Livestock insecticide tags?

[ryanr]

Got a question for some of you old school, practical dog folks. Anyone ever attach livestock insecticide ear tags (or smaller pieces of them) to a dog's collar for flea and tick control. I've heard and dad that many hound guys use them. From what I hear the PYthon purple tag is most popular but i couldn't find any at 2 Tractor Supply's but I got the YTex Gardstar tags. Anybody here have any experience? They're $20 for 25 tags vs $50 per Seresto Collar which I suspect is only that expensive because it's for dogs and cats (pets) and not livestock.

[Misskiwi67]

Are you really going to cheap out on your hunting buddy and use something designed for animals 10 times the size of your dogs? Too much and you risk toxicity. Too little and you are leaving them unprotected...

[Stretch]

They work really good but if it’s an inside dog I wouldn’t use them. They have a pretty strong odor.

[3drahthaars]

Have a buddy who does.

He's a PhD in parasitology, consults with the local vet school... I believe he knows his $hit.

3ds

[ryanr]

Are you really going to cheap out on your hunting buddy and use something designed for animals 10 times the size of your dogs? Too much and you risk toxicity. Too little and you are leaving them unprotected...

If I can do it safely then Yup, you bet I'm going to try to save money if I can. These days it seems that everything marketed for pets is more expensive than some of the same stuff available for livestock. From what I've been reading around, it seems as though a number of houndsmen and bird dog people have been using this method for years now (including a long time setter guy that responded to my same post on Upland Journal, he's been using the Python tag for years.) This method was even mentioned positively on the Ruffed Grouse Society blog back in 2016.

It seems most use the Ytex purple Python tag, cut it into smaller square piece about as wide as the collar and fasten that piece to the collar. The Python tag uses 10% Zetacypermethrin and the Gardstar plus tag uses 10% Permethrin, both are synthetic pyrethoids. Seresto uses 4.5% Flumethrin and 10% Imidacloprid. I've seen some of those Spot On type preventatives that use much higher concentrations of Permethrin. And quite frankly, how toxic can a small piece of this attached to a collar be compared to swallowing something like Simparica, Nexguard or Bravecto?

[Misskiwi67]

Topical application doesn't mean free from side effects. It's your dog, if you want to experiment on them, go for it.

[ryanr]

Topical application doesn't mean free from side effects. It's your dog, if you want to experiment on them, go for it.

I know topical application doesn't mean free from side effects, I wasn't trying to imply that it did. Like I said at least a fair amount of beagle guys and bird dog guys seem to have been using this method for many years now with very good results and no apparent problems. So yeah, I'm going to try it after everything I've read on it and all the different pet products too. With consideration to efficacy and possible risk, there doesn't appear to be significant difference other than price.

[Stretch]

Have them on everything I have besides the one dog I have inside. Been using them since I was 16. I’ve never had a problem.

[ryanr]

Have them on everything I have besides the one dog I have inside. Been using them since I was 16. I’ve never had a problem.

Thanks, you mentioned odor but Permethrin is odorless, at least the liquid is when it dries. I know the purple PYthon tags has some other ingredients but the orange Gardstar plus tags are only Permethrin. I might take the collars off indoors but a setter guy that's been using them (the purple tags) for years says he leaves the collars on inside. He affixes a 1 inch side rectangular piece to the inside of the collar using Chicago screws. I think I'm gonna try this with the tags I got.

[Misskiwi67]

How many of those hound guys cheating out are testing their dogs for tick born diseases on the regular??

I don't know how bad Lyme disease is where you are, but in my area 12% of PETS are exposed to Lyme. I can guarantee my hunting dogs are exposed annually based on their lifestyle. I'm not risking them to something unproven when multiple studies show the new oral prevention kill ticks 2-3 times faster with no increases in side effects.

[ryanr]

Well a number of them are. And last year, Pennsylvania was considered "ground zero" for Lyme disease. Ticks are a huge issue here and throughout the Northeast (you do know how Lyme disease got it's name right?) Last I checked Permethrin was pretty darn proven.

Cheating out? C'mon now.

[LongHammer]

Man if a cattle ear tag is a big No No I won't mention the fact I give Otto Equine apple flavored Ivomec.

[Misskiwi67]

Well a number of them are. And last year, Pennsylvania was considered "ground zero" for Lyme disease. Ticks are a huge issue here and throughout the Northeast (you do know how Lyme disease got it's name right?) Last I checked Permethrin was pretty darn proven.

Cheating out? C'mon now.

80% efficacy vs. 100% efficacy.... it's old technology, and NOT good enough for my dogs.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/2 ... 0simparica

[Misskiwi67]

Man if a cattle ear tag is a big No No I won't mention the fact I give Otto Equine apple flavored Ivomec.

As long as you don't f*** up the math and give an overdose of a product that has no antidote...

[orhunter]

Would my wife like a pair for jewelry? She already has a flea collar.