There is a plethora of good products to protect dogs from ticks. Before choosing one, a pet owner must decide if they wish to use a TOPICAL product or an INTERNAL product. Both will kill ticks, so what’s the difference? Human exposure. If a pet owner is averse to being exposed to chemicals that are ON the dog, then an internal product is for them. However, this choice comes at a price to the pet. All internal products require that a tick bite the dog to ingest the chemical that will kill the tick. This is not true for most topical products. Think about how Lyme disease is spread: Through tick BITES. See the problem?

Topical Products

I prefer these products because they can kill the tick before it bites the dog. There is one product that I HIGHLY recommend: Vectra 3D. This topical product REPELS ticks in addition to killing them. That is not true of most other topical products. Topical products that are available in most retail stores include Advantix and Frontline (two of the most common) but many other less recognizable brands contain the same ingredients and all work well to kill ticks. However, I am not aware that any of these have a “repellency” claim.

Internal Products

Nexgard, Bravecto, Simparica, Credelio are four products that most veterinarians recommend. All work very well at killing ticks. But, remember, they kill only after the tick bites. These manufacturers will tell you that the kill occurs BEFORE the tick has been on the pet long enough for any disease to be transferred from tick to dog. This may indeed be true, but to my knowledge, this has never been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt.

What about cats?

Fagetaboutit. Cat’s groom themselves so much that they don’t allow a tick to attach. That is why there are no tick products for cats. They don’t need them. Although I am sure it has happened somewhere, in over 40 years of practice, I have never seen a tick on a cat.

How to Remove a Tick

If you ever spot an attached tick on your dog, simply grab it and pull it off. Pull with a steady pull, don’t pull with an abrupt jerk. It is rare for a tick’s head to remain embedded in your pet’s skin. (That may happen in other parts of the country where ticks have much longer mouth parts, but just does not happen in WV.)

Keep in mind that the tick has secreted chemicals into your pet’s skin to keep blood from clotting (so it can suck more easily) along with a local anesthetic so the dog does not feel the tick attached. These chemicals will cause inflammation at that bite site that will make a small lump and scab. This is what most pet owners confuse as an imbedded tick head, but it is not. This small lesion will correct itself and needs no care.

Vaccinating for Lyme Disease

Dogs in WV should be vaccinated against Lyme disease (even if you use a tick prevention product). Starting at 8 weeks of age, dogs should initially receive two doses (given 2 – 4 weeks apart) and then repeated once yearly.

Your pet is the pet of the month. Thank you Dr. Alex Casuccio for sharing your knowledge and experience with our readers. I want to encourage you to find a local veterinarian who will take care of your pets. Your pet is a huge part of your family and a good veterinarian gives your pet the advantage it needs to live a long, healthy life.