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naturegurl_gw

Ok, this tick thing is really getting out of hand!

16 years ago

Two weeks ago I found out my dog tested positive for anaplasmosis, a tick borne disease. The following weekend we went for a very short (45 minute) hike in the woods, and even though this is rural New England and the weather has been below freezing for the past 3 1/2 months, apparently the one warm day above freezing was enough to get the ticks our of hiding and I pulled 3 off of him when we got home. And just this very moment I pulled an engorged deer tick out of his armpit. It is seemingly still alive, wiggling its horrid little legs. Ick. I have sealed it in a plastic baggie and hope it suffers a slow, tortuous painful death. If I take it to my vet, can they send it out to be tested? Or do I have to get my dog tested yet again instead?

I tried to photograph the disgusting creature because I've never seen anything quite like it, but the only digital camera I have is my phone and it just doesn't take good enough photos. But if you look up "engorged tick" under yahoo images you will see exactly what it looks like - a giant sunflower seed with a tiny tick head attached to it. Yuck.

Is there anything we can do to keep the ticks off our beloved pets?? I haven't used the K9 advantix since November because as I said, it has been freezing up here for months, and I just ordered this year's supply last week. And my dog gets the lyme vaccine every year but apparently that isn't 100% effective. What is a nature-lover who wants to take her dog hiking as often as possible to do???

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