Pulled a tick off my leg!

[MarshCappa]

Pulled this off my upper thigh this morning after my shower. It couldn't have been on me very long as it wasn't completely burroughed yet and I was able to get it off of me fully intact. I called the MD to let them know but I think I should be ok. They need to be on you for 24-48 hours before they transmit Lymme. I'm thinking I got it from my little dog who sits in my lap twice a day. Tis the season! Be diligent in checking your dogs and yourself this season. I hate these things!

[JFigliuolo]

Originally Posted by MarshCappa

... They need to be on you for 24-48 hours before they transmit Lymme.

Not necessarily true. If you get ANY symptoms, run... do not walk to the dr and demand 4-6 weeks ABX... trust me.

[bassballer]

found one on my dog this week. Effin things.

[MarshCappa]

Yea, I called the MD and left a VM. I won't take any chances so when they call me back I'll demand to be seen.

[MarshCappa]

OK just got off the phone with the MD office and they said if it hasn't been on me for 36hours not to worry about lymme. They told me to wash the area with antibacterial and alcohol wipes and to watch it for infection. If i develop any symptoms they will treat me with antibiotics but that i wouldn't test positive until 6 weeks. So now I get to wait around for the next 6 weeks and see what happens!!

[JFigliuolo]

cool... Keep an eye out for symptoms. flu/aches/painful joints and god forbid any neuro issues. If you get anything out of the ordinary, follow up ASAP. If treated early most cases can be cured...

[Matt D]

It's gonna be a bastard of a year for ticks. I'm almost afraid to get out into the turkey woods. A lot of my camo doubles for deer season use so I hate to spray anything on it. I guess I might have to designate an outfit for turkey huntin' only and spray the crap out of it.

[piemma]

Our dogs take something we get from the vet. It kills the ticks almost instantly

[JFigliuolo]

Originally Posted by piemma

Our dogs take something we get from the vet. It kills the ticks almost instantly

got a name? we use proticall which is good... but not THAT good.

[piemma]

Originally Posted by JFigliuolo

got a name? we use proticall which is good... but not THAT good.

J:
Frontline Top Spot. It's kind of pricy but works well. I live on 15 acres in the middle of the woods and my dogs run outside all day. There is a knockoff called PetArmor that is a bit cheaper and available from WallyWorld. It has the same active ingredient as Frontline Top Spot and is actually made by the same company Merial. It says "kills ticks including ticks that cause Lyme Disease, fleas, and chewing lice. I have not pulled a tick off either dog in 3 or 4 years since we started using the stuff.

[Night Shift]

Originally Posted by JFigliuolo

cool... Keep an eye out for symptoms. flu/aches/painful joints and god forbid any neuro issues. If you get anything out of the ordinary, follow up ASAP. If treated early most cases can be cured...

...and treatment for chronic Lyme (and almost always secondary tick-borne illnesses like Bartonella, Babesia, and Ehrlichia ) is long term, very costly and not so much fun.

[Night Shift]

Originally Posted by Matt D

It's gonna be a bastard of a year for ticks. I'm almost afraid to get out into the turkey woods. A lot of my camo doubles for deer season use so I hate to spray anything on it. I guess I might have to designate an outfit for turkey huntin' only and spray the crap out of it.

It is called permetherin and I, as well as my bow hunting buddies, are paranoid about scent and thought the same thing. Now, we all spray our gear and we still regularly have deer, including mature bucks, directly under our stands. They just sniff around the base of the tree and your trail in, then move off cautiously as they did before. No difference has been noticed and some big, heavily hunted bucks have been dropped at very close range while using the spray.

[numbskull]

People should be aware that the diagnosis and treatment of "chronic lyme disease" is very controversial and well done clinical trials have failed to demonstrate a benefit from long term antibiotic RX.

This doesn't mean patients who have had lyme and don't fully recover are not sick, just that there is no confirmed way to "cure" them.

[Thumper]

Two years in a row I found those guys on me. Blood work and a script twice a day for 4 weeks, not fun. My old boxer had lyme and she was never really the same after it, I would definitely recommend the frontline top spot that peimma is talking about it is well worth the price.

