The silent danger of the rainy season: Ticks

[Jonathan Fairfield]

The silent danger of the rainy season: Ticks

 

Image: Thairath

 

Doctors have warned of the dangers of ticks in the rainy season in Thailand especially for very young children in houses where there are pet dogs.

 

The warning came after a story was shared online of a six month old baby girl, the daughter of Siriphak Koonkiat.

 

She told on Facebook how her daughter would not stop scratching her ear. After trying to get some wax out she went to bed but woke up and her ear was red raw from the irritation.

 

She was taken to hospital and some black residue was found inside but due to the fact that she is a very small baby she would not keep still so they decided to have her admitted.

 

She was put under anesthetic through a drip and spent twenty minutes in theater where doctors found the culprit - a tick embedded in her inner ear.

 

It was dead which the doctors said was just as well - otherwise it might have meant a lengthy stay in hospital costing a lot of money.

 

The doctor treating the child said that this was a problem especially in families where there were dogs and young children - and the rainy season exacerbated the issue.

 

Thai Rath reported that the family had three dogs but were very responsible owners making sure that the animals were vaccinated, slept apart from the child and were bathed regularly.

 

The doctor said that despite these measures it was easily possible for the ticks to come into contact with people as they would hide out in nooks and crevices in a house then infect the human host.

 

Warnings were issued to parents to be on the look out  for what Thai Rath called the silent danger of the rainy season.

 

Ticks are called "hep" in Thai.

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-06-29

[55Jay]

Indeed.  When we lived in the countryside, outside the house/patio was crawling with them - we did have 4 dogs.  Live in city suburbs now, no dogs (1 cat inside), haven't seen one yet.

[Moonmoon]

I read recently some ticks can turn us into herbivores, make us allergic to meat!!

[BuaBS]

14 hours ago, Moonmoon said:

I read recently some ticks can turn us into herbivores, make us allergic to meat!!

If only that were true !

What about Lyme disease ?

[canardo]

Our Gold Retriever in downtown BKK were always full of ticks last year, every evening hand picked like 10 from each dog, partly "empty" and partly full with blood", nasty nasty. But since we give our dog BRAVECTO pills every 3 month seriously no more ticks be found neither on her nor crawling in our house. Can seriously recommend it. Rubber necklaces or neck drops were useless!

[canardo]

9 hours ago, Moonmoon said:

I read recently some ticks can turn us into herbivores, make us allergic to meat!!

 

Not only meat but the protein in it what is in many other products as well. A colleague of mine got bitten by a tick (in a 55th Floor hotel in Tokyo - don't ask) as few years back and suffered 3 years from it. A super strict and not fun diet plus heavy supportive medication  during that time turned it around.

[petedk]

17 minutes ago, canardo said:

Our Gold Retriever in downtown BKK were always full of ticks last year, every evening hand picked like 10 from each dog, partly "empty" and partly full with blood", nasty nasty. But since we give our dog BRAVECTO pills every 3 month seriously no more ticks be found neither on her nor crawling in our house. Can seriously recommend it. Rubber necklaces or neck drops were useless!

Thanks for the info.

 

I live in downtown Bangkok and our dog constantly gets tics. I remove 6 - 10 every week and have tried all sorts of sprays and powders. Nothing seems to help.

 

I will try those pills. I assume I can get them from a vet.

[canardo]

6 minutes ago, petedk said:

Thanks for the info.

 

I live in downtown Bangkok and our dog constantly gets tics. I remove 6 - 10 every week and have tried all sorts of sprays and powders. Nothing seems to help.

 

I will try those pills. I assume I can get them from a vet.

 

Yes you can, they have 4 sizes I believe pending on the weight of the dog. One pils for a 25kg dog costs 750 THB and last 3 month. You might have to ask around a bit, as they are sold out a lot. Maybe LAZADA...

[cardinalblue]

We do the monthly tick shot at the vet and it works great....it takes 3 months to take hold and must keep it up monthly for effectiveness...200B a shot....

[eddiesdad]

100% on Bravecto pill every 3 months.    I have a Boxer and a Soi dog.   Neither have any Tics or Flees.  Totally clear.

 

[anon789561]

27 minutes ago, canardo said:

 

Yes you can, they have 4 sizes I believe pending on the weight of the dog. One pils for a 25kg dog costs 750 THB and last 3 month. You might have to ask around a bit, as they are sold out a lot. Maybe LAZADA...

