Ivermectin paste wormer will kill any attached ticks (when you have the swarm of ticks under control.)
4 Likes
Hereās the U.S.Center for Disease Control list of diseases transmitted by ticks:
There are several diseases that are documented to be transmitted by dog ticks, including Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. I donāt know if you have that disease in Canada, but itās worth asking the vet about.
Iād ask the vet about ivermectin if you think the horses have ticks attached. I donāt remember how often it can be usedā¦
2 Likes
I just googled Ivermectin as an option - that sounds like a good, relatively safe option, and they are due to be dewormedā¦their deworming history is sketchy. I will try to pick some up this week.
When I lived in tick country (decades ago) I found it necessary to check my horses daily for ticks while grooming.
I was taught as a child that daily grooming, including picking hooves, was essential for the horseās skin and coat as well as a necessary vehicle to become very familiar with your horses, thus being able to tell if there are any irregularities (heat in legs ,bumps, cuts or other injuries when they incur and before they become an issue, an ounce of prevention etcā¦ Mine lived out on acreage with access to stalls.)
Especially when ticks are in the picture many areas must be examined. āArmpitsā, docks, under tails, along manes. Fly spray and wipe was all we had then.
I was able to keep up with the tick situation because my horses were groomed by me, daily. I didnāt have to worry about ticks in the winter. It would be much more difficult to find ticks under a winter coat.
The pyrethrin fly spray was effective back then to keep mine tick free, but once in awhile one would get through, thus the need for good grooming.
If I was in your shoes and could afford to do so, I would dispose of the infested blankets (off property, as in the local dump) and start anew.
3 Likes
This is a good idea. Maybe even Rambo liners and top sheets so liners can be washed. Dover turnout sheets work well w Rambo sheets and donāt cost as much. Poor maresā¦lucky they found you. Those ticks sound repulsive.
OP, I am glad you have a good plan. This sounds like no fun at all.
That is the only place I see ticks in the middle of winter. My well travelled barn cat will bring some home every day, even in the middle of winter, if he is not up to date with his tick control measures. The Seresto collar seems to work the best.
Yes, we see them too, but they donāt come home with a tick when itās in the teens at night and 30s during the day (and yes, theyāre still out there doing their rounds 
). But once it warms up a little bit to normal for us - 20s and 40s - they we may start to see them again.
My silly cat and the ticks did not get that memo.
I admit, that I had never seen a tick before adopting this cat. And then was floored to see ticks in the middle of winter (in NY, with those temps you mentioned it not happening in). The vet laughed and said ticks like to be warm too and your cat is warm.
Ended up getting the vet out today.
( because one of the mares now has a weeping bump under her jaw. Seems unlikely to be strangles as she has no secondary symptoms, is in good spirits, and the only āstrangeā horse she would have been with since weaning would be the stallion she was bred with in 2020. Unfortunately the vet couldnāt do a swab as there was no open abscess. Mare is now on antibiotics. So glad they were kept isolated so far!)
Anyway, vet brought out Ivermectin for me, and some Bronco fly sprayā¦either I didnāt get enough of the other on their skin, or it didnāt work. Sprayed them heavily, and sprayed their new blankets. Put their old blankets out on the cold. Will spray them too though
Fun Fact - finding tics on a winter coat is WAY easier if you use a damp dandy brush to flatten the hair. For some reason the hair stands up around the tick while the rest will lay flat. Found 8 more ticks today, and the vet took two. The vet student who came thought it was interesting.
3 Likes