[Raven]

Chrysanthemum flower (Pyrethrum). It has been used to control pests for over a century and is generally considered quite safe.

nice thing about these is you can grow them



Pyrethrin insecticide information | Pyrethrum | Pyrethrins

[JFigliuolo]

Originally Posted by numbskull

People should be aware that the diagnosis and treatment of "chronic lyme disease" is very controversial and well done clinical trials have failed to demonstrate a benefit from long term antibiotic RX.

This doesn't mean patients who have had lyme and don't fully recover are not sick, just that there is no confirmed way to "cure" them.

George, I respect you, but I invite you to visit me and my wife at any time. You would choose long term ABX over what her life has become. There are NUMEROUS peer reviewed studies that show benefit from long term ABX. IDSA guidelines however were written by doctors who were clearly demonstrated to have ties to both drug and bio-tech companies who have a vested financial interest in Chronic Lyme not existing.

[Night Shift]

Originally Posted by numbskull

People should be aware that the diagnosis and treatment of "chronic lyme disease" is very controversial and well done clinical trials have failed to demonstrate a benefit from long term antibiotic RX.

This doesn't mean patients who have had lyme and don't fully recover are not sick, just that there is no confirmed way to "cure" them.

Just as with many diseases, treatments for CHRONIC Lyme are individualized, and because there hasn’t been ONE “confirmed” way to treat it, doesn’t mean there aren’t treatments that work , and that it shouldn’t be addressed with further studies and continued treatment of people with positive tests and a large number of symptoms. Invalidating people’s experiences only encourages them not to be open about their experiences and discourages collective study.

You are correct: there is controversy within the medical field over whether Lyme is 1) hard to contract and easy to cure, or 2) easy to contract and hard to cure. And yet, there are increasing numbers of specialists, and increasing evidence of many common complaints/ailments being attributed to chronic Lyme, so it would be premature to be dismissive. And it is also true, that some people will never be cured of Lyme, and that is truly unfortunate, but that can be said of many other illnesses, and people are willing to try the currently understood treatments, or participate in clinical trials in the hope of finding a treatment that will work for them and even possibly become the Standard of Care.

And MarshCappa, it is true that it takes at least 24 hours for a tick to transmit Lyme disease, as the spirochete lives in the gut of the tick, and requires the tick taking in a blood meal for the spirochete to activate in the gut and then travel up the gut and into the host. But you must be certain that it was less than 24 hours, and if not, an early dosing of antibiotics has been shown to work on acute Lyme.

I will refrain from any other posts in this thread.

[johnny ducketts]

Pulled one off my dog last week, i hate those bastages!

[dannyplug1]

If they have a repellent for dogs why not people? Do you ever think there will be a shot to prevent Lyme? Just wondering
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Raven]

Ticks and Mosquitoes absolutely hate Vitamin B1

they hate the taste of Skin that is excreting vitamin B1

I have taken it for this purpose for years (and also give it to my animals)

and will watch a cloud of mosquitoes hover around me and go to dip the straw and then decide not to... not the taste their lookin for.

Back to Ticks: we are all living in the HOT Zone
and you have to use every single thing at your disposal
like strong smelling cedar chips mulch to deter them

front line kills them sure but it doesn't prevent them from burrowing
into your pets for a meal of hemoglobin...but it kills them after they
start gorging on blood that has been inoculated with front-line.

any tall grass has to be cut, keep the animals from going near brush and bushes especially. There the one's bringing them IN.

The organic pyrethium flower flea powder is an excellent dusting powder that doesn't stink you out of the house and it kills all BUGS.

Any type of mint repels bugs so if you buy a plant or two and put it at the base of your Hose faucet where it'll receive plenty of water then you can dig up some and plant it here and there. Catnip too is a member of the mint family and also because of it's aromatic qualities repels bugs.
Pennyroyal is very strong and is a member of the mint family that you can buy oil from....and soak a string in it to put around a dogs neck.

i'd have chickens running around too but that will not fly here.

