Deer Tick Advice

[Urban]

I had already posted this in the 'frontline' forum, but wasn't sure if that one had gone dead yet...

This morning my dog rolled over for a belly rub and there was a Deer Tick with the head fully in, starting to fill up with blood.

I got a tweezers, needle nose plier and couldn't believe how hard of a pull I was giving and it just wouldn't budge. Finally broke off, and I left a little piece of black in the dog that I can't get to. I'm really hoping this is just pieces of the mouth, and not actual body/head because of it being a deer tick.

It probably had been on her for 12-14 hours, there was a quarter size red rash around the tick on her bare belly skin, I made the rash look way worse by messing so much with the tick.

Should I be concerned yet? This is the first deer tick I have ever actually had to pull out of a dog.

[Hastings gal]

Is she on frontline? Heartguard?

I am not sure about dogs but I do know that I myself had one last Mothers Day - I could not believe how fast they try to bury themselves (4 hours at the most). I could not budge mine on my arm either with the tweezers - I ended up putting the disected pieces into a ziploc baggie and taking it in with me to the doctor the next day. He laughed when he saw the little pieces but I still made him dig around in my arm with his tweezers too and pull anything strange looking out. He put me on a big dose of antibiotics for 10 days and said I shouldn't have any problems. I never got a rash or anything on my arm.

I got this tick in my backyard, planting flower bulbs!! Now I am very careful whenever we are outside - never go without checking at night.

Call your vet and see what they suggest. Good Luck.

[Cooter]

A question I have is whats available for vaccines against diseases that ticks carry? I believe there are some for lyme's, but also know they carry other diseases. Probably been discussed here before but new info is always good.

Urban, do you have a pic of your Plott?

[caseymcq]

From what I have read on Lymes Disease is the incubation period is anywhere from 3 to 30 days with it typically being 7 to 14 days. So the dog may not show any real sypmtoms for a while if it is infected.

Having lost one dog to Lymes I would suggest talking to a vet ASAP. The dog might not show signs as obviously as it would be to notice them. The dog definitely can't tell you that their joints are aching, or they feel weak, etc. If you catch it soon enough it can be treated with doxycycline with good success (we are doing that with our other dog).

There are vaccines available for Lymes. Our vet has told us that those vaccines are not very good. An additional problem to getting the vaccine is that because the test for the disease actually test for antibodies produced by the immune system getting the vaccine will cause tests to be positive even though there may be no infection.

[Surface Tension]

Its my understanding that Frontline or any flee and tick treatment is absorbed into the dog making its blood toxic. It is not a repellent so your still going to get the ticks. A deer tick will need to be latched on for a certain amount of time before it can transmit lymes. A dog on Frontline is supposed to kill the tick before that time.

I use Frontline, and will use a insect repellent also. Not much else you can do.

Since you found a tick I'd keep an eye on the area for signs.

[bottomdweller]

If you had frontline on I would not be concerned, I think you are o.k I believe it takes a tick 12 hrs or more to transmit the disease. Frontline kills the tick before then.

One thing I am doing now is putting frontline on the dog in early march. Our dog came down with lymes a couple years ago and it was april. The vet said the reason that alot of the dogs that come down with lymes is because it is not applied soon enough.

[Urban]

Thanks for the discussion everyone. She is on Frontline Plus, so it seems I shouldn't be to concerned.

I might have to start putting an extra repellant on her when we head out. Maybe that would get some of the ticks off of her before she drops them off in my car/home.

I'm not hiding indoors with this weather!

[Urban]

Urban, do you have a pic of your Plott?

http://andrewandcallie.blogspot.com/ You'll see a photo on our blog.

We've been told she's this/that but besides from similar appearance, she behaves like a perfect description of a Plott Hound from the research we've done.

[randallt]

Caseymcg has some great advice. Go to a vet and get the dog on antibiotics ASAP if you really care anything about him/her. I have a lot of first hand experience with Lyme and other tick borne diseases. The rash is the tell tale sign of the infection (even with no rash I would be treating as >50% of confirmed cases show no sign of rash). The Frontline Plus is terrific but it is not an antibiotic and will not kill any of the many bacteria that a tick carries. 10 days of Doxy is not enough for a dog or a human. You should insist on at least 4 weeks. Think about it, 4 weeks of antibiotics will do no harm to dog, but an untreated bacterial infection can kill the dog and will at a minimum make him/her sick for months or even years.

A person or animal can be infected for months or even years before showing any signs of the bacteria. The longer it is in the "host" the harder it is to get out. Early treatment is key.