Oh, the problems keep on coming...

Mim

I didn't know if I should necro my old thread or not, but I figured because this is a new issue all together, I'd make a new thread.

This is the best picture I could find of my dogs: http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e293/The_Fourth_Savior/Actual%20People/100_0069.jpg

Harvey is the brown one and Wiley is the white one.

Harvey's appointment to see the vet is Jun. 9th, which is coming up soon and I'm excited about it. He seems to be doing better, and I've stopped giving in to his demands for all things human, and he's losing weight and I've been taking them both on longer walks.

However there is now another problem.

I found Wiley had a flea on her a couple of days ago, which was weird to me because she had been clean for awhile as has Harvey. I tried to get it off of her, but Harvey got excited and jumped on us before I could locate the bugger. Ok, not a problem, we don't have dog shampoo right now so I used hair shampoo I had to clean her off real quick to help me locate it. Since then she's been scratching her ear like a dog on a mission and only today did my parents find out she had a tick in her ear I gave her and Harvey another bath and fine tooth combed them both to see if I could find anymore.

Obvious answer is to run out and get flea/tick shampoo which I WILL be doing and they WILL see another bath tomorrow along with another fine tooth combing. However, this presents a problem because I am increasingly running out of places to walk my dogs. There are cats running around out here a LOT, some even live in my bush behind my house and I assume the cats brought it over to where my pets like to pee and poo.

I live in North Philadelphia, and the only spacious places I've found have been fields designated for schools. But I don't want my dogs becoming infected EVERY TIME.

Another thing is, what do I do house wise? I now have the urge to deep clean everything to prevent ticks from hoping onto me. This isn't really an imposition because I have company coming for two weeks next Thursday so I have to deep clean anyways. Is there special items I should wear to keep from getting bit? Should I wash my sheets? How do I clean my futon? Should I fine tooth comb my hair to see if I have any ticks on me? I'm already having allergy problems (my nose is now clogged with tissue, no matter how much I blow, snot keeps coming out) to which I still haven't found the source of, but now I'm worried about ticks and Lyme diseases. I have latex gloves, long sleeves, etc but the humidity, high temps and lack of AC in the upper parts of the house could cause heat exhaustion and it doesn't help with having a fan that's just pushing around hot air.

TL;DR I'm utterly fucked. Dogs have fleas/ticks, I'm trying to find way to combat the fuckers. Worried over my mind I will be bitten. Need to deep clean but allergies and high heat temps are getting in the way. How do I play it safe and deep clean and not worry?

Trowizilla

Just get Frontline or Advantage and stop worrying about fleas. They're drops you put on your dogs once a month to kill off all the bugs. Without dogs to bite, the fleas'll die out in your house, and you'll be fine.

Don't bathe your dogs so often, either; they're like people in that it'll cause their skin to freak out and flake, ugh.

CoJoeTheLawyer

Frontline is highly recommended. My dog use to get ticks every time we took her out to walk, but after one application, she's good for 60 days.

Mim

Do I have to worry about Lyme disease right now? As far as we can tell she only had one tick, so should I freak out and rush her to the hospital?

Daenris

No, you shouldn't freak out. As long as no symptoms start showing up don't worry about it. Not every tick carries lyme disease. My parents live out in the woods in the middle of nowhere. Their dog has had several ticks over the past couple of years and hasn't had any problems from them.

How long was the tick there? It needs to be attached for like a day or two for there even to be a chance of the dog contracting lyme disease even if the tick is carrying it.

MagicPrime

If you're worried about her you can get a blood test at the vet. The chances of Lyme's from a tick are small, despite what the horror stories are. I get bit by Mosquitos all the time and I still don't have WNV.

GoodOmens

My vet recently switch my dog over to Advantix, because there's a particular type of tick that Frontline didn't deal with (I totally forget the name). No problems so far, except that the Advantix stuff is brown and leaves spots on her fur for a few days.

Liza loves getting the Advantix because I give her heartworm medicine at the same time, and those things are like candy. Seriously, she'd prefer to eat heartworm pills to just about anything else.

