Tick bite

My daughter found a tick a few years ago after a D of E expedition. She removed it hurriedly and didn’t have any problems after. Horrid things!

You were very lucky indeed. Just a polite reminder Lyme disease does not have an S in the spelling. A common and easy mistake. Enjoy the coming summer watch out for those horrible ticks and check your pets too.

On holiday, and an early morning walk on the Northumberland moors, saw lots of deer and the dog breakfasting on sheep’s poo. (Muesli) so off to the local vet this morning to buy tick and worm preparation.

I never give him anything as he stays parasite free but not sure about wholesale onslaught! Better safe than sorry.

Good to hear. I won’t be happy to take my dog out until I get the spot on from the vets. Having tried to avoid putting chemicals on her because of my last dog having cancer I’m now worried that she might develop Lyme disease. Whippets can get adverse reactions from some medication: for some reason I feel happier with spot on’s than tablets. I did have some Non Stinky Stuff shampoo that is supposed to repel ticks but it had been too cold to bath her till yesterday. And I’m putting Jungle formula on although people have said that it doesn’t repel ticks. I had a light bulb moment last night and thought about taking quinine but on googling it found it had been banned as it was quite toxic. It all seems to be balancing one thing against another. I know that someone once told me that if you ignore the instructions and take doxycycline with alcohol you will ‘wish you’d never been born as the headache will be the worst headache imaginable’. And even if you’re careful you can get badly sunburnt. Having mentioned on Facebook to someone whose dog had been bitten by a tick which had caused the whole area to go red that the vet I spoke to told me to give my dog piriton, I had lots of abuse from a couple of people saying I shouldn’t advise people on giving their dogs medication. I pointed out that sometimes a dog can get a terrible reaction from a wasp sting and that if you can’t get to a vets a piriton tablet can be a life saver and that I always have them with me. And that it was advice from a vet!And someone else got angry with me for asking for advice re ticks on a Facebook dog page. So, what with the tick I feel a bit under siege at the moment. Grateful for the advice on here though.

Esspee

If you get a bull’s eye type rash you should see a doctor immediately. Otherwise you will be fine.

Please be aware that you don't always get the rash and symptoms can occur several months later - www.nhs.uk/conditions/lyme-disease/

Maybee how awful that you received such abuse. I have had vets recommend piriton and hibiscrub especially if a dog is suffering from an allergic reaction and scratching themselves. If you go to the chemist tell them the hibiscrub is for your own personal use or they won’t sell it to you. (Hope I don’t now get lots of abuse - see my thread on Social media)

I think there are some parts of social media that I need to avoid for a while. On a local thread where someone asked people to think twice about letting off fireworks on Sunday night as her cat had come home traumatised when England played Denmark people said to just keep the cat in so I pointed out that lots of dogs are terrified too inside the home and there’s nothing you can do to console them. So I got verbal abuse from people as well. And when I warned people on another page about how many ticks there were this year someone jokingly said that I must be really dirty and soap and water would keep them at bay. He did think he was being funny but some people then pointed out that they’d had to have antibiotics. The internet is fantastic in so many ways but it can really get to you sometimes. Worse for young people as well I think.

I also noticed that people prefer following someone's advice after reading it on the Internet rather than thinking the problem over and looking for the solution. Of course, we all are here for receiving advice and sharing experiences, but we all get a mind of our own.

Hi MayBee70, you are having a tough time but I feel sure you will ' ride the storm'. Please take note of the message from Stillwaters. Rash / bulls eye rash is not always there! My son did not have a bulls eye rash.
Felt ok for some time so didn't see his GP for some time. When he felt strong enough to go, the GP dismissed his thought that he had Lyme Disease!!! You know the rest of the story , eventually long course of antibiotics sorted him out, although he does still have a few issues as a result of Lyme Disease, but on the whole he has been very lucky. Tick bites must be taken seriously , not all ticks are infected of course - but some are ! Not worth the risk of being complacent. So many people make light of tick bites , I hope they realize that Lyme Disease is not to be taken lightly!!!! The lives of people are severely compromised by the effects of Lyme Disease. Sorry to keep ' going on' but I am concerned.

Yet another tick alert on another Facebook page today. People are seeing ticks on their dogs that have never seen them before. I told the guy at 111 to be aware and am boring everyone I know to be on their guard. My ankle was only exposed for a few minutes because my sock kept rolling down.My only concession to summer is to wear 3/4 length leggings instead of full length so the only exposed part if my body is my lower leg. And, of course, symptoms can be mistaken for covid symptoms. At least people I’ve spoken to that have had Lyme disease have been ok after taking antibiotics. I think there’s going to be a real problem this year, though. If I feel only remotely unwell in the weeks to come I shall insist on a course of antibiotics.

Quite right too MayBee.

Just to put dog owners into panic mode again - there's another disease carried by ticks - piroplasmosis - which seems to affect animals more than humans. Especially horses.
When we lived in rural France it was quite common. a neighbour's dog died from it and both of ours had it once, but it responds to anibiotics.
It attacks the blood system so the animal becomes very tired.
Check colour of lower eye.
Others will know more about it than me.

ps animals can get it from drinking water infected by rat's urine if the rat is a carrier from a tick.

that sounds like weils disease.

has everyone with a cat heard about the cat food recall.
www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-prin-36-2021

My neighbour used to let their lovely Labrador swim in the canal and she caught Weils disease. I understand that annual vaccinations protect from it now (?).She didn’t die but it did shorten her life dramatically. It’s why I’m so wary of those sorts of things. If the alerts had come up on my Facebook page one day earlier I wouldn’t have stupidly walked in long grass. It wouldn’t have stopped my dog from picking up a tick though. So many dog people are anti any sort of booster vaccinations and flea/tick prevention these days. And, of course, more people are having staycations in this country now.

Just phoned the vets to pay for the spot on I’ve ordered and the receptionist I spoke to said she found a tick on her dog for the first time ever.

At the least check your dog every evening, We used to find ticks most evenings. I flushed them down the toilet.
no dogs now [sad[.