I bought frontline from the vet, one of the best known brands, and expensive and was absolutely useless, the dog was running around all day like he was knocking one out. was pulling just shy of ten ticks of a day. bought the cheap stuff from lazada, no more ticks. saying that wouldn't be surprised if the frontline from the vet was fake

[Raybangkok]

1 hour ago, canardo said:

Our Gold Retriever in downtown BKK were always full of ticks last year, every evening hand picked like 10 from each dog, partly "empty" and partly full with blood", nasty nasty. But since we give our dog BRAVECTO pills every 3 month seriously no more ticks be found neither on her nor crawling in our house. Can seriously recommend it. Rubber necklaces or neck drops were useless!

I wash and groom my dog regularly but still find the odd tick and usually in the ear so take it out, I looked at your recommendation Bravecto pills and vets are trying to get it banned as the side effects can be fatal Follow this link. Here is a link to the facebook group Does Bravecto Kill Dogs ? https://www.facebook.com/groups/411371212394679/

[canardo]

2 minutes ago, Raybangkok said:

I wash and groom my dog regularly but still find the odd tick and usually in the ear so take it out, I looked at your recommendation Bravecto pills and vets are trying to get it banned as the side effects can be fatal Follow this link. Here is a link to the facebook group Does Bravecto Kill Dogs ? https://www.facebook.com/groups/411371212394679/

 

I know this, but I think it is bullshit or bad PR from their competitors.

 

A friend of mine with a dog shelter in Chonburi uses BRAVECTO for 9 month already on 70 (!) dogs of various breeds, mixes, sizes with no issue. Seriously!

 

Ticks a too bad, all the other things we tried like rubber necklaces etc are craps, especially if dogs are not moving over the day but sleeping and laying around a lot. Our first dog died on a virus (forgot the name) she got when eatien a tick and she suffered 8 months from a slowly dieing liver...

[MW72]

2 hours ago, canardo said:

Our Gold Retriever in downtown BKK were always full of ticks last year, every evening hand picked like 10 from each dog, partly "empty" and partly full with blood", nasty nasty. But since we give our dog BRAVECTO pills every 3 month seriously no more ticks be found neither on her nor crawling in our house. Can seriously recommend it. Rubber necklaces or neck drops were useless!

Thanks for the advice on Brevecto. Our dogs usually get a few ticks but this year we are pulling over a dozen out of each dog every day. We had used the shampoo before and this year I bought frontline spray but neither seems to make any difference. I'll give Bravecto a shot. It is not on Lazada but I can order it in the UK and get it sent out here.

[Crossy]

With chickens and guinea fowl in the garden nothing that creeps or crawls stands a chance.

 

Shame they don't like ants

[canardo]

1 minute ago, Crossy said:

With chickens and guinea fowl in the garden nothing that creeps or crawls stands a chance.

 

Shame they don't like ants

 

Not sure my landlord would be happy with chickens in "his" garden though, but the randomly visiting monitor lizard might appreciate them...

[AhFarangJa]

Many members here talk about removing the Ticks. I seem to remember reading once to be careful as sometimes the head stays in and causes infections. Is this true, and how do you remove them.

P.S. I do not have any animals in Hua Hin, but there are several dogs in and out of my garden in Surin when I am not there, and I notice many ticks, full of blood, on them. My In-laws don't seem to bother about it....  

Edited June 30, 2017 by AhFarangJa

[IMA_FARANG]

Not only in Thailand but worldwide ticks and bedbugs  are a worldwide problem.

it has been this way for thousands of years since or ancestors started sharing their caves with animals and there ticks.

When I lived in that Mo ban family 0ur house had 5 dogs.

Every 3 month my Thai girlfriend  would load all 5 dogs and 2 cats into the car and take them to the vet where they were given a bath to kill fleas and ticks.

Cost me about 350 Baht for the whole crew.

My girlfriend was a Buddhist who was told by a monk that allowing animals to suffer was a 

bad practice and a karma destroying act.

She also had all our animals neutered so as they would not have unwanted babies.

By pure chance, I was born in an area where Lyme  disease  is prevalent.

I had a friend named George who contacted Lyme disease while hunting in the local woods, and spent several years of  feeling  continuously tired and exhausted.

He was finally diagnosed with a case of Lyme disease from a Tick infected  bite.