[Peter D]

I also removed, in tack, a tick that was lodged in my thigh for less than 12 hrs. I examined tick under microscope and was reasonably convinced it was not a deer tick. Called my MD at MGH discussed situation with him and Infectious Disease Group. Both independently felt assured that time on leg was too short for Lyme infection, even if I was incorrect in identifying tick. They did not want to examine tick (or me) and simply recommended call back immediately if any signs of infection and/or symptoms appear. Unfortunately it is true that there remains controversy over diagnosis and pre-symptom treatment.

[Raven]

the problem is with ticks...............
is that they have a numbing chemical that prevents
you from feeling the entrance wound
but after several hours "in you" it feels sore there
just not INTENSE but sore... and the trick is
to remember that "feeling" well because many times
you only discover them after running your hand over the area
long before it is ever seen. That's what i've learned to do.
in a normal week i - have one "on me" or "in me" every two days

[Sundowner]

I had an itch on my thigh over a month ago and it was a deer tick. I was only in my yard that day, just grass, no bushes. Gonna be a rough year

[Piscator]

UMass is a great resource and leading research facility for tick related issues. Check out their site:


UMass Extension Agriculture and Landscape - Tick-Borne Disease Diagnostics

[MarshCappa]

I actually did feel it bite me yesterday so I'm confident that it wasn't on me very long. My routine every day is too take both dogs out at 6:45am. My big dog Banjo Boxer/Hound mix with short mostly white with brown sploches is off leash and goes to generally the same spots in the yard to do his business. My little morkie Sam is on a 10' retractable leash and is real low to the ground and her coat is like a magnet for leaves. I'm thinking it came in on her because after we get back in the house and she eats her food she jumps right on my lap while I drink my coffee and watch the news. I haven't seen a tick on Banjo this year and after checking Sam I found nothing though her coat is tough the see everywhere and she's so wriggly when I'm checking her. We use K9 Advantix II and I have been happy with it to date. I am going to try a yard spray that was recommended on my (800)PetMeds page when I made the resupply purchase. It's only $20 and from the reviews I read it seems like it's worth the try to spray my yard with it.

Virbac Animal Health | United States - VIRBAC Yard Spray Concentrate

[Peter D]

American Lyme Disease Foundation

More info.

[Raven]

RE: MarshCappa quote: My little morkie Sam is on a 10' retractable leash.........
the worst leash imaginable....

On a trip to florida little did i know how Prophetic my statement was to my Father in Law when i said...
"Those retractable leashes are an accident waiting to happen"

later that week returning home to their place in Florida
i walked outside with my Mother in law and she's walking her little doggie
on one of those retractable leashes and this blonde girl goes walking by with her Labrador retreiver
which got the little dog all excited ....ok,
then for reasons Unknown Blondy does an about turn and comes walking right back again
just driving the little doggie mental....
and being way to close to her master... it stupidly runs around my mother in law's ankles twice making her stumble forward
and down there they have these drainage ditches and of course my mother in law steps right off the driveway right into it
and so i reached out to grab her but i was a half second to late.

she missed a brick ornamental wall thing with her head by an INCH and had she hit it...........
i truly believe she would have died right there and then from blunt trauma to the head.

i tell you this story because i believe they are a very bad IDEA to use them

[MarshCappa]

Wow Craig, glad you're mom in law is ok. I'm not a fan of it but it does give her some more freedom to roam a little. She usually has it maxed out trying to pull away to run after Banjo. Sometimes I attach another 6 footer to give her even more running room. The scene usually consits of me in the middle with the 2 dogs running circles for 20minutes or until I'm not too dizzy!! That's not too fun if you're hungover either!!

[Raven]

yeah the maxed out part is what also bugs me John

i was at a motel for a time....30 days
the guy staying upstairs was about to walk his huge dog.....
it was already downstairs bothering my dog as we tried to leave
and he is still upstairs on the 2nd floor balcony wondering what was going on

and his dog is on the extend a leash i prefer a lobster pot rope (recycled)

[MarshCappa]

That's ridiculous!!! I tried an extended leash on Banjo when I first got him and the first time he laid eyes on the goose population in my neighborhood the thing disinegrated in my hands!!!!! Banjo is 100% muscle!!! Good boy!! Not a bad bone in his body!