Ingestible product best for dog ticks

Ticks! Those pesky little creepy crawlers are about as common in the Kimberley environment as there are grains of sand.

It’s probably the most common conversation we have with our clients on a daily basis.

There isn’t too much to say about them that is positive, except that we are very thankful that over here in WA we don’t have paralysis ticks.

Even so, the ticks we have here can cause some nasty problems from skin irritations, itchiness and hair loss, to lethargy, anaemia and some very serious tick-borne diseases.

Unfortunately picking ticks off isn’t always beneficial.

When you see that big fat grey mumma tick there are many many baby ticks surrounding her, some smaller than a pin head and invisible when under fur.

These little ones often fall off in your yard, your house, on couches and on pets’ beds. I think that thought alone is enough to make your skin crawl.

So our recommendation is to use a tick treatment product. We recommend something like Nexgard or Bravecto, where the dog has to ingest the tablet.

This way it cannot be rubbed off or washed off our active Kimberley dogs and you have peace of mind for at least four weeks.

There are other products like spot-ons and collars, but we have found that these tend not be as effective as the oral treatment.

Tegan Phillips is a veterinary nurse at Kimberley Vet.