At that time the doctors did not know much about Lyme disease , and they thought it was a fake disease.

He was one of the first Lyme disease  suffers.

He is now recovered.

 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2017 by IMA_FARANG
added a coment

[YetAnother]

the great majority of people do not know what ticks are

[Si Thea01]

I have a 3 year old German Shepherd and we reside in Loei, North East Thailand, and up to three months ago, he was riddled with ticks, not 10 or 20, bloody hundreds of the little black ones and plenty of those bigger grey blood suckers. They were everywhere on him and, all over the front verandah, even getting into the house.

 

I tried everything, collars, neck drops, aerosol sprays, tablets, nothing worked.  Then took him to the local vet for his rabies shots, and whatever he gave him for the ticks, two injections every month, within three months, they just disappeared. A few started coming back, in the ears and between the paws and he gave me a bottle of Custard apple natural spray, which I used twice a day, morning and night, and after another month or so, none.

 

Now into the six month, have had heaps of rain in the past three and no blood suckers at all, none anywhere on the dog, none on the verandah, none in the house, it is now a pleasure to be able to play with him and know that he is safe, not being eaten to pieces and I am not going to get bitten.  As there has been heaps of rain, haven't washed him for a while but when it is dry, I wash him in a tick and flea killer shampoo, once a week and this, together with the needles, and tick collar, he is absolutely tick free.  I am sorry but I do not know the name of the medicine used in the injections.

[Jonnapat]

Had an epidemic of them a few years ago in the house. He'll of a job to get rid of, eventually a spray worked and have been clear since.

[avander]

We have 2 Shih Tzu; house dogs living in our shop hous and going out 2-3 times a day for a little exercise and to do their business.

We have had trouble with one of the dogs in particular who has had blood infections twice now as a result of ticks.  We used Frontline and tried the collars but still the occasional problem.  We started on Revolution 2 months ago and no problems since.  If we have further problems with them I may look into the Bravecto option although it worries me there may be a serious cloud over it's toxicity to the dogs.  

Apart from the obvious issues fo rthe dogs we are particularly concerned as we need to keep our 2 "clean" of infections as we're planning to export them back to my home country next year and they need to be kept clear of any serious infections (such as E.Canis.). 

[jvs]

A lot of people use Ivermec,most vets around here sell it in a syringe for 50 baht a shot.Works for about one month,great!We bought a bigger bottle and are doing the dogs ones a month.Big bottle cost 350 baht and will last over a year.

 

 

[Thechook]

And this topic is brought to you by your local veterinary supplier.  

[marko kok prong]

A topical spray of bleach and sulphuric acid also works,though of course,it may kill the dog.

[mikebell]

On 30/06/2017 at 3:11 PM, avander said:

going out 2-3 times a day for a little exercise and to do their business.

Yet more reasons why having a dog marks you as being a little short of grey matter.  When will people learn,?  Dogs spread disease; cause accidents and soi dogs suffer most of their life.

[MW72]

A little update to my dogs' situation. I left Thailand (back to work) in mid June. We were pulling dozens of ticks out of our 3 dogs daily. Within a week or 2 of me leaving the ticks seem to have vanished. The oldest dog Lucky, who will be 2 next month had a little nose bleed whilst I was there but thought it nothing to worry about. Last week whilst Line video calling the GF, she was feeding the dogs and she noticed that Lucky's nose was bleeding again. I don't trust the local vets so I got her to take him to a new place in Lampang today and she asked the vet to write down in English what the issue was. Below are the notes from the vet and the prescription.

 

It would seem that he has a blood parasite from a tick and has anaemia. It is not too clear as the vet's Thinglish is a bit confusing. The last line states "not tick not blood parasite" which contradicts the previous lines.

 

From the prescription he has some antibiotics for the parasite along with vitamin K and anti bleeding injection. The second line seems to be a strong pain killer which is used for arthritis. Lucky hasn't seemed to be in any pain but I doubt it would harm him to have the pain killers. I've no idea what the first line is so if anyone can enlighten me it would be appreciated.

 

On a positive note Lucky is now allowed into the house as the vet recommended he keep cool as he is a long haired dog and the anaemia makes him lethargic. We used to allow him in the house when he was the only dog but when the other 2 arrived and the ticks started appearing I insisted he go outside with the others. Now he is a very happy dog with his own fan and air con.