I don't use tick medications on Gracie. I do use Advantage II for fleas but would rather avoid adding another chemical. Last year our cats were getting ticks because they go out into the woods and fields nearby and those are favorit places for ticks. I purchased Frontline Plus for the cats because that was the only topical tick medication for cats. Well, the ticks seemed to thrive on the stuff. The cats would come home with fully engorged ticks on them!
Gracie got a tick on her that must have gotten there from one of the cats. So I started meeting the cats at the door with a flea comb. You can catch any unattached ticks with a flea comb. Ticks are much harder to crush than a flea is though. So I spent the summer with the flea comb and tick puller by the back door.
I only walk Gracie on the sidewalks or pavement. She does play in the backyard but it is kept mowed and we have had no tick issues out there. The ticks like to get up on tall grasses and bushes and wait for a warm body to jump down on so I keep Gracie out of the woods and fields. We have had a lot of rain lately and we have not had any ticks. They seem to thrive the most during the hot dry parts of the summer. They also come in cycles. A tick has three to four life cycles. They are nasty little icky things! I have heard that the Advantix works pretty well on ticks. |