Mim

I'm not sure how long the tick was attached for. And considering the vet only had one spot open for my other dog, we can't really get her an appointment for a blood test (we didn't know this tick thing would be happening). My mom just found the tick yesterday though. I'm trying to calm myself down with the notion that ticks in the ghetto don't have that high a chance of having Lyme disease like the ones in the country.

So far she's still fucking crazy as hell, so I'm trying to keep an eye out for anything..

LadyM

Get Advantix or Frontline, they're both great. Whatever you do, don't get Hartz products (flea powders, flea collars, etc) or things like them; they usually don't work and can actually be dangerous to your pets.

Sarcastro

You're chances of Lyme's disease are practically zero. Firstly, animal ticks don't like people, and with a dog to munch on, it's unlikely they will cross species. Secondly, Lyme's disease is kind of like the hauntavirus, which everybody is told to watch out for (at least where I live) but actually contracting the disease is so rare that a single case of it would probably make the news.

So no worries. But as mentioned, get some flea and tick stuff for your pets, collars, drops, pills, etc. Cuz thats nasty.

ceres

Frontline and Advantix are both good, but talk to your vet first (obviously because you have to anyway to get the prescription). Some dogs can have adverse reactions to both of these medications.

Only a certain kind of tick carries Lyme's disease, and while they do occasionally find people to munch on, it's usually the dogs that get it. Said type of tick is almost invisibly small and you probably won't notice it doing a quick once-over. YOU probably don't have to worry (check yourself for ticks after you go out on walks anyway), but seriously: check your dog, and have him tested as soon as you can for the disease.

I also live in the Philadelphia area and spent several months working in a vet's office here. The one thing we had to tell everyone was to get their dogs VACCINATED for Lyme's disease, because it is disgustingly common for dogs in this area to contract it. There is a real problem with deer ticks here, and people frequently don't believe it or that their dog will contract it because they never hear about it and have a yard or whatever, deciding to refuse the $15 shots because they never knew someone whose dog caught it. It was never easy to explain to them that we have huge drawers full of files belonging to dogs (whose owners thought the same thing) that are now marked with a highlighted "Lyme +".

Call your vet's office and tell them what happened, and see if they have something sooner. Most treatment centers leave several 15-30 minute time slots open every day for emergencies... if your vet thinks the situation qualifies, well, it's good you told them and they'll work you in. If they don't, ask them what kind of flea/tick shampoo THEY recommend; don't just pick something up, because something that's unnecessarily harsh can be ruinously harmful to your dog. And whatever you do, next time you get in with BOTH of your dogs, get them tested for Lyme's disease and vaccinated against it. This is especially important if you live in Eastern PA.

Mim

Well I'm keeping a look out for any symptoms she might have. I noticed a small bump on her ear where I think the tick was, but I've been checking her every hour on the hour with a fine tooth comb. Thus far she's still herself. I'll tell my parents when they get in tomorrow evening to call the vet the next morning to see if he can't fit her in as well.

The only issue is seriously convincing them because I've been known to be paranoid. My dad flushed the tick down the toilet (D:) so I don't know what it looked like. But for now I'm keeping an eye out. And will do something about them both getting vaccinated.

How fast do the symptoms appear in dogs, and is it commonly fatal? Also, does it have to be caught early in order to be treated or can symptoms appear and it still be ok to treat?

Mim

I found a rash on her neck (not where the tick was found) and I couldn't find any ticks (I assume the one my parents found was noticeable, and while stated by Ceres that the tick found with lyme disease isn't very noticeable I'm still keeping my mind open to the possiblity that even though it was visible on site it could still heave the disease). Anyways, I took some photos of the rash, I'm hoping someone can help me out:

and

they're kinda blurry, and my gloves are in one of them, so if I need to take better photos I will. She's still ok though, but I wanted to be sure.

Sorry, I seem overly paranoid but she's like my baby so I get very protective and this is the first time I've had to deal with this issue. She was found on the streets last March ad we adopted her that month, so I don't know if either dog was given the shots...I should go see that actually..

