Ticks in the UK

Hi folks

Thought those of you in the UK would be interested to hear there is a large scale project being run by Bristol University to examine ticks for type & the diseases they are carrying. Many vets are participating by sending the ticks to Bristol & the results will be published in about 6 months time. Bristol Uni has always been considered one of the best Veterinary Universities in the UK. This report was on good old breakfast telly on the BBC.

Apparently, ticks are becoming more & more widespread & numerous in the UK these days & because the winter was mild, everywhere has many more than usual. I personally only ever came across ONE tick many years ago on one of my parent’s Wolfhounds. I never, ever saw one on my dogs, so things are obviously getting much worse than they used to be (we left the UK 8 years ago) & everyone needs to be vigilant. There was a young lady on the programme who had contracted Lyme disease from a tick bite 10 years ago at the age of 14 & it has ruined her life – a truly nasty disease, too often misdiagnosed.

Here in France, ticks are rife, so if you bring your pets into France with their pet passport, get some Frontline Combo from a French pharmacy or vets as soon as you can – the formula varies from country to country, so it is important you get the right one – buy it in the country you are visiting every time & don’t rely on the UK formulation – it may not kill the indigenous ticks abroad effectively.

Please keep your dogs (and yourselves) protected from the deadly diseases these ticks carry – Frontline Combo is the safest topical application in my opinion for our AIHA dogs. We don’t like to give tablets in case it triggers something we don’t want – a relapse or illness maybe. I don’t know if you have Certifect over there – it can be dangerous for some dogs breeds that carry the MDR1 gene such as Border Collies, German Shepherds & many others – it can cross the blood brain barrier & I personally won’t use it for this reason. Permethrin impregnated bandanas etc are a good idea, but be careful as permethrin can be dangerous to other animals & wildlife.

And please remember if you are a cat Mum or Dad like our lovely Mary, you cannot use dog formulas on them – you must use specific cat formula as using a dog treatment could be fatal or at least make them very ill.

Hope this information helps you all stay tick-free. You know I am paranoid about ticks as Worzel’s bone marrow failure was almost certainly caused by Ehrlichiosis, a tick-born disease. I don’t want anyone to have to go through what we went through with him.

Love to everyone – please pass this information on to all your pet owning friends.

Sheena, Worzel & Ollie xxx