What a year it’s been with our new puppy Jack, and the Tick Explosion we have witnessed here in East TN this year! Forget the mosquitoes…it’s the ticks that are in our nightmares and a daily battle, keeping them off our white dog, aka Tick Magnet! We had added “Tick Skat” for people- last summer and it sold well. Ticks & chiggers plague the farmer/land owner out here. We introduced our K-9 formula later in the summer as dogs cannot have the same strength of essential oils as people can( their nose is 2000 X more sensitive then ours), so a milder dog safe formula was born. This spring we changed K-9 to a gel for better coverage and it has been surprisingly popular as more and more people are not wanting to risk the seizure factor with the vet pills and drops. Our own dog Amigo had a shaking, drooling and irritated skin reaction to the drops and we decided with Jack, we would go the natural route. Let me tell you it has been a battle, especially where we live. We live on a 38 acre hay farm, or “tick farm” as we call it. We have deer and rabbits and mice, all serious tick carriers. Our yard is crawling with ticks, you do not go outside without spraying down with Tick Skat, and the dog gets two doses of K-9 a day (lasts 4- 5 hours).
It’s a chore for sure, you must rub it all through his fur, head to toe, avoiding sensitive areas, nose, eyes and genital area. We don’t put much on Jacks face and have had to pull ticks from his lip and muzzle, we check him immediately after a romp in the field, and before coming in for the night. It is tempting.. .the pill, but even a recent study of individual dog owners (not a drug company) had 65% adverse reactions to the vet meds. We just don’t think its worth the risk for our fuzzy Skeeter Skat Ambassador. ANd… dogs CAN get tick born diseases too! Take care to properly remove ticks from your pets!
Now we are working on the yard. Neem oil in a sprayer is next and the cedar chips helped, but once it rained, the effectiveness was greatly reduced. We do have the occasional tick roaming about the house…. yikes… and when Jack has K-9 on, sometimes a tick will ride on but get off and not latch… looking for something with out cedarwood scent!
Staying natural and chem free is important to us. It’s best for the health of Jack and us too. So for now, we are protected as we spray us everyday- gel Jack and I do a Eucalyptus/lavender spray on our bedding just for a little extra protection from the horrible blood sucking arachnids! With half the population sick with Lyme disease and half with Alpha Gal, you can’t be too careful!!!
Cheers!
~River~
