Tick Treatment questions

[CHT]

Long story short, bought two mares in November, right before it got very cold. Blanketed them day two, and they developed bumps. Then, about 5 weeks later I found ticks on them both (which is when it was super cold here, so they had heavier blankets on). Treated on New Years even with a stinky pour on liquid from the vet. Now, today, took them inside and pulled their blankets for the first time since the treatment, and found copious ticks! Some seemed dead (the bigger ones), but some smaller ones definitely still alive. Tried to find as many as possible, but they are very harry, and have lots of little scabs too. I know they are due a second treatment in 7-13 days from now, but is it normal to find even more ticks after treatment?

It has been freakishly cold here (many days hitting -40ish for a low), but the ticks are all under the blankets. It is about to warm up though. Fortunately these two have been in isolation from the other horses!

[JB]

Are you SURE they are ticks, and not rain rot scabs? The time of year, the temperatures, it doesn’t add up to anything more than maybe 1-2 ticks, certainly not “copious” numbers

[cutter99]

I am in the South, and use EquiSpot during the spring, summer, and fall because our horses get infested with them here if I don’t. You could treat them with it every 2 weeks for 2-3 cycles to make sure you get them all.

However, I would be really surprised to see ticks if it is really cold. Once we have a few good hard frosts here, the ticks are definitely dead.

I am no expert on ticks, but is there a way there is in infestation in the blankets themselves?

[luvmyhackney]

That’s odd to see ticks with it that cold. Maybe something else?

If it is ticks, front line spray kills them. I would spray horse and wash the blankets.

[walkinthewalk]

I’m sorry but ticks do NOT die in the winter. They just burrow deeper into the dirt or hide out in the hay.

Don’t take my word for it: Surely a pest control company knows what ticks do in the winter.

Do Ticks Die in the Winter? | Terminix

My suggestion is take the blanket off and check the horses every day but the horses are probably clipped and the blankets have to stay on. All that body warmth is a tick magnet.

[Weezer]

I know that ticks are dormant in the winter but can come out if the temperature rises even for a day. Is it possible this happened and they took shelter under the blankets? With this in mind, I would examine the environment the horses are in. Thoroughly spray the blankets, brushes, halters, leads, tack with the pour-on treatment and call a pest management expert to treat the environment they are in. Ticks are such a pain so I hope you’re able to beat this!

[frugalannie]

Wow. With temps that low I’m guessing the OP lives in Canada? Isn’t there a winter tick that plagues moose up there, causing such anemia snd misery that noise populations are dropping? I wonder if that’s what you’re seeing.

If it were me, I’d use Frontline spray or something like it to spray a ring around the legs of the horses somewhere above their knees, their jaws and their tails. Then I’d spray the insides of their blankets with permethrin, letting it dry overnight. Try a little permethrin on a piece of gauze or cotton, dabbed on the horses first to see if they react to it. And check out the research on moose!

[StormyDay]

I’m sorry we have to worry about WINTER ticks now?!?
That sounds horrible OP.
Like @frugalannie said, maybe they are coming off the local deer/moose population. Is their turnout somewhere that there’s a lot of deer? Is the grass tall? Maybe the ticks are in the hay?

[Posting_Trot]

One other possibility is that the OP has mice or other rodents in the barn that have nice, warm nests, perfect for ticks to thrive during the winter.

If you’ve been pulling live ticks (especially multiple ticks) off the horses, you should start taking the horses’ temps daily so that can catch even a low fever quickly. Also be on the lookout for any symptoms of tick-borne diseases, such as fever (of course), hypersensitivity to touch, lethargy, going off their feed, occasional “off-ness,” etc.

Good luck!

[eightpondfarm]

we have winter ticks. and if a nest of nymph ticks got on the horses’ faces while they were grazing they’d definitely crawl along neck and get to the horse’s backs. Or up their legs to their bellies or backs. There can for sure be hundreds of little engorged little 1st stage ticks that fall off into the bedding where they will go dormant until warm weather comes back once again, Or if the bedding stays warm enough, they will morph into second stage and crawl back aboard.

I also find mature winter ticks on my horses and cattle during the winter. Once they are on an animal, of course they (ticks) remain warm enough to thrive.

