn't do anything for ticks.

I sometimes give her a brewer's yeast/garlic tab, so I'll probably just have to start doing that more often. I've also tried diatomaceous earth in the past, but didn't have much luck with it. Are there any other remedies out there that actually work?

I have had an issue with ticks for 2 years here in south FL it does not get cold enough to kill them off. I do tick check every night and get on average 3 from each dog. Some days I am lucky and get none. We have tried many things the diatomaceous earth works better in the yard then on the dog. Right now I am using lavender oil. I have only been using it for a couple weeks now. I do have to say I am seeing less on my doggy's.

Here's a reply Val posted in another thread that she uses on her 3 which she has had excellent results!:

Huskyluv wrote:
Yes, we had a really bad flea and tick year both in FL and SC. Glory and Faith both picked up fleas and Faith also picked up a lot of ticks too. I was fed up with it so I did some research on natural alternatives and came up with my own combo for flea/tick repellent. I have been off chemical flea/tick prevention for the heaviest portion of flea/tick season this summer. I started this in June of this year and have been pest free since day one and we have gone 5 months without a single flea or tick. What's even more impressive is that before the switch my chi girls had gotten fleas and Faith was picking up ticks at least once a week if not more.


Some people do make a mix but I don't. I did a lot of research on the different oils and supplements that help repel fleas and ticks and picked and chose what products I wanted to use. I figured it would be a work in progress and might need tweaking but I tried it out and have seen great results so far.

First off I will say that I use essential oils and essential oils are toxic to cats, so if you have felines present in the household essential oils are NOT an option.

What I use:
Weekly - 1 drop of Cedarwood oil and 1 drop of Rose Geranium oil on the collar (and/or harness)
Daily- I alternate adding garlic and apple cider vinegar in their food. So one day I add a small amount of garlic to their food the next day I add apple cider vinegar and rotate daily.

There are other oils and alternatives that you can use besides what I choose to use. For example, food grade diatomaceous earth is a safe flea repellent that can be spread in the yard, sprinkled on the carpet and vacuumed up and even put on the dogs coat. Other flea repelling oils include tea tree oil and lavender oil. I use cedarwood oil on my dogs' collars and harnesses which is a flea repellent and occasionally I use lavender oil around the house. I don't use tea tree oil because I'm not too fond of the smell but I do have tea tree oil dog shampoo that I use intermittently. The only reason I use Cedarwood oil on their collars instead of Lavender oil as a flea repellent is because the Cedar oil is cheaper for me to get. Otherwise I would use Lavender oil since it smells so much more appealing to me.

Rose Geranium oil is a natural tick repellent that has worked amazingly well. I had my doubts about its effectiveness when Faith was picking up a ton of ticks this year. Well seeing is believing and we've not seen a single tick since the day we started using the Rose geranium oil. The huge bonus with this is the smell, I LOVE it. The dogs literally smell like roses with that stuff on their collars.

Food supplements, garlic repels fleas and mosquitoes. Every other day I put just a tiny bit of garlic in their food, less than 1/8 tsp. Garlic is toxic to dogs in very large quantities but small quantities like what I do every other day are actually good for them. Apple cider vinegar is the best, you want to use the pure, unpasteurized product with the mother in it (you can find it at most health food stores). ACV really is such an amazing product and has so many benefits. ACV is antibacterial and anti fungal; it improves the immune system, liver, bladder and kidney function; helps with itchy skin and allergies; balances digestive enzymes; normalizes the pH of the body; repels both internal and external parasites like fleas and worms; provides potassium for tissue and joint health; makes a great ear cleaning solution; reduces inflammation...the list could go on and on! Don't take my word for it, look up more info on ACV yourself. It's benefits not only work for us but our dogs too. You can mix ACV directly into your dogs food or put it in their water. If you are trying to get rid of fleas or combating skin issues you can make a 50/50 mix of ACV and water in a spray bottle and spray it on their coat or you can give them a bath in the 50/50 mix. My sibe gets 1 tablespoon of ACV every other day mixed directly with his food.

I will also try the Rose Geranium oil for the ticks.I am already using the lavender oil but will try the other oil and see which one works the best. Fleas are not an issue haven't seen one of those in years. I already do the ACV in their water and I spray it on their coats and comb it in.

Thanks for the info

Perhaps those of you who live in the Central East Coast states have been hearing about the meat allergy triggered by the lone star tick bite. I thought people were crazy when I first heard that someone could have an anaphylactic reaction when eating a steak all because of a tick bite. Now I personally know at least 3 people affected. One is a teen friend of my son who has offered to be part of a study of teens with Alpha-Gal (that's what they are calling it) going on at UVA. It's basically an allergy to all mammal meat (not necessarily red meat).

From what I hear this area is the hardest hit. So I asked my vet if it could affect our dogs and cats. She actually has been in contact with a group of local animal healthcare folks who are wondering the same thing. I think some of the VA Tech and UVA groups are asking that question and doing some research on it. But as of right now, I don't think the experts (if indeed there are any experts on this new disorder) know the extent of what animals may be affected.

I found a tick on me in February! Last week Sabaka carried one in on his snout. We're a little concerned and trying to get rid of those little buggers anyway possible. I don't think they are just an inconvenience anymore! They are dangerous! Also, I suggest the Lyme's Disease shots for pups, as well.

