Flea/Tick Treatments Part Deax: A Human Ponder-erment

[SteveO]

So they make all this great stuff for our dogs and cats. You know what I find interesting is why don't they make flea and tick stuff like Frontline or Advantage for people? Put some on the back of your or your kid's neck, or eat a beef-flavored pill and you're good for a month to go camping, hiking, back to school (lice outbreaks) etc. If it's good enough for our pets, why not us?

There's OFF with Deet, but who wants that nasty stuff on you?

On account of OFF will make your dang lips go numb if you happen to get some overspray, say, onto your leaky air mattress nozzle down in the Loo-ziana swampy August heat on account of your car is buzzing with mosquitoes on account of your sunroof is open on account of you don't wanna sleep outside in your tent on account of the alligator warning signs. This happened to a "close friend" of mine...some dolt from well north of Loo-ziana!

[GuyGene]

They do make natural bug repellant. I have some, works good. I also cannot use that strong DEET mess, burns my hide, and that canno' be good.

[wurm]

After being bitten by ticks twice in the past few months, I'm debating wearing one of those Seresto collars as a pseudo-bracelet. Maybe people would think it's a Fitbit.

[michaelb]

For ticks, using clothing treated with permethrin. Sold as bug off or bugs away and other names, also available as a spray in hunting and camping stores. I treat my boots regularly, since ticks grab on and climb up. Keep permethrin away from your cats.

I tested a permethrin treated cloth we use on the dog by putting a tick on it. It reacted pretty much immediately, and after a min or so, appeared to die. There are lots of scientific and user studies that show it is very effective on ticks.

[Pam]

michaelb wrote:
For ticks, using clothing treated with permethrin. Sold as bug off or bugs away and other names, also available as a spray in hunting and camping stores. I treat my boots regularly, since ticks grab on and climb up. Keep permethrin away from your cats.

I tested a permethrin treated cloth we use on the dog by putting a tick on it. It reacted pretty much immediately, and after a min or so, appeared to die. There are lots of scientific and user studies that show it is very effective on ticks.

I spray my clothes and search gear with permethrin (Sawyers) a couple of times a year. It's rare I get a tick or chiggers. It will help exposed areas but at least those areas are easier to tick check.

Liquid permethrin is toxic to cats. Once dry, cats can be around the clothing.

[Ombligo]

Some ranch hands I saw were wearing flea/tick collars on their legs when rounding up scrub cattle. The number of ticks in that area was incredible.