[avjudge]

@frugalannie

Then I’d spray the insides of their blankets with permethrin, letting it dry overnight.

This sounds to me like an excellent idea - in the spring/summer I spray my outdoors clothes with .5% permethrin spray and let dry well before wearing. I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to find dead ticks in my socks. The only question with horses’ blankets is whether it would work with the cushion of hair between the sprayed cloth and the skin, but it’s certainly worth trying.

[CHT]

Definitely ticks. I ID them under my microscope to make sure they weren’t deer ticks (they are dog ticks - red legs that are evenly dispersed). Rain rot scabs etc don’t have legs that move…

They would have come with the ticks - vet supports this hypothesis. They were kept in a heavily treed area and not worked/touched for over a year. The ticks would have been dormant until I put blankets on the horses and the habitat became warmer for them (similar to how lice over winter). The isolation pens they have lived in do not have a habitat for ticks (no long grass or trees, and not accessible by deer/moose/coyotes/fox). None of our cats, dogs or other horses have, or have ever had ticks. We are not in much of a tick area.

They are NOT winter ticks. Those are (thankfully!) just in eastern Canada, and are MUCH larger than dog ticks. Ticks are rare here, although becoming more common in dog parks apparently.

I don’t think we can get much in the way of high concentrate permethrin in Canada…just what would be in fly spray, so I can do that to their blankets. I have no liners for them to wear once the ticks are treated. There current blankets are all brand new.

The horse’s aren’t clipped, but we have been in extreme cold for about three weeks now. A couple more days and it will be more seasonal. They live outside/not stalled as they were in isolation (they had never been vaccinated so I was waiting to get their boosters to let them with others, thankfully). They have two three sided shelters, but when I say extreme cold, I mean we have been the second coldest city in the world a few days already this year. It hasn’t been warmer than -22C since the tick treatment - so obviously the blankets are making a suitable tick habitat.

I am wondering if I didn’t get enough of the Cylence on their skin/under their hair vs on their hair, or if this is normal.

[JB]

@cutter99

Once we have a few good hard frosts here, the ticks are definitely dead.

We’ve had multiple mid-upper teens nights here since November. There are still ticks.

What we don’t see are ticks on cats (the easiest to find them on) when it’s cold. But between cold snaps, yes, ticks are most definitely still active. Just not AS active as warmer months.

[CHT]

Yes, ticks don’t die in winter, they just go dormant somewhere warm - under dead leaves or nestled snuggly onto a host. In my case, they were probably sleeping in the mane or armpits of the mares, but when the heavy blankets went on, with higher necks, they little critters woke up and had a party.

[CHT]

One of the ticks under the microscope. My microscope doesn’t have a camera, so this is an awkward photo taken by my phone.

[frugalannie]

Don’t you just hate those little buggers? Do a quick search for permethrin. Around here it’s available at sporting goods places like Cabela’s and REI as well as Walmart. Look up permethrin spray for clothes. It should dry in just a few minutes and lasts for several washes as I recall. And if it’s safe for human clothing should be OK for horses. Just test on their necks or something before spraying the whole blanket.

Best of luck. Kill those ticks before they decide to breed on your property!

[Scribbler]

Do dog ticks carry disease?

We have dog ticks in my area but not yet true deer ticks carrying Lyme, according to the health department. I had a panic the one time maresy came out of deep grass with her udder covered in ticks that I could brush off because they weren’t latched in deep yet.

[CHT]

Apparently Cylence (the spot product I used on them, and will treat with again) is a 10% permetherin product, so need to ask the vet if it is safe to use on the blankets they are wearing now. In theory though, I should just be able to lay their blankets outside for the next cold snap, inside out, although what would be on the blankets? The ticks stay close to the skin. Our barn isn’t warm enough for them to think to crawl about/leave the horse.

[CHT]

Dog ticks are not recorded as carrying Lyme. Just in case one of the mares shows any health issues, I have kept a sample of ticks frozen in our deep freeze (in a pill bottle), as it is theoretically possible that they could have the bacteria, just never found to yet.

[Scribbler]

Ok that is really good to know.