Ticks!!!!

[Melody & Bruin]

I have been gone for a week and Bruin has been home with DH who was a very nice DoodleDad to wake up at 4:30 am every morning to take Bruin for a very long walk.  I come home to find these white little lumps (4) and looked them up on the internet...they are ticks!  I watched a video on how to remove them, but I cannot get a 4 month old puppy to hold still.  I am so upset.  I know you can get Lyme disease from ticks, but I am not sure what else.  I am taking him to the vet first thing tomorrow morning.  I have had dogs in the past and walked them in the same areas but none of them EVER had ticks.  Very worried and grossed out.  Will they crawl off of him?  He slept in my bed last night!!!

[Lynn & Casey]

Poor Bruin! Casey has never had ticks. One idea is Frontline. It kills the ticks. I know you can get it at Petco or Petsmart. If you ask your vet he may give medicine or tell you to get the Frontline.

[F, Calla & Luca]

The ticks can crawl off if they are not imbedded so check out yourself and your bed. My dogs get Frontline and Lyme vaccine and I still find tiny ticks crawling on them especially this time of year. Luca threw up an engorged tick, among other things, recently. I think he must have found it on himself and ate it--ugh.

[Sue, Lola, Pongo & Hubby]

ew. Do you mean Luca ate the tick, and then threw it up??? Ijust want to make sure I read that correctly. I'm pretty sure I would throw up if I saw something like that!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Spud had ticks when he was a puppy. It was EARLY in the year for ticks ( March ) but we had firewood and it was wood ticks he had.  When Bruin is old enough the vet can give him Tick Preventative especially since now you know your area has a lot of them.

I think he should be okay until he gets to the vet tomorrow. Leave them alone for now.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Good luck at the vet-check yourself over to be safe and I hope that it gets taken care of with no problems. I would check into prevention treatments also, there's more where those came from.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Just be careful with the topical meds.   My beautiful baby Stuart got a head tremor (which went away after 2 months) that we believe was caused by topical meds.  Some dogs don't tolerate it well. 

[Sue, Lola, Pongo & Hubby]

Oh noooo!!! This is my biggest nightmare. Fortunately I have never had to deal with it, so I can't help you out at all, but I hope you get it all figured out and removed promptly. Poor you, and poor Bruin!!! Good luck!

[Linda, Guinness, Molly, Snickers]

When they are engorged (fat and white instead of flat and dark) they will eventually drop off.  But if you can get them off now it would be better, they could end up anywhere once they drop off.  We babysat an aquaintences dog once for a few days, they didn't tell us it was completely infested with ticks (poor dog, bad owner!).  By the time we figured it out both my dogs and my house were completely infested and it is a huge job to get rid of them.  Don't want to freak you out more than you already are but I would deal with them asap.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

The ticks have been terrible this season. I walked Vern and Fudge in the park the other day and came home and pulled twelve ticks off Vern. Gross out!! I use Frontline, but my understanding is the ticks have to bite them before they die. Yes, ticks can crawl off dogs, so you need to check yourself and any other pets you have in the home.  REI sells a tick removal tool that works very well. Unfortunately, dogs get ticks and here in PA, they have been really bad this year.

 

I would remove any ticks you see on your dog and flush them down the toilet. Ticks are very hard to kill.

[shelly]

Oh my!  Poor Bruin and poor yo!!!!  This is making me itch!  I feel your pain  I never used frontline before for fear that my very sensitive puppy girl would not tolerate it well and I heard the horror stories... BUT.... I did find a tick just hooked onto her hair in the spring and she too sleeps (well slept) in our bed.  There was a post on this back in April I think that discussed it in depth.  

And... just a  couple of weeks ago I found FLEAS on Tori!  GROSSED and FREAKED out, we bathed her combed her and took a trip to the vet the next day and her her checked out - the vet discussed using the Frontline and we agreed to use it - Thank goodness she did tolerate it well, and KNOCK WOOD - no more (I hate to say this aloud as I feel I may jinx myself!   While I spoke to the vet about my concerns, she assured me that the neurological problems were not from Front line but from 'other' brands.   I would try it and watch him carefully.....Make sure you wash everything in HOT water and inspect your sheets well.  Those suckers are hard to kill.......Good luck!