Safe Tick Control for Australian Shephards

[Shaler7067]

What commercial tick control products are safe for herding dogs with the MDR1 mutation? Also, is there a website that presents the different names a drug may be known as?

Regards,
Shaler7067

[skydnsr]

I think the issue with tick-control products is more whether you can find something that is effective.  When my vet recommended the Preventic collar, she said that it was the best thing she had found for her own dogs, and she was living in a very bad area for ticks.  But that was several years ago, and fleas and ticks evolve all the time to adapt to chemicals.  Maybe the Preventic is still good; maybe there is something better now.  

If your dog gets a lot of ticks, I think it is worth trying to prevent them from attaching.  But if he rarely gets a tick, then I would just remove them as they show up.  That is the case with the dog I have now.  She rarely ever gets a tick.  So I have not kept up with the latest tick-prevention products.  Frontline Plus is advertised to work on ticks, but I haven't used it.  

[Shaler7067]

Thanks! That is helpful.  Ticks are bountiful this season.

[skydnsr]

My vet sold me a Preventic collar for my Aussie, for what that's worth.  I actually don't know of any tick control products that are considered to be unsafe for dogs with the MDR1 mutation.  The list of drugs that are known to be a problem for dogs with the MDR1 gene is a fairly short list.  If you know of any tick control drugs that are on the list, please post.  

Regarding the different names that a drug may be known as, there are generally only two -- the generic name and the trade name.  Some compounds, if they are not patented, will only have a generic name.  To find out the "other" name of any drug that you are interested in, google the name you know, and generally on any site referencing the drug, both names will be mentioned.  Wikipedia is one place that I look at for information like that, but there are many, many drug reference sites.