FunkyWaltDogg

I can't see anything in the pictures, but I can tell you that skin problems in dogs are often due to feeding them shitty food. Better food = healthier skin and coat.

ceres

Don't panic, because it won't help, but do call the vet. Tell them you found the small tick, and now the dog has a rash. They will want to see your dog as soon as possible. You won't notice much in the way of weakness or anything like that for a few weeks after the bite, so just take him in and have him checked out.

mts

as an alternative, we have our dog on revolution since she can't have the meat protein they use in heartguard. but its an all in 1 flea/tick/heartworm, comes out to be cheaper anyways than doing heartguard + frontline

Mim

I tried explaining to my parents how important it was to get her tested but they're writing this off as just me being paranoid and that she's fine. Which is really pissing me off and I'm seriously about to light into them. Right now I'm so angry with my family that my head is spinning. I will keep trying to get them to take me seriously, but as of now it seems the only thing that will make them all get off their fat asses is if Wiley started displaying serious problems.

Daenris

Why don't you call the vet and try to get an appointment?

Mim

Daenris wrote: »

Why don't you call the vet and try to get an appointment?

I don't have a job, I don't drive and the vet only had one appointment that we had given to our other dog last week before this tick thing happened. So even if I was able to get the appointment, I don't have the funds nor the transportation to make sure she gets what she needs.

Daenris

Well, I don't know your parents, but if you called the vet and explained the situation, and the vet told you to come in/made time for you to come in, wouldn't they be more willing to actually go along with it? Maybe explain the situation to the vet's office and have them explain to your parents how important it is to get the dog checked out.

ceres

Kind of sneaky, but maybe worth a shot. When you call, you can phrase it as a concern, explain the situation, and see what they say.

mts

if you are bringing her in anyway just mention it at the vet. you can cover more than one ailment per visit and shouldn't need to make another whole appointment, unless its just a tech appointment, then you might

ceres

It is only 5 days away... but I'd still call in and see what they recommend. It isn't one issue per appointment, but if there is the possibility of disease (a rash after a tick bite sounds fishy to me, at least) then that needs to be looked at as soon as possible.

Like I said. Call in and talk to a vet or a tech. It can't hurt, and if they tell you not to worry, then you know you can relax. If they say BRING HER IN NOWZ then maybe your parents will reconsider.

mts

right i am all for calling in and asking, but the rash is hard to tell if its a rash or local irritation from the bite. the OP removed the tick right? its usually not going ot come off without a struggle and the dog could have been scratching at it. it could even be flea bites.

i don't think the op has anything to worry about with regards to the tick.

also with regards to shampooin a dog with fleas, always start at the head, that keeps the fleas from jumping in the ears to hide

Daenris

mts wrote: »

if you are bringing her in anyway just mention it at the vet. you can cover more than one ailment per visit and shouldn't need to make another whole appointment, unless its just a tech appointment, then you might

I believe the already scheduled vet appointment is for the other dog. Now it may be possible to just ask the vet if it's okay if he takes a look at this dog at the same time, but it's not quite as simple as more than one issue per visit, it would be more than one dog.

ceres

Unless the vet is extremely forgiving, he's not going to want to see both dogs in one time slot on no notice.

OP, if you call, let us know what they say.

Mim

My parents decided to take Wiley over Harvey for the next visit. Even though both dogs have problems (Harvey's is mostly due to his weight which we've been getting him to lose) we figured this bite is more reason to be concerned and get Wiley the appropriate treatment ASAP. I will talk to the vet about getting both dogs their vaccinations (I don't know why we just don't take them to the vet around in Philadelphia but I think its because we're retired military so there might be some kind of...I don't know discount?).

We wouldn't be able to get them both in because this vet goes between both New Jersey and some other states, so this was kind of a tough call (I feel like I'm in the movie "Sophie's Choice" just a bit). I'll update on what happens Monday at the vet. Till then I keep combing both of them to make sure they haven't gotten any more ticks on them after their walks.

ceres

Good to hear, and glad you're taking care of things. Let us know.