A Tick... son of a ....

dammit

We found a tick on Belle tonight. the first one EVER. It was fairly new... was a little swollen but not huge. we think she may have gotten it today.

But when we went to get it off we used a burning ember...although now I hear that isn't a great idea... but it seems it was actually already dead and when we pulled it off there was no blood inside. At least no blood showed up on the paper towel we pulled it out with.

so... what now?

belle goes to the vet on Wednesday so should we tell th em to check her out?

I've never had a tick on one of our dogs before

is she on a flea and tick prevenative?

Personally if it wasnt engorged and there werent a ton on her *I* wouldnt worry. Did you get the head out?

not right now because it's winter... usually we don't have tick problems in the winter time lol.

yeah there was only the one and it was a tiny bit swollen but not too much.

I don't know if we got the head out or not... we tried to get it to back out but it was already dead and then Brian just pulled it out and it was squished.

I'm gonna have the vet take a look at the spot where we found it just in case

Does Brian know how to take ticks out? Im sure he does but just figured Id ask

Well he tried burning it but then when it was aparent it was dead he just grabbed it with a paper towel and pulled it out

So ... I'm not sure we REALLY know how to get it out

Then I would discuss it with the vet. When was her last tick treatment?

http://www.lyme.org/ticks/removal.html

This is somethng he should know really well because he is a hunter, he should also check himself over completely before even touching Hannah after a hunt and be EXTREMELY careful in NC about ticks!

Her last tick treatment was in the summer... when I discovered the treatment we had could cause skin problems :O so we need new stuff

I told him to have the vet check the site... I looked at it but I don't know what to look for. it just looks like a really small sore but no blood

I make SURE he checks himself and then I check him and then he has a hot shower after he goes hunting and then washes his clothes in hot water too after hunting. he hasn't had any... I actually got a couple the last time we were in NC... THree actually. but they didn't get a chance to attach... I found them right away. I am REALLY serious about not getting close to Hannah without being checked.

I figured but just figured Id put it out there. But seeing as its one and it wasnt engorged and Belle is as big as she is I doubt you have anything to worry about!

If you got the head out then there's not much to worry about. If you didn't get the head then you might have a bit more problems.

But if she's going to the vet anyways just have them check it out and ask them about it.

But just because it doesn't respond to an ember (which again isn't a good idea; embers + hair and all that good stuff) doesn't mean it was dead, just that it didn't respond.

If I had a dollar for every tick I've removed , I'd be rich ! Living in the woods with many Goldens and before tick meds . I used dab of alcohol and tweezers as close to the skin as possible .

no burning. no suffocating. use tweezers and just pull. if you stress the tick with the burning/suffocating/etc it can cause them to regurgitate all their cool little diseases into the dog.

if you don't get the head, it's not really a huge deal. just keep the area clean and the body will expel the head in time.

keep a note of the date, and just keep it in mind. it takes 48 hours-ish of being attached for a tick to transmit lyme disease, and it takes weeks to months for them to get sick from it if they're going to. lethargy, lameness, fever, "just not right' are the most common symptoms of lyme. i think vets are pretty good about testing any lyme-suspicious dog in this area since it's so common.

OK... I will just keep the area clean and just have the vet take a look at the area to make sure she isn't getting a bit of an infection if we didn't get the head out since she is going to be there already anyway.

Now I'm pretty sure Belle has had a lyme vaccine... does that help anything or is it just to make us feel better lol.

I guess I better go hunting for our tweezers since this probably won't be the last time this happenslol

GOD I hate ticks... they freak me out lol.

They only time my guys got ticks was hunting. I want to pick up one of these for the next time..

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/information/tick_removal.htm

Don't forget that the wood tick is much larger than the lyme tick !

Whoa that thing is COOL. I may have to get one

We have A LOT of ticks around here... so I guess I should be surprised that this hasn't happened before