Dog tick bites

Discussion in 'Health & Fitness' started by arauca, Jul 12, 2012.

  1. arauca Banned Banned

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    I have been bitten by some ticks ( I have a malamute ) I have removed the tick probably within 6 hours . I washed the bitten spot with bleach.
    Any suggestion on antibiotics
    My doctor said do nothing until some health sigh apears.
     
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  3. Pete It's not rocket surgery Registered Senior Member

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    Your doctor's probably right.
    Chances are usually so low that you caught anything from a tick bite that taking antibiotics isn't worth it unless you atually get sick.

    Are you worried about Lyme disease? The relevant USA guideline is here:
    The Clinical Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention of Lyme Disease, Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis, and Babesiosis: Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (2006)
    To prevent Lyme Disease after a recognized tick bite, routine use of antimicrobial prophylaxis or serologic testing is not recommended. A single dose of doxycycline (200 mg) may be given to adults and to children at least 8 years of age (4 mg/kg up to a maximum dose of 200 mg) if all of the following circumstances exist: (1) the attached tick can be reliably identified as an adult or nymphal I. scapularis estimated to have been attached for at least 36 hours; (2) prophylaxis can be started within 72 hours of tick removal; (3) ecologic information indicates that the local rate of infection of these ticks with B. burgdorferi is at least 20%; and (4) doxycycline is not contraindicated.
    The time limit of 72 h is suggested because of the absence of data on the efficacy of chemoprophylaxis for tick bites following tick removal after longer time intervals. Infection of ⩾20% of ticks with B. burgdorferi generally occurs in parts of New England, in parts of the mid-Atlantic States, and in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, but not in most other locations of the United States. Whether use of antibiotic prophylaxis after a tick bite will reduce the incidence of HGA or babesiosis is unknown.

    So yeah, unless it was definately an Ixodes scapularis tick, in a high-incidence area, and attached for 3 days or more, then it's not worth antibiotics unless you get sick.
     
    Last edited: Jul 13, 2012
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  5. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    If your dog can wear a Flea & Tick collar put one on him/her ASAP. You can't get a tick unless it has dropped off you dog on to your carpet. I would set off Flea & Tick foggers off in all carpeted rooms ASAP and if your dog spends time in an inclosed back yard buy the kind of insect spray that you can screw onto the garden hose and use it all. Also examine your dog for any more ticks and remove them ASAP. I owned two dogs for 14 years and never had any fleas or ticks in the house or on my dogs.
     
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  7. arauca Banned Banned

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    Thanks guys , my dog is an out dog, Y will get him a fea & tick collar
     
  8. NightFall Lazy Hedonist Valued Senior Member

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    We use a spray here for ticks when we go into woodsy areas, this year the ticks are especially feisty. You can find them at the pet store, lots of brands make them and they work well. We let the dogs roam in heavily forested areas for the weekend and come home without any ticks.Especially with the fur of a mal, the chances of finding a tick before it balloons are pretty slim unless you obsessively brush/feel out the dogs fur. Your vet may be able to provide you with tick reports for your area. Not all types of ticks carry Lyme disease. For example, in Michigan the west coast counties of the state more commonly have deer ticks, the kind that carry Lyme disease, however those ticks are not common on the east side. Most ticks in the US are brown dog ticks (harmless as long as removed). Some mountainous areas have another type of tick that carries (ehhh something-or-other-fever?) different diseases. Unless you are in an area known for the black-legged/deer tick (Look! I provided a map!) the usual plan of action is to make sure the tick is removed, area is clean, and keep an eye on it to make sure there isn't a red ring the forms around it. Side note: if your dogs heart worm and flea medicine are combined, it does not cover ticks.

    oh, here's that fancy map.

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    i found it here.
     
  9. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

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    "Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever" is the term you were searching for.

    I routinely search my dog for ticks pretty much every day. We stay out of high grass, which is the best place to get them, though I have had ticks drop on my bald head from out of a tree in Kentucky. If you are paranoid enough to do a thorough search you can get rid of them before they attach.

    I would not recommend saturating your living space and yard indiscriminately with chemical poisons merely from fear of a tick being there, be selective and very careful as poison can make you sick just like Lyme disease. Flea collars are not as efficient as products like "Frontline".
     
  10. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    The flee collar thing is interesting. The vet we take our animals too said that collars and flee shampoo are are complete waste of money, apparently only frontline and advantage actually work
     
  11. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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  12. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    I agree! I've never seen a flea collar work. We use Frontline on the cats
     
  13. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    I can only relate my experience. I used the 6 month flea callers on both my dogs for 14 years and never had a flea or tick problem. So I wouldn't say they are worthless. Sorry But it's been awhile and I can't remember the brand they were.
     
