Friends Upset Over Tick Situation – Are we really in the wrong?

[Dogowne91]

Hi everyone,
Would really appreciate some honest opinions on something that’s left us a bit stunned.
We just got back from a 2-week holiday and had left our dog with close friends who kindly offered to look after him. They also have two dogs, and they spent loads of time together — running around the house and their big garden, playing, sleeping near each other, out on plenty of walks, the usual.
When we picked up our dog, they told us they’d found 8 ticks in a matter of days — some on our dog and some around the house (sofa, bed, floor) which explained why they had asked if our dog was on tick prevention whilst we were away. We were honest from the beginning: he wasn’t and hasn't been for at least a couple of years. Totally our fault, just hadn’t gotten around to it. We also discovered they have treated him straight away once they discovered he wasn't up to date with it (they spoke with a vet first).
They’re clearly really upset and, honestly, we’re a bit taken aback. We obviously didn’t mean to put anyone at risk and feel bad — but also, we live in the Devon countryside where dogs are running through fields and long grass all the time and if we find ticks, we normally simply remove them from him. Ticks are kind of unavoidable here and the likelihood of Lyme disease is not that bad.
We’re now wondering… did we seriously mess up? Should we have flagged this before leaving him with them? We never thought it would cause this kind of fallout.
Would really appreciate some honest thoughts. Is this as big a deal as they are making it seem?

I get bitten every year.... Been lucky so far. DH was bitten and within days had flu like symptoms, brain fog/freeze, muscle aches. He got antibiotics, but was signed off work for 6 months ish, only working when he could. He literally couldn't lift his hands to type, couldn't think it speak, excruciating pains, and would have to go to sleep regularly with complete exhaustion.

He did get better, but when he gets run down, there is still a "Lymey" background where he gets angry and tired. It's a weird thing.

Our GP's will prescribe antibiotics as a caution by phone, but I've only done that once, as I scratched one out by mistake and left the head in.

We know several people who have it locally.

Well I must admit I’ve never given my dog tick treatments and no boarding has ever asked about it (she hasn’t boarded for nearly ten years though). As a kid I was the go-to person to remove ticks from our family pet, I used to enjoy it (😱). My dog has never had ticks (13yr), vets have never mentioned prevention treatments.

Was it mentioned before you took your dog over there?

Totally. They wake up HUNGRY! 😂

They ended up getting back to the office once and having to treat there as well.

That sounds really rough, I hope he can find some relief from the lingering effects.

Wow OP some OTT answers here. Clearly a lot of dog owners know very little about ticks. Tick treatment won’t stop ticks hopping on, it just kills the ticks when they attach and helps prevent infection. Untreated dogs don’t carry ticks in the same way they carry fleas/worms and ticks don’t pass from one dog to another. A tick hops on, stays attached and feeds for a few days, then drop off. It’s possible your dogs had some ticks on them that dropped off in your friends home but it’s also possible they went to a grassy tick area and brought them back to the house themselves. Either way I agree with you it’s not that big a deal. Pull them off and monitor to ensure no infection, end of. Fumigating the house etc is nuts.
And to the pp who said kennels require tick treatment, that’s not true. Worming and flea treatment is often required because they can transfer to other dogs, but not tick treatment.
Of course your vet will tell you it’s required every month at £30 with the monthly plan. In reality a drontal wormer every quarter is fine and is available online for for £2 a tablet.

Can I ask a possibly daft Q. I just checked our Spot-On (I’m paranoid about tics so worry all the time about our dog). It says; For the prevention of flea infestation and biting lice. Does this means it protects against tics? I’m so happy if so, this has been worrying me.
Its Elanco Advantage for pets <4kg (v small dog)

not if it doesn't say so on the paperwork.

Completely Irresponsible dog owners. You know how many ticks I've found on my 2 dogs. None. They have also never missed their quarterly flea, tick and heartworm medication. Your friends reacted fine, it's you who seem to have underreacted. You seem so blaise about it all.

