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Tick... Anything I Should Do?


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When did he get the Lyme vaccine?

 

When I first investigated getting the Lyme vaccine the vet told me that the effectiveness seems to drop near the last month so while you are technically covered for the year, there might be a slight drop off in the response. Now, this was a conversation a few years ago, so I don't know whether still true. But because of this, I started to do a 11 month cycle on the vaccine. There is also a question of whether this is still true if you have been giving the vaccine for a few years.

 

Hmmm... this really doesn't answer the question of what to do though. So, with my dogs who get the Lyme vaccine .... when I find ticks, I just pull them off and wash the area.

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Yikes, it seems so early in the season. Horrible little bugger!

 

I always clean the area really well, and use a little antibacterial spray. I have also been known to keep the tick in a plastic baggie and write on the baggie in sharpie where the tick was located on my hound. I figure that having the (dead) tick might help a vet identify potential TBDs should my hound get sick. I don't know if that's an accurate assumption though...

Laura, mom to Luna (Boc's Duchess) and Nova (Atascocita Venus).
Forever in my heart, Phantom (Tequila Nights) and Zippy (Iruska Monte).

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Take it in to your vet to identify the species (looks like it might be an Ixodes species which is a carrier of Lyme... but kind of hard to tell from the blurry photo) and then depending on species they can advise what to do going forward.

 

ETA: They may also send it out to the lab to have it tested for Lyme if it is a carrier species.

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I just found a tiny black tick on Brady too! At first I thought it was a flea .... I think it is really early this year too!

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Not to hijack, but this is a good place for a reminder:

 

This is a reminder for anyone who doesn't know about the Tick Key for removal of ticks. This is the easiest thing I've ever used to remove a tick, and even had to use it on a human once. You basically just line up the tick in the slot, and pull it back. The entire tick usually comes out with minimal effort.

 

http://www.tickkey.com/

 

It can also be found on Amazon and is sold by some of the adoption groups who have merchandising websites.

 

I have no affiliation with Tick Key. Just a satisfied user.

 

Truman :beatheart:beatheart probably needs some ice cream to make that better.

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This is all I can find... I suppose he got the last one 6/7/14.

 

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Looks like he is due in June so he should be at full "immune" strength to combat the Lyme at this time. With that, I wouldn't worry about it. My dogs have been bitten by many ticks and as long as they are current (IMO, within last 11 months) for the vaccine they should not have a problem.

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For prevention, have you tried the new Seresto flea and tick collar? We had good success with it here last fall during tick time.

 

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I wouldn't worry. Just get a test in a few months like tbhounds said.

 

You wouldn't believe what I saw on greys from some of the OK farms and pounds - Oklahoma is tick central. My Bella came out of the Altus, OK pound. I pulled the ticks off of her in batches of 50 and quit counting at 200. Eherilicha is the big problem here, though more a few came through with Babesia which I don't believe the SNAP test covers. Guess it depends on what is prevalent where you live. One foster stray from OK hit the grand slam. She tested positive for RMSF, Lyme, Eherlicha and Babesia.

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Guest AngelPup

For prevention, have you tried the new Seresto flea and tick collar? We had good success with it here last fall during tick time.

 

I also use the Seresto and love it. For anyone interested in purchasing it, it's on sale at Petsmart for 49.99 (lowest price I've found) AND if you have multiple hounds, it's buy one get one 50% off (on top of the sale price). Plus it lasts for at least 8 months so depending on where you live, it could be the only flea/tick product you need to buy this season.

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There isn't anything you CAN do. And I doubt very much that anywhere that it's know ticks carry Lyme they would send a tick out for testing.

 

Did you draw that red circle, or is that from the tick? Cause I've never seen a bullseye rash on a dog, but that sure as heck looks like one, so your vet might just start him on antibiotics.


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Well, I usually recommend running in circles while shouting "Ew ew ew..." because that just seems to be a natural part of the tick removal process in our house! Seriously though, highly recommend having the Tick Key on hand - we have one in each car and one in the doggie first aid kit at home. I also usually keep the tick in a small jar full of alcohol in case our hound develops any troubling symptoms. We do not live in an area where Lyme is prevalent, but if we did I might step up my tick borne illness testing as recommended above.

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I should mention, I do have a Tick Key in my first aid kit that I tried to use, but it didn't really work. I think it was because the tick was dead and not engorged? I ended up having to pull it off with tweezers. Also, I called the vet, and she asked to see a photo of that red ring. Because it wasn't bigger than 2" in diameter, and it had already gone away, she didn't think it was necessary to run a course of Doxy. I can get a 4D test in 45 days if I want to.

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I haven't had much luck with the tick key either. Then one day I watched a youtube video that changed everything. You just squirt and dollop of hand soap onto a cotton ball and put it over the tick. The tick backs out because of the soap and its disgusting prickly little legs get stuck in the fibers of the cotton. Back in VA, strays used to show up at my house all the time, and sometimes they had a lot of ticks. The cotton trick worked every time!

 

How does the bite spot look now? Ticks are vile! Fingers crossed it all ends up being nothing.

Laura, mom to Luna (Boc's Duchess) and Nova (Atascocita Venus).
Forever in my heart, Phantom (Tequila Nights) and Zippy (Iruska Monte).

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You just squirt and dollop of hand soap onto a cotton ball and put it over the tick. The tick backs out because of the soap and its disgusting prickly little legs get stuck in the fibers of the cotton.

 

What an awesome trick! :) I'll definitely keep it in mind for next time- hoping there won't be a next time, though.

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My Dad taught me how to remove a tick when I was about 6 years old. Grasp tick as close to dog's skin as possible. Pull straight back.

 

Done.

 

You're not going to get the plague if you touch a tick! Nor is a tick key any more effective at removing a tick than your hand. And all these things you squirt on a tick...some of them take hours to work. The longer the tick is in your dog, the more chance it has to pass disease. Just pull it out.


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Susan,  Hamish,  Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck

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