  14. NightFall Lazy Hedonist Valued Senior Member

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    This reminded me... I recently took some kittens to the vet (strays, that i do not intend to keep.. anyone want a kitten?) and I learned some interesting info about the flea shampoos etc. Apparently, the frontline and flea medicines you get from the vet (in the US) are regulated by the FDA. the flea medicines you get at the pet store, like the knockoff frontline or shampoos that are ridiculously cheaper, are regulated by the EPA, and as such are notorious for causing reactions in pets. According to the vet, especially shampoos that claim to kill ticks or fleas are particularly dangerous, the chemicals in them can be poisonous/fatal to animals, and she receives a handful of pets every year from complications. I would have been more skeptical of her campaign against 'drugstore' pets treatments had she not been loading me up with free frontline samples to help out with my rescued kitties. ugh. i seriously hate cats though.


    aye! that'd be the one!
    It's a valid point you make about not over-poisoning an area. I suppose that is where location really comes in to play, and why there are so many different types of treatments. Although our extremely mild winter here has brought the ticks out in new, much larger, numbers this year. I am very lucky to say that we've only come across one lonely tick at home and we're pretty sure he traveled along home with us from a trip up north. (Just like that damned brown recluse who backpacked his way here from south carolina). For that reason we like the sprays because when we use them, its a temporary use, and when we get home the dogs get a bath, and we don't worry about it again until we need it - although i do spray the stray cats down with it when they venture into my yard haha. I would think that living in an area that is prone to ticks, frontline would be the most thorough and area friendly option.
     
  15. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

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    I agree, Frontline is a great first line defense against fleas and ticks. I use DeMite (from American Allergy Supply) on our bed linens and my dogs blankets as well. It kills dust mites, which I am highly allergic to, as well as other arthropods. I also use a miticide with the carpet shampoo when I do the carpets for the same purpose. Those 2 products kill flea eggs and larvae as well as the dust mites and the DeMite kills the lot of them when I do her bedding every other week.

    She is a very light - coloured American Field Yellow Labrador Retriever so ticks are easy to spot on her. Her propensity for a serious daily swim likely knocks most hitchhikers off into the river soon after they get on her as well as I have not found a bug on her yet when we get home.

    Now, the deer flies, horse flies and stable flies are another matter when we are out in the woods every day. I watch her carefully and kill the ones that she doesn't catch and eat first.

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  16. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    The only tick-borne disease that people worry about here (the Washington DC region) is Lyme disease. The tick needs to be on you for 24 hours before you get enough of the pathogen to risk infection. Unfortunately the tick might have been on your dog for several days.
    Unfortunately it takes a couple of days to kill a tick and your dog could have Lyme disease by then. Also, it works by being absorbed into the skin and then dissipating throughout the dog's circulatory system so parasites will suck it up from his blood. I'm not real comfortable with that since I'm not convinced that pharmaceuticals are tested very thoroughly these days. Even for humans! Frontline will be absorbed into all of his tissues: heart, lungs, liver, brain, everything.
     
  17. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

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    My previous canine companion was regularly dosed with Frontline for her entire life. She died of complications from COPD (from excessive trail dust) at age 14 & 1/2. As she was a big girl - 75 pounds in her prime - that is not a bad run and there were no problems from the Frontline usage.

    Frontline works pretty quickly to specifically block the glutamate channels in arthropods' central nervous systems. We mammals do not have those glutamate channels. (This is similar to boric acid. We use that for eye wash, but it will kill a bug dead right away.) Since Frontline also kills any other bug that bites my puppy in the same manner, I am glad to be able to do something to help curb the spread of mosquitoes and heart worm, which is fatal to dogs. If you are counting on merely being watchful to protect your dogs from arthropod assaults while they are outdoors you are taking on a serious observational and intercessory burden. This especially if you live a couple thousand miles away from them.

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    While I am very careful to search over my Labrador after every days run, I have friends that are less observant. They also use Frontline. A couple have told me that they have found dead ticks both on the dog and on the floor, killed by the product. The ticks were NOT engorged with blood - i.e. the tick died soon after biting, not days later.

    I agree that it is wise to use caution when considering any medicinal products. I also agree that Lyme disease needs to be considered as a threat to dogs. My dog got the Lyme vaccine for several years until I decided the risk was much lower than I had first thought. If a tick bites your dog and dies right away, the chances of it giving your dog Lyme disease are pretty low. The current literature seems to indicate that it takes an extended period of time with the tick attached to transmit Lyme to either a person or a dog.

    The development of "hot spots" from flea bites and the misery a dog goes through constantly scratching at fleas seems a good reason to use a product like Frontline. That it has been in use for many years without significant problems indicates that it is relatively safe to use, though there are always some individuals that are sensitive to any product. Obviously, if your dog were to have a bad reaction to it, then you should discontinue use. Otherwise, it works as advertized. I also recommend the regular use of Heartguard to prevent heart worm, this despite that the product is slightly toxic. It kills heart worms and any other worms the dog may have picked up and does not negatively effect most dogs on an ongoing basis.

    Many of the medications that we humans regularly use have associated hazards. I have 1 prescription that I take - Avapro/irbisartin for age - related high blood pressure. It is an angiotension 2 receptor agonist and a sodium specific diuretic, so I tend to retain potassium in my blood. This could be a problem if I were not aware of it. The same can be said for many other meds we get put on - cost/benfit, and there may be unforeseen side effects. You just have to watch for them, but you take the meds anyways as they do something beneficial for you.
     

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