It is so frustrating to see dogs suffering from pestering ticks, isn’t it? Not only is it a disgusting sight, but it is also awful for the dog as he suffers constant itching and scratching, his fur thinning and some spots becoming darker than others because of growing ticks as big as a pea under his coat.
It’s been a long time since I had my own pet dog, and right now I don’t have one. My landlady’s daughter happens to have one named Codie. This mongrel dog has white fur with brown patches on some parts, particularly his head. I think he is around two years old now. I formed a bond with him by giving him dog food or table food whenever I have some available. Lately, though, I noticed that the dog has developed a minor mange and tick infestation. I tried to treat the mange with a sulfur soap bath. Luckily, the sulfur soap bath helped prevent the worsening of the mange on his back and chest area.
However, Codie is suffering recently with a major tick infestation. I am so concerned because I felt like these tiny pests may give him secondary diseases and suck his health out. At first, I tried using dog powder to remove the ticks. I considered giving him baths once a week (I asked the owner’s permission) but I already had a hard time bathing him when I tried the sulfur bath for his mange (he does not have a leash and roams around the driveway most of the time) as I need to chase him every time I try to wet him with water so I canceled it out as one of the options. I resorted to the tweezing and plucking of ticks and throwing the pests on apple cider vinegar solution, but the ticks will just propagate even more quickly the next few days.
A few friends suggested using spot-on and spray treatments such as Frontline, Detick Plus and Fipronil Protect+. They told me brands that worked well with their pets. I was lucky to find one of the suggested spray treatments online, and that is a Fipronil spray. While it is recommended by one friend to use the Fipronil Protect+, I was not able to find it, so I opted to buy the Fipronil Tick Buster instead. I chose to get the 100ml bottle and ordered it online at Lazada (my first online order in Lazada ever!) I got it for only Php129 (I forgot the original price).
Just to digress: I am impressed with the Lazada Express Delivery. I ordered the Fipronil TIck Buster on a weekend and is expecting it to be delivered around Wednesday to Friday this week. The package came Monday afternoon. Would not be my last online shopping with Lazada, eh?
A how-to-use guide is printed on the back label of the bottle. While styles of application may vary, the most important thing that should be done is to make sure that the liquid will reach the skin of the dog, not just the surface of the fur.
Codie does not like being sprayed on, and he runs away when I do spray him the substance. So what I did was I wear a pair of disposable gloves, spray the Tick Buster on both palms and massage it through his body. It is best to massage it opposite the direction of the dog’s fur so that it can go under the coat and reach the skin. I did this throughout his body and on the head, avoiding to reach his eyes. The Fipronil Tick Buster does not have a pungent smell, thus, it did not irritate Codie’s sense of smell (unlike when I applied Bayopet Dog Powder to him, he completely runs away from me). I was able to effectively apply it all over Codie’s body using the massage style of application.
I checked on him in the next two hours after application. I noticed that ticks crawl on the ground and on his back. I waited a few more hours and see if it has immediate results. After another two hours I checked on him again and voila! I was surprised with what I saw! Ticks appear on the surface layer of his fur; some are dead, some are not. Moreover, when he stood up I noticed a lot of ticks dead on the ground. Just so you would have an idea how much tick it could possibly kill in just a few hours of applying it to your dog, check out these pictures which are four to six hours apart. Please ignore the bunch of fur, they are not caused by the Fipronil spray. It was due to the mange the dog has been experiencing.
Impressive right? And that was the result of the first use. I was advised to use it only once a week and to spray it around the places he often sleeps at and lays on, indoors or outdoors.
So far, I am content with the initial result of my use of Tick Buster for Codie. Hopefully, this Fipronil Tick Buster completely eliminates all his ticks in the next few weeks so that he stops scratching himself too often and spread ticks around the house.
EDIT: I notice just now that ticks are getting back. Apart from making sure that pet dogs are clean and taking a bath regularly, pet owners must also make sure that the surroundings are also cleaned and free from things that accumulate dirt so as not to attract ticks.
