As there have been a couple of threads recently on ticks and tick prevention , it occurred to me that I never got around to posting the tick part of our practice website flea and tick discussion here as I had said i would . So here it is.
Tick Prevention-
Mercifully, this one will be much shorter and less complex than the flea prevention lecture. Again, the caveat is that this is how our hospital handles tck prevention, based on our experience, in our area. (Rhode Island in particular, the Northeast in general.) It is not meant as the final word. However, based on discussions with colleagues, what is sadi here is probably pretty mainstream for the profession in general, the one dichotomy being that some veterinarians prefer to combine flea/tick/heartworm prevention into one drug and give it year round, while others, such as myself, prefer to deal with each seperately depending on seasonal risk.
There is no 'tick season' as well defined as 'flea season'. In our area tick exposure peaks in the months of April and May. However even January can be a bad tick month if there is no snow cover. Last year, for example, November was a particularly bad month for ticks.
Medications to prevent ticks fall into three categories - the systemic (absorbed into the body) products such as Frontline; the systemic plus surface acting combinations such as Parastar, Advantix, and Certifect; and collars.
It should be pointed out that the oral flea medications, including both the growth regulators like Program and Sentinel and the spinosads like Comfortis and Trifexis, do nothing to prevent ticks.
Also, where environmental control (indoors) can be a key factor in flea prevention, treating 'the environment' (outdoors), to control ticks is generally ineffective.
Finally, it should be pointed out that NOTHING approaches 100% efficacy for tick prevention. If your dog is on Frontline and is infested with fleas, then something unusual is going on and we have to figure this out and correct it. But we are careful to advise clients please don't call us and complain 'That stuff I bought didn't work, I still found a tick on my dog.'
Of the three types of tick preventatives mentioned above, the one that was not covered in the flea lecture was the collar. There is no such thing as a 'flea collar'. This is because of how collars work - the dog's body heat vaporizes the insecticide on the collar and deposits insecticide on the dog in the area around the collar. Fleas,conversely, primarily live on the rump and groin, and don't even know that the dog is wearing a collar. The great majority of ticks, however, live on the shoulders, neck, and ears - right where the collar is most effective. Collars such as the Preventic collar, with the active ingredient amitraz, are currently by far the most effective tick prevention available. The only real downsides are that they have some odor, particularly when first applied, and that the insecticide residue on the dog's skin makes us leary of using collars when small children will be climbing on and hugging the dog.
Systemics such as Frontline can best be described as 'of some value' against ticks. They will cut down on the numbers, and can be a fine, benign way to protect the inside dog with some, but limited, tick exposure.
The combination systemic-surface products like Parastar and Advantix should in theory be much more effective in tick prevention, though frankly we have not seen a signifigant difference between the two in practice. However the new drug Certifect is interesting - it combines the drug in Frontline with the amitraz found in the Preventic collar. This could prove to be very effective - the question is will the amitraz be as effective as a 'spot' product as it was in the collar? This is a good question, as the delivery system of the collar, rather than the drug itself, may be why it works so well.
So, putting it all together.
If we consider the primary tick season to be Spring, and the primary flea season to be August to October, then it makes sense to be on our flea prevention, be it Frontline, Parastar, Advantix or whichever we choose, starting in June.
If there is fairly low grade tick exposure, then start the Frontline or whatever earlier, perhaps in March.
If there is serious tick exposure, then use a collar starting in about March, and switch to the primary flea prevention in June. Collars are generally good for about 3 months, so this ties in with the timing. This gives the best tick prevention during the peak tick season, with moderate tick prevntion and superior flea prevention during flea season.
Finally, there is no problem combining a Frontline like medication with a collar, if both flea and tick exposure are severe. This might especially be considered if we are using Comfortis or Trifexis, as these provide very good flea control while doing nothing for ticks. -Dr. Mac
I currently have my dogs on Trifexis year round and also Ruutu on preventic collar and Honey on Scalibor collar. They're on different ones because the vets down here does not carry Scalibor, but Honey is used to Scalibor so I keep her on it.