Ticks!!!!! Help!!!!!!

All my cats have been front lined and even though i dont live in the middle of the country side my 6 month old maine coon as hundreds of ticks on him. When I noticed this a couple of weeks ago I immediately front line him again. I have noticed that some of the ticks attached to him are drying up and come off easier however new guys are arriving all the time and are leaving massive lumps and scabs where they bite him. I have 4 other cats and one other maine coon and they are also front lined however they don't seem to have any, they had the odd one before i re-did the front line but no problems now. I have noticed that the ticks are very small at the moment where as the ones I saw in the summer on my dog were massive. I do take my dogs on a lot of country walks so may be they have hitched a ride on them but don't know how to stop them jumping on. Its one thing the front line kills them off once they have bitten my boy but they dont die straight away so they still seem as bad as before i did it.

Can i just say I HATE TICKS!!!
They are horrible creatures, there are lots you can do to avoid the ticks though, can i ask are you parting the hair right to the base when you put the spot on, on.
Also are you in the uk?? i thought it was too cold for ticks here yet?
Anyways, it sounds like the spot on you are using isnt very effective. Have you thought about a tick/flea collar? there is also powders, and front line plus which is slightly stronger i think.
It may be hard but try and advoid places with high grass and animals such as sheep and cows near by.

I do live in the country side surrounded by sheep and growing fields so i know how horrible ticks can be, but with the right method of "attack" you will get the routine that is right for your pets.

I hope that helped

here is a link to an info page about ticks and how to prevent:

How to Remove and Prevent Ticks in Cats - Page 1

I can understand why you would be experiencing ticks worse now than in the past. We are experiencing LOTS of changes in the weather world wide and, most places I have seen are getting warmer. That said, the one thing that came to my mind right away while reading your post was to give your boy a bath. I know he's a cat but, sometimes we have to do things to help them live a more comfortable life. If you have already tried this, you can run out and get some Diatomaceous earth. This is a powder that you can pick up at some quality pet stores or, you may have to order it offline but, once you get it, you can put it on your boy and, this will get rid of any fleas OR tics that are on him. You can read more about D earth here.. Diatomaceous Earth: How Diatomaceous Earth Works In The Body
You don't have to buy it from that site but, that was a good article so, I wanted to share that.

Hope that helps.