Are there any safe meds for ticks?

Le Wasp

Le Wasp

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 25, 2007
Messages
243
Are there any medications for preventing ticks on dogs that are safe around tarantulas? The last I had heard was that Frontline was a good product, but has an extremely high toxicity for tarantulas, even at low doses (easy for contamination from dog hair, hands after petting the dogs, etc.). Are there any new products out that are better for T keepers?

I'll be moving to the country later this year, so my dogs will be outside quite a lot in an area with plenty of ticks. That means they'll have plenty of exposure to ticks and my dogs are excellent tick magnets. If nothing else works, I plan on just using some Frontline/Advantix and then being very careful about the T collection: Keep dogs out of T room, wear gloves during feeding time, etc.

Anyone have advice on how to deal with preventing ticks without needing to post another tragedy to the DKS sticky thread?
 
Kat Fenix

Kat Fenix

Arachnosquire
Joined
May 11, 2011
Messages
135
Pretty much every tick killing med is going to have something to kill insects and arachnids, otherwise they wouldn't really work at all.
You can either pick the ticks off manually and hope your dogs don't get infected with diseases or parasites, or just remember to wash your hands super well after touching the dogs and/or before touching anything that has to do with the tarantulas. That's really the only thing I can think of :/

I used Provent-a-mite in my room and after moving the T's in after a couple of days, I just remember to wash my hands before I touch anything for them and they've been fine.
 
horanjp

horanjp

Arachnosquire
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
141
Ticks -Arachnid. Fleas-insect. If you must revise your flea/tick preventative, try using just a flea specific topical. Ask your vet for their recommendations in this avenue of prevention. Heart worms can be prevented using pills, as many have done for years. The vector is the mosquito, which is for what these kill-all topical preventatives target aside from fleas and ticks. Ticks are hardly a problem to remove unless you already have a critter phobia, no need to put poison on your animal to keep them off unless you're expecting Lyme infected ticks to bite your pup. Just apply before you go take them to the woods. And if you don't already, just wash your hands often and well while tending to your collection.
I live in a house with 4 dogs and a cat that I don't personally have a say in concerning their flea/tick prevention. Hand washing seems to work just fine...I wear gloves too. I love them all deeply and thoroughly on a daily basis to no effect on my spiders with a dash of caution and self awareness. Hope this helps.
 
Le Wasp

Le Wasp

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 25, 2007
Messages
243
HungryGhost said:
Here's what I switched to last year. Seems to work and no bad reactions from my dogs. One chew lasts 12 weeks. No more topicals for me.

http://www.mypet.com/bravecto.aspx
Click to expand...
Wow, those sound perfect! Exactly what I was looking for. I'm not sure why tick medication has been so hard to find that isn't topical.

The area that I'm moving to is loaded with ticks, so I'm not looking forward to manually removing a hundred ticks every month (also don't want to put my dogs through that).
 
horanjp

horanjp

Arachnosquire
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
141
Word of caution: Ask your VET before you celebrate this....I didn't look around, but maybe you should read some clinical studies AND ask your vet before you buy. Find out HOW the drug works. HOW it kills fleas and ticks. Is it SAFE for my animal? Side effects? Wouldn't it just be horrible if one used this, specifically for the reason to protect their collection, and still, the chemical is externally present on the animal....and you throw your caution and good husbandry habits to the wind. DKS spiders for everyone...

I encourage you to do your research, I'm bookmarking this product and doing some of my own later. I'd be interested if it is effective as well.....sounds like a keen solution if the animal doesn't excrete the chemical somehow. Come back to the thread, I'll see if I can't find some studies.

---------- Post added 01-21-2015 at 09:03 PM ----------

Hi there, me again.

"Pharmacokinetics of Fluralaner
Fluralaner orally administered to dogs was rapidly absorbed into blood. Max. blood levels were reached 24 hours after administration. Mean half-life in blood was 12 to 15 days. Bioavailability was higher when fluralaner was administered to fed animals.
After absorption fluralaner was well distributed to tissues. Highest concentrations were found in fat, followed by liver, kidney and muscle. Fluralaner was also quantifiable in hair and skin. Clearance from tissues was very low."

Source: http://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2867&Itemid=2970

Not too sure about the credibility of the source here, but it would be enough for me to-----------------> ask my veterinarian.
 
-=}GA']['OR{=-

-=}GA']['OR{=-

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
Messages
172
horanjp said:
Word of caution: Ask your VET before you celebrate this....I didn't look around, but maybe you should read some clinical studies AND ask your vet before you buy. Find out HOW the drug works. HOW it kills fleas and ticks. Is it SAFE for my animal? Side effects? Wouldn't it just be horrible if one used this, specifically for the reason to protect their collection, and still, the chemical is externally present on the animal....and you throw your caution and good husbandry habits to the wind. DKS spiders for everyone...

I encourage you to do your research, I'm bookmarking this product and doing some of my own later. I'd be interested if it is effective as well.....sounds like a keen solution if the animal doesn't excrete the chemical somehow. Come back to the thread, I'll see if I can't find some studies.

---------- Post added 01-21-2015 at 09:03 PM ----------

Hi there, me again.

"Pharmacokinetics of Fluralaner
Fluralaner orally administered to dogs was rapidly absorbed into blood. Max. blood levels were reached 24 hours after administration. Mean half-life in blood was 12 to 15 days. Bioavailability was higher when fluralaner was administered to fed animals.
After absorption fluralaner was well distributed to tissues. Highest concentrations were found in fat, followed by liver, kidney and muscle. Fluralaner was also quantifiable in hair and skin. Clearance from tissues was very low."

Source: http://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2867&Itemid=2970

Not too sure about the credibility of the source here, but it would be enough for me to-----------------> ask my veterinarian.
Click to expand...
I agree here. Usually when something seems too good to be true it usually is. I would be cautious and ask the vet. The other thing is that vets are like regular doctors and like to product pimp for the pharmaceutical companies.

All of these "chemicals" that we and our pets consume is startling.

I have bathed my dogs with tea tree oil infused dog shampoo to kill fleas and it worked brilliantly. I'm not sure if it would repel ticks, but it worked on the fleas. My dogs never have access to my spider room, so I don't know if it would harm the spiders.
 
awiec

awiec

Arachnoprince
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,325
When I lived with my parents, they would put frontline on the dogs all the time. During the first 3 days after treatment, I would not touch the dogs or let them upstairs and washed my hands often. As far as I know none of my spiders suffered ill effects. As with all medicines that are good at repelling fleas/ticks they get into the tissues of the animal and then you run into the same issue than if you were using a topical treatment. If you still want to use medication I would suggest making sure your spiders are in an area where the dogs can't even get near and vacuum and wash your hands frequently.
 
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