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Went to Umstead last weekend and pulled a tick off myself and two obvious ones off the dog. Then today we took the dog out to the American Tobacco Trail and found a few ticks on the dog immediately afterwards.
Sitting around tonight I started going over her for ticks. Initially I only spotted a few large ones, but as I got more thorough I realized she had a bunch of extremely small ones (about the size of a small freckle). All in all, pulled twelve (!) ticks off her tonight. She is a white dog, so it made it a little easier finding them in her fur. I was pretty shocked.
You should put the dog on a Front Line treatment and I would be concern if the ticks have balloon on the dog to a green tone while they are on him/her.
Im not sure what method you are using for removal or killing them but here a few tips.
Use tweesers on ticks stuck in human or pet skin and either burn them or send them down the water pipe.
Pulling with fingers does not always work due to part of the tick could still be in the skin.
Stepping on them does not always work due to they have a protective shell and not officially die.
Watch your pet eating drinking habits because I am a little concern about that many ticks and look deep in the pets ear lobes.
We were surprised yesterday, too, when after working in the yard, Mr. Rdslots came in to shower and found two tiny ones on him. Looks like we'll be doing more 'inspections' around here. While I say I am surprised, on one hand I'm not, simply because we were re-working some of the beds and putting out mulch, and if you are going to pick ticks up, that's a likelier place than out on the lawn.
I suppose I need to heed my own advice and put repellent on. It is my husband who contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever this past Labor Day. We now have first-hand knowledge of its far-reaching and long term effects. Scary, and so easily avoidable.
Went to Umstead last weekend and pulled a tick off myself and two obvious ones off the dog. Then today we took the dog out to the American Tobacco Trail and found a few ticks on the dog immediately afterwards.
Sitting around tonight I started going over her for ticks. Initially I only spotted a few large ones, but as I got more thorough I realized she had a bunch of extremely small ones (about the size of a small freckle). All in all, pulled twelve (!) ticks off her tonight. She is a white dog, so it made it a little easier finding them in her fur. I was pretty shocked.
So just be aware that they are bad right now.
The tiny ones are generally a variety that carry disease, Dire Wolf. I am sorry for the girl. Good thing she is white. Having to pull that many ticks off a dog, or a person, anything, would have made me sick. Be sure you get someone to inspect you well, too -- armpits, bend of the arms, around the hairline, private areas -- any place that is difficult for you to look is generally where I'll ultimately find the confounded things. Then, I just freak!
Do you treat your yard? That may help keep the tick population under control. Being a vet tech, a couple pointers. As for a flea prevention for the dog, make sure you use Frontline or Advantix. Store brand products don't work and may make your pet sick. Make sure you apply it directly to the skin. If you're going to bath, make sure you do it 24 hours before application or 24 hours after application. This way, the skin can absorb the product. Make sure you use a soap-free shampoo. If you use flea and tick shampoo or regular shampoo, you'll wash the product off. If you need to apply it more often b/c you're seeing ticks, you can do it every 2 1/2-3 weeks. When you check for ticks on your pet, look between the toes also. Hope this helps!
We've pulled more ticks off our family so far this season than the prior seasons we've been here (3) combined. We do a tick check nightly when our boys are getting their PJ's on.
The ticks that blow up and look like a greenish gray raisin are dog ticks...they do not carry lymes. The deer tick or black legged tick stays flat and comes in varying sizes (I say this because 4 people over the past few days have told me that deer ticks are the tiny ones but in actuality while they are small its the nymph stage when they are tiny...they can get bigger than a freckle). The lone star tick which we've seen the most of lately is similar to the black legged tick but has a visible white dot on it. This one is not supposed to carry lymes but a disease that is similar.
I am constantly reading up on ticks. I read the other night at one of the NC sites that the lymes bacteria is transmitted after the tick has been "attached" to the host for 24 to 48 hours.
A tick crawls on you and will crawl around for up to a couple hours looking for a warm spot. Once they find it, they burrow their heads in AND glue themselves to you, which is why its so hard to get them out once they are in. We use rubbing alcohol first on the tick, which dissolves the glue. Just using a cotton ball and rubbing it for a few minutes. Then grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and gently, gradually pull. Since we discovered the alcohol trick, we've gotten every tick out in its entirety (mouth and all).
We bought something called mosquito barrier last year but never used it as it wasn't needed. Its supposed to deter mosquitoes, ticks and fleas...you spray it. We're going to rake back all the pine needles (which ticks love) in our woods and spray within a couple weeks. We'll post back if we see a difference.
Bleck...I hate ticks.
Lauren
ps...when we pull one off our kids or ourselves, we put it in a baggie and mark it with who it was pulled off of, from where on the body and the date. Then we watch the area for anything that is unusual and also for signs such as colds, fever, etc. From what I've read it is normal for the area to look like a mosquito bite and itch but beyond that we'd get ourselves to the doctor for a check up.
Last edited by lauren4521; 05-26-2008 at 08:14 AM..
Reason: added ps
For people, you can also use a sharpie marker and draw a tight circle around the initial bite. That way if the spot grows larger, you can immediately tell! (Obviously this doesn't work too well on pets with fur!)
For people, you can also use a sharpie marker and draw a tight circle around the initial bite. That way if the spot grows larger, you can immediately tell! (Obviously this doesn't work too well on pets with fur!)
lol...if we did that, you'd be able to play dot to dot on my kids!
Lauren
Some good info here. Thanks all. The dog was already on Front Line, so hopefully it does its job. I think I'll treat my yard today just to be safe (especially since rdslots has picked them up in the yard. we are in the same neighborhood).
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