tic treatment - advocate users?

[IWantToLiveInPawnee]

Just wondering what you all using?

I'm pleased with advocate but live in an area where recently a number of dogs have been seriously ill with a tic infection.

Not a huge issue but I have 4 lots of advocate left and would rather stick with it (particularly good for ear mites, which my dog suffers with).

Vets have recommend a collar or switching to Bravecto?

Thanks

[IWantToLiveInPawnee]

Tried giving it to her whole, as a treat, didn't want it. Cut it into 4 and soaked it in tuna, still left it, so had to put it in her mouth, she spat a few bits out but ate it all in the end.

My dog is odd.

[villainousbroodmare]

My usual method of pilling is to cut up the tablet and sneak it into a series of rewards for tricks, keeping excitement up and preceding and following it each time with non-doctored treats.

[IWantToLiveInPawnee]

Spoke with the vets again and they're going to issue me with one today, hurrah.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

My dog is dim he takes the Bravecto like he is young to eat it goes to the bed and drops it to look at it. So I either shove it down his throat or crumble it in his dinner.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

They need to recheck their technical advice, when my practice had our technical briefing the fact that you can use Bravecto immediately after another product was an important part of the briefing.

[IWantToLiveInPawnee]

Lonecat. Yes, the vet advised this, I asked the question twice too.

They said to just be vigilant between now and when she can have the Bravecto, check for ticks etc but I don't think you can always find them, can you? As they can be very small?

I might phone vets again tomorrow.

Ddog had a full on shampoo and groom yesterday so I guess that weakens the advocate?

Also, I know tab is chewable but my dog is a pill dodger and I've had to buy more than one wormer in the past to get it form her after failed attempts. Even spat it out when broken into 8 tiny pieces and wedged into sausage and cheese!

At 30 odd quid a pop, I have to get it down get her first go, can you advise me on the best way?

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Iwant has your vet told you to wait? Bravecto is safe combined with other medicines so there is no waiting time between another product and Bravecto - this is one of the biggest selling points of the product. I could give my dog advocate tonight and Bravecto tomorrow morning. As a vet I regularly prescribe Bravecto in exactly your situation.
Yes only 5 dogs have affected with Babesia in Essex, however the Big tick project carried out last summer identified more of these ticks and found several of them carrying a variety of disease in other areas.
Sadly the removal of tick treatment 24 to 48 hours prior to entry to the UK from the Pet Travel Scheme has lead to this problem and it is almost certainly going to grow.
I worked in quarantine for many years and regularly saw the diseases we are likely to encounter.

[BlackMarigold]

OP - I don't think there's any definite info yet, investigations are ongoing.
It takes 24 hrs for the tick to transmit the infection so there's time to give dog a good inspection all over. Mine really enjoys having this done .
You can buy a tick remover thing from PAH or the vets.

[IWantToLiveInPawnee]

I'm worried as I can't change or give Bravecto to my dog until Monday week (4 weeks after last dose of advocate).

We're quite near to where the dogs have caught this disease and the vet speaking on the report is my vet!

However, I don't think they've had any cases in the last few weeks, so am hoping that it's not as prevalent as they thought?

I don't understand the logic either? If they've narrowed it down to one field, but there's been 5 dogs with the disease so it has to be more than one tick. Or is it that a dog has brought over the disease, a U.K. tick has bitten that dog and then gone on to bite another dog?

Or does it mean there's already 1000's of 2nd generation uk ticks over here now?

It doesn't make sense to me, surely there'd be more than 5 dogs ill with it?

Worried and confused! My dog has no tick protection and I can't do anything about it for 10 days.

[villainousbroodmare]

Correct, Bubs.

[BubsandMoo]

Villainous, splitting larger tablets would not be legally possible in the UK, it's a prescription medicine (POM-V) so we can only prescribe it appropriately for each patient

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Seresto and advantix repellent ticks.
Bravecto kills ticks within 12 hours of attachment.
Current UK advice is that we should be killing ticks within 24 hours to prevent transmission.
In the UK we are only allowed to prescribe the correct size medication for your pet. We get inspected regularly to ensure we are not breaking these regulations.
We are likely to see all the other European tick borne disease appear here.

[hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman]

Thank you villain that answers my question, both of mine have Bravecto and I wanted to know how effective it was against babesiosis.

[hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman]

Two dogs have died so far BBC report. I meant to chat to the vet about it today but forgot, I will ask when I take DDog back on Monday.

[villainousbroodmare]

I'm a vet. I live in South Africa where we have canine (and feline, and equine) babesiosis which is tick-borne. Also ehrlichiosis. It is the most commonly occurring illness we see in general practice, and a considerable number of animals die of it.
Seresto collars are pretty good, and the only option for cats, but Bravecto is more effective. A tick has to remain attached for 2-3 days to transmit the parasite so tick death within 24 hours is sufficient to protect very effectively.
You can economise by buying the giant breed Bravecto and dividing it between your smaller dogs.

[jevoudrais]

Even if it covers ticks, have you checked whether that will protect them form the disease?

I don't think tick effective ones kill them immediately, I am under the impression it is within 24 hours?

In the 7.5 years of having my dog, I have only ever found one tic that I am aware of, and it was on his face. He is very sensitive to medications so I can't treat him either and will have to keep an eye on him.

Thankfully I don't think any dogs have died from the disease, just gotten very ill.

[BrambleandCuthbert]

We used Seresto collars. We're New Forest way - so lots of ticks - and went from dozens of the buggers after a single walk to none at all.

Now if only I could get one for the DC....,

[IWantToLiveInPawnee]

I've just realised I've been spelling it incorrectly

Tick, not tic!

[Cheerfulmarybrown]

I think the choices that cover tics are:-

advantix monthly spot on

seresto collar

bravetco

Any vets around to say if there are any other alternatives?

But you still need to have lungworm cover with the above (although I choose to do wormcounts)

[mrslaughan]

We have switched to bravest I because we live in an area with lots of ticks - it's been great

[Noitsnotteatimeyet]

We can't use either advocate or advantix on our Toller as he reacted badly - we've been using bravecto and it's been perfect - no fleas, no ticks

He has to have Milbemax every few months to top up his protection against lungworm (I think) as we live in a lungworm area and there are loads of ticks where we walk so protecting against them is essential

[georgedawes]

Yes Whitney I have an mdr1 carrier hence why won't use advocate.

Blackmarigold glad to help! I called my vet and double checked how long the prescription would last and how much it was etc to figure out if it was worth it. I didn't have to pay for an appointment but I've had bravecto before so that might be why. Think I paid about £16 online and it lasts 3 months, which is a lot more reasonable!

[IWantToLiveInPawnee]

Somebody recommended using Advantix as well as Advocate, can anybody advise on this? Thanks.

[Whitney168]

Advocate needs to be used with great care on shepherding breeds (Collies, Shelties, Borders, Aussies ...) unless their MDR1 status is known.

I used Bravecto for the first time last year - expensive (although probably not, given that it seems to last much longer than specified) but I found it very effective, so will go for that again this year. By the sounds of it, we need to start treating now.

[floppyjogger]

I paid 32.00 for our 32kg lab which was just one treatment.

Can anyone get a prescription from their vet to cut down the ridiculous cost at the surgery?