Advice on dogs travelling to Europe please

[TonyHilary]

Work out where you will be the day before the ferry, and visit the vet then since you need to wait 24 hours before the crossing.Find a nice town perhaps middle of France and that way you dont spend the time around the port and you'll get a better price. Bon Voyage

[BGD]

Just a word of caution: so far as I am aware, the Scalibor collar is indeed very important (but not a formal leagl requirement) in Spain, but is only a preventative against fleas and ticks, including sand flies which are prevalent along the beaches here in Spain and which often carry the Leishmaniosis desease....which they can pass to dogs by biting them.

 

The collar is NOT effective in any way at all against the intense allergic reaction to breathing in/licking/contacting the poisionous spines of the processional caterpillars, which are found in large numbers along the Med coast of Spain and inland, wherever there are pine trees, between about late January and late April each year.

 

For further details, you might wish to Google, or just use the search facility on this site as there have been many previous threads here about this issue.

[Guest peter]

Rainbow-Chasers' - 2010-02-22 8:34 PM

 

Spanish are not keen on dogs - so don't expect any special treatment! :-D

Or any animals for that matter. Judging by the way they treat Donkeys (cruel barstewards), and don't they torment bulls by continually stabbing them with small spears before killing them. Makes my blood boil. >:-)

[maggyd]

Patricia - 2010-02-24 6:14 PM

 

Maggyd, I always believed that Frontline should be administered every 4 weeks to guard against ticks, every 8 weeks against fleas.

 

With regard to vet fees I think they charge with regard to the size of the dog because the medication price rises correspondingly.

 

I have just look through all my "dog disease prevention" box and found the following:

 

Frontline for ticks and fleas (have never seen these on her). Also for ticks I carry the little "crochet tools" to remove them and examine her after every walk. Ticks are worse in damp springs and autumns and vary in number according to the French department (vets can supply a map showing the intensity of "piroplasmose du chien".

 

Scalibot collar - to try to guard against sandflies, ticks and possibly processional caterpillars

 

Advocate - against heartworm

 

Advantix - ticks, fleas, sandflies and mosquitoes (so as Maggyd says similar to Frontline but guards against more diseases.

 

I rely on the advice of my vet as to what to take depending on the area to be visited.

 

Yes you are right it is 4 weeks for ticks and 8 against fleas, I have only ever had a problem with one tick and that was on my last chihuahua when we had been in Scotland near Avimore (sp) like you I have the little plastick tool to remove if we see any :-S I got that before we went to the Black Forest area last year but didnt need it, as well as the Scallibore collar I didnt use ! I still have that I know its out of date BUT it seems a waste to just throw the unopened box away! I know I will have to it probably has lost its effectiveness by now.

 

I think the Scallibor collar is something that anyone thinking of going into Spain or Portugal might be needed! so anyone going there should ask their Vets about.

 

Thanks also for the advice on Advantix :-) I will probably buy that next time as it seems to guard against most things.

 

I got THE DOG bit but what is PIROPLASMOSE?

[maggyd]

Patricia - 2010-02-24 7:03 PM

 

Thanks for that link Mel, definitely cheaper than the vet. However, some confusion again because my packet of Frontline says monthly application but this link is selling a six-month supply with only 3 pipettes!

 

I think you will find its CATS that need it every four weeks Patricia :-S

I think 8 weeks is plenty Id rather be on the cautious side and underdose rather than overdose, Ive only had dogs for the last 18 years but in my experience we have never had a flea problem using the 8 week dosage.

I also buy from Pets online and only buy the one pack we have never had a problem over the winter months. 8-) She says tempting fate.

[maggyd]

Tomo3090 - 2010-02-24 7:16 PM

 

Take a small piece of pate or chicken into the vets with you then when it comes time for the tablet, add it to the meat. The vet we went to did this himself and said he did this everytime because it made the dog his friend!

 

Yes I take a piece of chicken :-D but the Vet nearlly always breaks the tablet in half, as that is the dosage my dog has! and tells me to give him it as soon as we are back at where we are staying, we always give him it inside the van out in the carpark. I think they have come up against Chihuahua,s before. LOL.

[Patricia]

It's piroplasmosis, a disease from ticks, usually fatal if not diagnosed in time, which kills the red corpuscules in the blood. I think it might also be known as babiosis but I am not sure about this. One year the ticks were very bad (she was literally crawling with them after every walk) and I had a long lecture from a vet near Carcassonne on how to spot the disease. All in French with graphic demonstrations of how to take temperature!!! It was he who gave me the map which shows every department and the incidence of the reported disease.

 

PS I have just found this link which explains it better: http://www.totalfrance.com/france/forum/viewtopic.php?t=75995

 

 

[maggyd]

Thats very worrying isnt it! what do you do ? this dog has never had a tick on him , but reading some of the remarks on there it is very common in Europe :-S I hate my little dog having all these chemicals pass through his little organs! but he wouldnt stand a chance of surviving if he got this piroplasmosis! I think I will have to visit the Vet and have a word before we go in June. thanks Pat.