Already using Frontline Plus but can I also ...

anyone??

Noticed no one replied to you so i looked on the front line web site and found this for you .
 
10. Can I use FRONTLINE Brand Products if I have already applied another flea- and tick-control product?
There are no known interactions between FRONTLINE Brand Products and any other flea- and tick-control products. However, it is recommended to wait at least 24 hours between applications.
 
Dont know if this helps but didnt really know.

thanks for the reply puggylover!! i think i might give it a try. []

If you make a spray of something like Avon's Skin So Soft and water, or even tea tree oil and water ... that's not a problem. 
 
Frontline pools in the hair follicles and oil glands but it doesn't go thru the skin into the blood stream.  "all natural" can mean little -- so I'd be really careful to be honest.

Thanks calliecritturs, i'm going to do more research and ask our vet...i got the natural tick spritzer blend off of a website janet had given before...i've just started using kelco's filthy animal, i believe that is suppose to help repel bugs/ticks etc..
i just hate it...it's that time of the year and we live in a condo and he's trained to go in the woods... I guess I'll have to see..
Thanks a bunch though! []

Hello there []

Let me first state that there are all kinds of things that you can try. Powdered Rosemary or Rosemary extract in oil for instance is supposed to work well as tick repellent. Now that is the lore. Fact is, that research does not back up such claims. Two studies regarding this (coincidently I know the authors of both personally) came up with little evidence for any effectiveness of "natural" (as someone mentioned, a misleading term, as many natural things are quite deadly to dogs or humans) repellents, and even the commercial repellents do work very poorly. That all has to do with the chemistry of host finding in ticks.. but that would lead too far afield here.

Bottom line: use what you like as long as it does not harm the dog, make sure you continue using your Frontline, think about having your dog immunized against some of the tick born diseases if the infestation in your area is extreme, and maybe keep your dog out of problem areas through the worst months (in many areas tick infestations are worst in spring and early summer, and poses little problems for the rest of the year).

Good luck []

I was at a good seminar at the U of Florida (Gainesville) a couple of years ago and the topic was tick borne diseases.  That vet actually said to be extremely wary of vaccinating against tick disease IF the dog has already been exposed to ticks!  The body should develope it's own antibodies once the dog has been exposed to ticks/tick bites -- and the vaccine for tick borne disease is a modified live vaccine so if there is already active anti-bodies, you can actually give the dog the disease with the vaccine (it's a pretty strong vaccine apparently).  His recommendation was only to vaccinate if your dog hasn't already been exposed (like if you are going from a non-tick area to somewhere there ARE ticks for vacation).  I would think you could do titers for that, but I don't know that for sure.
 
Food for thot tho.

ewww, callie [did I just use the word "food" and "ticks" in the same sentence!! MY BAD!]

Hello there []

I am sad to say, this is quite one sided informations you have come across there callie (and also partially simply wrong). First off, there is no such thing as a "vaccine for tick borne disease". Canine Lyme disease by itself, for instance, technically speaking requires three different vaccines (which still does not cover all strains and is not 100% effective for reasons quite involved, uncovered however just recently right here by the University of North Carolina ). Secondly, to say that one should not vaccinate a dog that has already been exposed to ticks is tantamount to saying that one should not vaccinate any dog who ever has left a clinically sanitized room or has had any contact with any dog from outside. On a similar level, one could argue that no human who had contact with measels ought to be vaccinated against it. Of course, both vaccinations do bear a risk of overreaction when there was previous contact with the malefactor. It is all a matter of balancing risk and benefit. Cases of actually acquiring a disease from a vaccination however are extremely rare, no matter what vaccination we are talking about. There have been anecdotal reports that dogs vaccinated against Lyme have developed symptoms, but testing for the disease showed nothing but that the dog had been vaccinated (meaning, they did NOT acquire the disease, and the reason for the side effects are unclear to date; there is also a new vaccination on the market that reportedly avoids those lyme-like side effects).

The best course of action is to use your Frontline (or whatever one is using), to keep ticks out of problem areas during the worst months (spray your backyard), to check your dog daily for ticks, and to find out how widespread tick born diseases such as Lyme disease are in your area (there are huge differences; in some areas Lyme is close to non-existent, in others quite common - ask your vet). If it is more or less an epidemic in your area, one could consider vaccinating. Lastly, one could inform oneself in depth about the early signs and symptoms of tick born diseases, as many (such as Lyme) have an excellent prognosis IF treated early (90+ % for Lyme).

Good luck and lets hope for a bad year for those ticks! []

Polymatheia ... I don't think I"m going to barge into a cutting edge vet school and tell them their vets are mistaken. 
 
Now this seminar was 3 years ago (we go every year, but that particular seminar topic was several years ago), and I didn't say all dogs had been exposed, but specifically a dog actually exposed to the disease.  The point is to help the dog develop a resistance to the disease.  And I have no idea (Lyme diease isn't huge in Florida, despite the fact ticks can be a huge problem here) what recent information or change in the vaccine protocol may be.

Hello []

I did not mean to suggest you "barging in" anywhere and I am not sure where you got that impression. [] Nor did I mean to critique your post, simply parts of the information you were told by a third party and I tried to make that clear with giving a little background. Also, you did not say "specifically a dog actually exposed to the disease" (from your second post). You said "That vet actually said to be extremely wary of vaccinating against tick disease IF the dog has already been exposed to ticks!" (from your first post). That is a huge difference (as most ticks do not have and transmit the pathogenic bacteria), and I my comments were directed to what "the vet" supposedly said according to the first post. Further, I simply pointed out the fact that he is wrong, plain and simple, about dogs acquiring Lyme disease from the vaccination (I am hesitant to believe that he actually quite put it that way; he might just have talked about the anecdotal reports of symptoms that could not be linked to Borrelia sp.). There have been reports of some dogs with similar symptoms, but the etiology of them is unclear, and the problem seems altogether gone with the newest vaccines.

So please take this as a clarifying complement to your post, not a critique of your person or your post. []