Ticks and Lyme's Disease

[roys]

1 hour ago, Rich Rule said:

Well I spotted something behind my youngest son’s knee today.

 

Best be safe so I grabbed my phone to take picture and zoom in.

 

Bloody tick, the fancy snare type remover worked a charm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

got the head out and then wrapped it in bog role and cremated the little bastard.

 

Looks like a double tick there Rich

[Rich Rule]

50 minutes ago, roys said:

Looks like a double tick there Rich

 

Do you mean it looks like there is another one still in there?  My eyesight isn't the best these days.

 

Or did you mean on the zoomed picture?  that could be the shadow as it is pretty sunny at the moment so I put it on the window sill for the best light to get a picture.

51 minutes ago, roys said:

Looks like a double tick there Rich

 

[Mark Bolam]

I’ve got various tick tools, but prefer the snare type that Rich mentioned.

 

It’s also important to disinfect the site immediately after removal.

 

Another good point Rich makes is to destroy the evil little bastards as soon as you’ve removed it!

 

I pulled one off my old dog once, took my eye off the ball, and it disappeared onto the lawn.

I was gutted.

[Steven P]

Just been chatting to family... one more comment - it is Duke of Edinburgh Award expidition season... might be time to play the fussing dad / uncle / granddad card and insist they take a tick removal tool with them too if you have family doing that.

[Bolt]

What to do if you’re a fussing mother / aunt / grandma?

[Steven P]

1 hour ago, Bolt said:

What to do if you’re a fussing mother / aunt / grandma?

 

Speaking to the current audience - though I did consider that - this forum (or the current active members) don't come into the mum, aunt or grandma category... apologies of course if I have upset anyone with a generalisation!

[roys]

6 hours ago, Rich Rule said:

 

Do you mean it looks like there is another one still in there?  My eyesight isn't the best these days.

 

Or did you mean on the zoomed picture?  that could be the shadow as it is pretty sunny at the moment so I put it on the window sill for the best light to get a picture.

 

Looks like you successfully removed two ticks at once, think a mummy and daddy tick were making little baby ticks. When I zoomed in on your tick pic it looks like one tick on top of the other. I found exactly the same on my dogs eye brow last week.

 

[Doug Tait]

What a way to go, copulating whilst the inferno engulfed them.

[Alan Smith]

Been following this topic with interest. As veterinary surgeon ticks hold a great deal of interest. A few points, some more pedantic than others!

 1. It's Lyme disease, not Lyme's. Named after a small town in New Hampshire.

 2. Don't knock the Doc's. Compared with 20 years ago most of them are really on it now and considering the try not to use antibiotics ethos that we live in nowadays I know that in this area (Sussex) if you report a tick bite you will almost automatically be put on antibiotics.

3. New kid on the block. Tick Bourne Encephalitis. TBE.  Seriously this makes Lyme disease look like a walk in the park. It's a viral disease, so antibiotics won't help. Affects animals and humans equally and is potentially fatal. We are just starting to see cases reported in the UK. As an interesting side note, the serotype of Lyme disease that is prevalent in the UK does not seem to affect dogs. In the US Lyme is a fairly common disease in dogs. I have tested many dogs here in the UK over the last 30years and have still to see a positive titre.

 

 I think the basic message here is don't ignore ticks, if you get a bite do something about it particularly if you feel ill post bite. Despite what has been said in the posts above I thing most GPs are aware and ready to treat where required.

[Mark J]

2 hours ago, Doug Tait said:

What a way to go, copulating whilst the inferno engulfed them.

To be fair, I can think of worse ways to meet my maker.