This past weekend I was involved in a discussion about ticks. Someone mentioned that instead of spending a fortune on spot on treatments, because one friend said they bought Vectra from their vet to use on their horse, they bought Permethrin on Amazon, the 36% , loaded it in a syringe and put it on their horse, on the back of their legs, back, etc. I’m just curious if anyone else has done this?
Well, Vectra has Permethrin in it.
Permethrin tends to have a short half life, so a great deal of the effectiveness results from the quality of the carrier. I would think that fresh application of Permethrin before riding in tick infested areas would be useful. Not sure anything really last days and days on horses.
I don’t see how Pyriproxyfen would be useful in this situation
A dog or cat flea preventative like Vectra could disrupt the life cycle of the flea, but how does it work to stop adult ticks from jumping onto your horse?
Just buy that stinky skin so soft and dilute it and spray on your horse daily. Or sponge it on daily. Dilute with water.
Or sponge on original Listerine daily
Both repel ticks and other insects
Spot on treatments work because the carrier spreads the active ingredient through the animals fat layer. If you did this with permethrin, your “spots” would be the only protected area of the animal.
That said, you can certainly use plain Permethrin as a tick repellent. But you should dilute as directed and apply to your horse…either spray or wipe like any other fly spray. You can buy it just like the link at places like Tractor Supply. It is a lot cheaper than fly spray.
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I agree–it’s the carrier that makes a “spot on” treatment work. (I don’t think it spreads through the fat layer, though…I think it spreads over the skin?) That permethrin is also lower % than the horse spot on stuff.
I do have that product, though. I add small amounts to fly spray to up the level of permethrin. Does seem to help, especially in high summer when the flies get REALLY bad.
I may be wrong but I thought it had something to do with subcutaneous fat because that is why ticks may find places like lips and eyes to be unprotected…i have found them on my dogs" lips before and not dead and. I was sure it had something to do with less fat or something.
I agree with adding Permethrin to regular fly spray and/or making herbal sprays with skin so soft and permethrin added.
I’m not putting anything on my horse that goes through the skin into the fat layer!
Yeah, I don’t think that’s the way it works. If it were, washing them wouldn’t affect the protection, and all of that spot on stuff says bathing reduces the effectiveness of the treatment.
It’s been a while since I had to pay attention to the technical aspects of ectoparasite control products, but if I recall correctly the agents spread via the superficial fats and oils on the top of the skin, the same stuff that gets out on the hair and makes a horse shiny or a person’s hair greasy. Sebum and suchlike. The subcutaneous fat is something completely different, under the skin. And there’s plenty of subcutaneous fat in lips. I wonder if animals that do a lot of lip-licking or are messy eaters/drinkers wind up with less of the superficial fats in that area?
I use Frontline spray for dogs. Never had any issues and it works great. My horse had some type of reaction to the Bio Spot-twitching,kicking and uneasy. Frontline causes none of that. I put it on once a month and find dead ticks.
Thanks. I was just more curious then anything. I’ve used the Frontline spray before. One of my horses used to have a reaction to the spot on stuff.
I thoroughly spray permethrin once a week on everyone (Martin’s 10% diluted per instructions) adding a bit of citronella oil (for smell) and mineral oil (for longer/better adhesion to hair shafts) and use Espree the other 6 days. I’ve never found a tick on any of my 5 with this protocol, and I have a LOT of deer and antelope out in my pasture.
I use the REPEL spray for your clothes. It works really well - on their legs, tails, and under their chin. On my Haffie with the huge mane, I also spray along his crest. Also, UltraSheild in the red bottle has permethrin in it and keeps ticks away.
