Guest mhall Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 DH and Tarmac just came to pick me up at work, and while a coworker was petting him we noticed he had a tick. It's deeply imbedded - Will tried to get it out with his fingernails and Tarmac yelped. We'll use tweezers to take care of it as soon as we get home, but the skin surronding the tick looks really red and sore, and he has a couple of other spots that look like bites as well. Is that normal for tick bites, or should we follow up with the vet? Any symptoms we should be on the look out for? I hate ticks! This is the first time we've found one on Tarmac we couldn't just pick off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest team_weasel Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Just make sure you don't break the head off when using tweezers. Clean the bite wound with a disinfectant. Also, wash your hand after removing the tick. Though rare, the thing one would have to worry about is tick-borne diseases. For extra protection against ticks, use Frontline Plus, Advantage or other control/prevention on your hound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Spiff Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 How's Tarmac doing? Last summer Spiff got a nasty tick bite that got swollen and red. The red area was about the size of a silver dollar. We took him to the vet for some antibiotics (as a preventative measure against tick-borne diseases and possible infection of the bite itself). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mhall Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 We do use flea and tick preventative, but only in the spring and summer. Ticks aren't usually a problem this time of year, but the weather has been warmer than usual. How's Tarmac doing? He seems fine - thanks for asking I'm traveling for work at the moment, but DH says the bite is no longer swollen, just a little red. I think the area was irritated before from Tarmac scratching at it. We're not positive we got the head when we pulled the tick out, so hopefully that won't cause any problems. If it swells up again, or gets redder, we will definitely be off to the vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicocat Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 If "I" get a tick bite (Geocaching out in the woods ) it gets red and swollen. Stays with you for a long time too. Maybe it does the same on dogs. Quote Ann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Spiff Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Thinking of tick bites, have you ever read "Lab 257"? It's about the USDA research lab on Plum Island (Long Island) and basically suggests that Lyme Disease escaped from the lab. Plum Island is directly across the sound from Old Lyme, CT. I read the book while we were still living in New Haven, and we had just gone to Rocky Neck State Park, from where you can easily see Plum Island. Rather creepy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MomofSweetPotatoes Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Thinking of tick bites, have you ever read "Lab 257"? It's about the USDA research lab on Plum Island (Long Island) and basically suggests that Lyme Disease escaped from the lab. Plum Island is directly across the sound from Old Lyme, CT. I read the book while we were still living in New Haven, and we had just gone to Rocky Neck State Park, from where you can easily see Plum Island. Rather creepy. Glad you got the tick off of Tarmac. Well, SPiff, you've definitely gave me a new book to read. Very creepy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest IrskasMom Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Since it has been warmer then usual at this time (at least in the North-East US) I have continued with Frontline Plus this Month and probably next Month .Even the Vet suggested to keep on putting Flea/Tick Protection on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 I cannot recommend strongly enough that people still use their tick preventatives. I took my pups camping this weekend, we hiked for about 3 miles, flicking ticks off of them as we went (every time we'd stop, we'd see them crawling on them and flick a bunch off). And yet, when we got back and did the once over, I pulled AT LEAST 20 ticks off of each dog. Most were not embedded but a few were. It took about 15 minutes per dog and two people before I was satisfied that we'd removed them all. I do a LOT of camping and hiking and I have NEVER seen so many ticks on my dogs. They were also all over my boyfriend. I treat my hiking pants with permethrin. It had been a while since I had done it (you're supposed to redo it after a few washes) but my guess is it was still effective as I was the only person who escaped their wrath. Even had to pull one out of my boyfriend's neck. Thank god I'm no longer squeamish about these guys! Anyway, to the OP, you can certainly see an inflamed area at the site of the tick bite. It doesn't mean the dog was infected with a TBD and I wouldn't worry since the redness is going away. Do you know how long the tick was embedded (was it swollen at all, or still flat)? If the latter, he probably wasn't on there long enough to transmit any disease - the exact timeframe is slipping my mind, but I think it's something like 36 hrs that the tick needs to be attached, if the tick is even carrying any disease. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Spiff Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Anyway, to the OP, you can certainly see an inflamed area at the site of the tick bite. It doesn't mean the dog was infected with a TBD and I wouldn't worry since the redness is going away. Do you know how long the tick was embedded (was it swollen at all, or still flat)? If the latter, he probably wasn't on there long enough to transmit any disease - the exact timeframe is slipping my mind, but I think it's something like 36 hrs that the tick needs to be attached, if the tick is even carrying any disease. Good point!! In Spiff's case, we didn't know how long the tick had been on him and the area around the bite was really nasty-looking, so we decided to spring for the antibiotics. Also, ticks in our area usually carry TBD, so we just wanted to be on the safe-side. But, if you know the tick hasn't been attached for very long and the bite site is not overly irritated, it is good enough to carefully remove the entire tick and treat the area with some topical stuff like Bactine. I don't remember the exact time frame for transmission of TBD either, but it was something >24 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerosmom Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 I have removed eight ticks from Aero today alone. It is horrendous right now! Thinking of tick bites, have you ever read "Lab 257"? It's about the USDA research lab on Plum Island (Long Island) and basically suggests that Lyme Disease escaped from the lab. Plum Island is directly across the sound from Old Lyme, CT. I read the book while we were still living in New Haven, and we had just gone to Rocky Neck State Park, from where you can easily see Plum Island. Rather creepy. Gulp. I'm not far from Plum Island at all. I'll have to look up that book too. Quote Aero: http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?d=kees+uncatchable; our bridge angel (1/04/02-8/2/07) Snickers; our bridge angel (1/04/02-2/29/08) Cricket; Kanga Roo: oops girl 5/26/07; Doctor Thunder http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?z=P_31Oj&a...&birthland= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicocat Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 I don't remember the exact time frame for transmission of TBD either, but it was something >24 hours. A representative from the Missouri Dept. of Conservation told us it was 48 hours. He also said the majority of disease (at least in this part of the country) is transmitted by the female Lone Star Tick, which can easily be identified by a prominate white dot on the middle of her back. Quote Ann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Spiff Posted October 24, 2007 Share Posted October 24, 2007 For those of you interested in the Lab 257 book - here's the Amazon link! Lab 257 by Michael Carroll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted October 24, 2007 Share Posted October 24, 2007 I don't remember the exact time frame for transmission of TBD either, but it was something >24 hours. A representative from the Missouri Dept. of Conservation told us it was 48 hours. He also said the majority of disease (at least in this part of the country) is transmitted by the female Lone Star Tick, which can easily be identified by a prominate white dot on the middle of her back. Those are the ones I found on myself while showering, after stupidly hiking in shorts in North Carolina. I found them in my neither regions... That was a year or two ago though and I seem to be TBD free. And after having to remove those, I'm no longer squeamish about pulling them off of the dogs. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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