Thank you 😊

Not niche. Do you think country folk who have multiple working dogs give them an all a costly monthly tick treatment rather than a cheap quarterly wormer?

scalibor collars definitely minimise attachment. Not saying they never attach but it gets a lot rarer. Don't know about the seresto ones. No it doesn't stop them hopping (except they don't hop) on. It does, as i said, minimise attachment and therefore infection.

I don’t think op has multiple working dogs - that’s still a niche situation…

but many of those will live in kennels not in the house.

Elanco advantage does fleas and ticks but not worms. Tablets are better than spot on though. Spot on pollutes waterways and you never know how much gets to the skin.

My dog is on this credelio tablet;

https://www.animed.co.uk/credelio-flea-and-tick-control-chewable-tablets-for-dogs?msclkid=1475736f7e781b60bbf01b2f433ad999&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PMax%3A%20Healthcare&utm_term=2323199350790013&utm_content=Healthcare%20-%20All&gclid=COjiybfj140DFTyWGQkdRKMqZw&gclsrc=ds&gad_source=7#728=4773&campaignid=614085746&adgroupid=1142394338234405&keyword=&device=m

Thank you; she also has Milbemax worming tablets so covered on all fronts 😅 appreciate your reply

I live in gamekeeper country. A friend of mine is a gamekeeper and breeds gun dogs. I know he treats for ticks. There are a lot of deer though and Lyme is much more common than in other places. I think that it’s up to every owner to make a decision based on locality and risk against expense and possibly unnecessary treatment.

I can understand that they are upset though, I’d certainly offer them an apology and a thoughtful gift.

My son got Lyme disease from a tick where he got bitten on a school residential.
He was horrifically ill and on antibiotics for 2 months.
i would be furious if you brought ticks into my home.

No, it doesn't. It is fleas and biting lice only. It's active ingredient, imidacloprid, has pretty poor efficacy against ticks.

@Apollo365 if you specifically want tick control, there are loads of way better (and approved) options out there.

Awful. Did he or the teachers discover the tick while he was away, or did he bring it home with him? What were the first signs that made you realise something was wrong and that he was ill? There really ought to be more public wrens campaigns around Lyme.

There is no way to stop ticks coming into your home. You can have the most treated dog in the world but unless you apply topical treatment all over before every single walk, ticks will climb into fur and attach. The treatment will then kill then more rapidly but this is a process of hours, not seconds or minutes. By that time the dog will be home. It’s why you need to always check for ticks, not just figure your dog takes a tablet every month and can’t have any as that’s not how it works. It doesn’t repel ticks from climbing onto them and biting.

Dog owners who have never dealt with ticks fall into one of a few categories: 1) they have dogs who mainly stay on paths and pavements 2) they don’t live in areas with high populations of deer 3) they might just be unaware and don’t really ever look for them. Ticks on treated dogs generally die and fall off when they are smaller and not as engorged so they are very hard to see.

A dog having a tick in the first place is a not some sort failing on behalf of the owner. In certain areas and times of years it is unavoidable, the same way they attach to walkers too when they go through long grass. The treatment is aimed to kill them more quickly so they don’t stay attached for as long and can’t switch to a new host, but it won’t stop ticks coming into the home on the dog’s body after a walk.

You may be right re the spot on.

Elanco tablet does. This is what I was thinking of.
https://www.viovet.co.uk/Advantage-Chewable-Tablets-Flea-Tick-Protection-for-Dogs/c170186/?utm_source=swaven&utm_campaign=swaven_manufacturer&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=advantage+chewable+

Or Nexgard spectra

Country folk who own multiple working dogs are surley not the majority of dog owners in this country?

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/642e966bfbe620000f17ddbe/Be_tick_aware_toolkit.pdf

A dog having a tick in the first place is a not some sort failing on behalf of the owner.

A tick, no.
Multiple ticks, starts to look like neglectful.