They both have had their shoots and our vet checks for the Lyme's Disease every time we go in she knows about our tick issue we have.
I haven't heard about the meat thing.

I live in Central Virginia. We heard on the national news a while back that unless you live in VA or it's bordering states you will probably not ever be infected. That's when my 16-year old, steak and burger loving son freaked out...

"Great", he said, "way to make the rest of the US feel better!"

Hi All. I'm wondering if someone can share some strategies on checking for ticks. With a squirmy puppy with dense puppy hair, how likely is it that he could get a tick on his body? Legs, feet, ears, eyes, and elbows/pits aren't too hard to check, but his puppy coat is so think right now, its hard to even see his skin!

It's very likely for them to pick up ticks. My pup has extremely thick coat right now and it's hard to get down to the skin, but those ticks manage to do it somehow! For me after being out where they have the chance of picking up ticks, if I can't catch them while they're still walking around on their parts of white coat and not attached, I rarely am able to find them before they become attached.
When checking my dogs I honestly start from the head and move my way back. I sometimes have a treat with me to keep them patient, but the more I check the more patient they come with me. I fold the hair back looking at the skin and just feel around on their body for anything that feels similar to a scab or bump. Sadly even with checking them thoroughly, I still miss them. Good luck with the never ending battle with those little blood suckers.

I have picked 2 or 3 ticks crawling around on Kerian before they has gotten to her skin. I use tick collars with mine and oils on their collars..

There was a tick on my knee the other day I found it after a shower ick.. These things are terrible and back this summer/spring.

I just feel their coats around the head first working to the back.

thanks for the oils tip cmanding! I let my boy run free in the woods till his heart is content, but has such thick fur, it's nearly impossible to check for ticks.....until the tick has been on him long enough to be inflated like a little balloon and you can feel it!... ick factor at all time high! I get him a lyme vaccination from the vet, but it would be nice to try a natural repellent!

I'm getting him the first lyme vaccination today and put the tea tree oil on his collar and harness, but I want to make sure I check too. Thank you for the tips! How often do you check?

If we go to the barn or anywhere where I think they're going to be picking ticks up, I check that day after we return home and then the next day or two. The next couple days is for if I missed something and they've had the ability to attach they get bigger and are easier to find.

Okay thanks!

i found the first tick on me 2 weeks ago, 2 days after hiking in the woods! i FREAKED out! never had a tick issue in CO before. Eddy said to check the ears and arm pits as the ticks like to go to the warmest area on the dogs body. i checked them over real well and did not find any. i checked for the rose oil but they did not have it in the stores, i have used the tea tree oil in the past for fleas which we dont really have either.

wpskier222 wrote:

I'm getting him the first lyme vaccination today and put the tea tree oil on his collar and harness, but I want to make sure I check too.

I hope you are using the tea tree oil for fleas because it is not a tick repellant as far as I am aware.

Oh wow! I need to reread that thread, I thought it covered both... Thanks for letting me know. Back to the health foods store, after reading of course.

Huskyluv wrote:

wpskier222 wrote:

I'm getting him the first lyme vaccination today and put the tea tree oil on his collar and harness, but I want to make sure I check too.

I hope you are using the tea tree oil for fleas because it is not a tick repellant as far as I am aware.

I don't know about a tick repellant, but tea tree oil works to get rid of ticks. I use rose geranium oil to repel them, but my mom had a tick embedded on her scalp the other night (I told her to put on some rose oil before mowing but no, she didn't need to) and I used tea tree oil to get rid of it. I put a drop or two of oil the tick and it let go and all that I had to do was pick it up with tweezers and trash it. I was kinda excited because I'd been wanting to test that theory for a while, but none of the dogs have had ticks since I started using rose oil

Wow! Cool!

I've already found 4 on Selena in the past month! She doesn't even go in any high tick areas so I can already tell what kind of year we're going to have here on the east coast, yuck!

Ugh, ken said he found on on him tonight! WTF where are they coming from!! Oil will be ordered tomorrow and a call to the vet!

So far I've had one tick, dogs have had none...and they're outside far more than I am!

Yikes! Dizzy has been scratching a lot, and I did as thorough a check as I could last night, with a wiggling puppy. Also gave him a bath and it was easier to look when he was wet. I didn't see anything, but I ordered advantix today. Until I'm more comfortable and knowledgeable about the oils, and checking I'll use that. Of course, eventually I'd like to get him off of that crap all together. I know its not fleas, I've had dogs that had fleas in the past, so I'm familiar with those suckers. It could also be an allergy to chicken, so going to switch him off of that and see if it helps. It sounds like its going to be an intense tick season if you're already experience them in Colorado and Mass. Sounds like in SC its always intense there.

About three weeks ago My mom and I were hiking with phoebe in the woods near by and we let her off leash she was really good about it , anyway she hopped about a foot in to the brush off the path so I went to pull her out and after we got back on the path I felt something on my leg, turns out in was tick, i brushed it and another one I found off and then i looked down at phoe and she was covered. They were just on top of her fur, I got about 6/7 off her and when we got back I combed her through and never found any more but mom who went nowhere near where we got the ticks found one crawling on her shoulder when she was just sitting on the couch. Even weirder is we have found 3/4 ticks in my moms room the past week like on her wall, lampshade and one crawling on her back, we hadn't been in the woods since that incident so we don't know how their ending up in the apartment.