Well, it was my turn to get a tick this week. I foolishly laid down in the grass to stretch my back, and one of those blood-thirsty little suckers got me. Toby said he was glad I finally knew what it felt like to be snacked on by a bug and that I should have much more sympathy for him and that I should give him more Milk Bones to make up for all the suffering he has gone through and the Milk Bone compensation is retroactive to Geordie’s lifetime and it extends to other animals that have ticks too. In other words, many more Milk Bones.
Many, many more Milk Bone
The Adventures of Bitey Dog 
HUGSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
I GET AT LEAST A DOZEN PLUS BITES YEAR !!!! ILOATH THE LITTLE SUCKERS !!
LOVE AND HUGSSS
PAM
Yuck. So sorry they find you tender, juicy and delicious! 😝
Coop and I agree with Toby! He deserves many many many many more Milk Bones! 😉 😛
He is SuperToby after all! 😉
PATS, RUBS, and (((HUGS))) 🙂
PS…so very sorry to hear about your bite and your pain. 😦 UGHS on those little suckers. 😦
I just gave Toby a Milk Bone on your behalf!
(Ha ha, I barely felt the tick. It was just a nymph.😝)
ticks are pure evil! The only way to combat them is with Gracie’s Doggie Delights freeze dried chicken! Well, that’s what Maverick tells me, anyway. 🙂
Hmm, and where can one find Gracie’s Doggie Delights Freeze Dried Chicken? It sounds like I might need some urgently. – Toby
https://graciesdoggiedelights.com/
I had to push Toby away from the screen. He was drooping over those freeze dried liver treats!
Maverick likes the beef liver and the chicken hearts. And I just love Gracie. The treats are a bit pricey but so worth it
Did you save it? You can send it for testing. We’ve done this with every tick and one was Lyme positive. That prompted additional testing for my sweet baboo.
Also, if you do have an auto-immune disease, then you don’t want to mess around with Lymes Disease. I can provide you additional information if you like.
Oh, and I have had Lymes way back when my niece was 18, got it at the events out of state; she’s 36 now. That was when Lymes was still somewhat in the dark ages as far as any medical acknowledgment of its prevalence. Fortunately I got the classic bullseye rash and just had to take doxycycline for 21 days, 2x each days. I was thoroughly nauseous for 3 weeks, but worth it to not have fibromyalgia for the rest of my life.
Let me know ….
Yuck. So sorry you had to go through all of that! I’m glad you made a full recovery.
My mom got a bite a year or so ago, and the doctor told her that since the tick was only on her for minutes there wasn’t time for Lyme’s transmission. Mine was on for less that 2 minutes. So far no rash or anything. I have to see the doctor again in about two weeks. If she wants to test then we can.
Hopefully there will be nothing more to report about this stinky little bug!
I hope it doesn’t make you sick. Those little suckers are terrible.
I have to agree that those things are awful. Why were they (and fleas) ever created?
Did I say that right? Not test you, you can test the tick! It seems logical to me that non-Lyme carrying tick means no Lymes disease for the human or dog. Although dogs do have a Lymes vaccine that failed clinical trials in humans for causing arthritis-related symptoms. Anywho, I just always save the tick to test. Go right to the source!
Additionally, these ticks submitted for testing allow the public health department to track Lymes transmission and also now Powassan Virus, which is on the rise. I’ve gotten quite good at identifying tick types by sight. Yay me!!
Glad you saw the bugger early!
No, I didn’t save the tick. When my mom brought hers to the doctor, no one wanted it for testing or research or anything. I didn’t think anyone would want mine either. Both deer and deer ticks are so plentiful in this area, I guess scientists have enough.
Powassan Virus? I don’t think I know that one. Is it carried by Lone Star ticks or something like that? I might be getting my ticks and diseases mixed up.
The same tick that transmits Lyme Disease also carries Powassan Virus. The proper name of the tick is Ixode scapularis. Also known as deer tick or black legged tick. Powassan is rare, but a nasty way to die as it causes encephalitis.
Too bad that the doctor/office staff blew off your mom. Tick testing ,even in Pennsylvania, is still valuable as far as numbers and understanding the geography and extent of transmissions. Your mom really did do the right thing by holding onto the tick. The physician’s office gave your mom poor advice. Or maybe they didn’t know about the testing because it isn’t a Medicare or insurance covered service and therefore doesn’t come with a CPT code. It’s FREE! Even if you or your mom were not infected due to the brief time of attachment, if the tick were still positive (or even negative) that’s still important data.
I like to think of our individual relationships with physicians and our medical team as complimentary. Sometimes they know a lot and sometimes we know more. There are, of course, crossovers and neither one knows everything. However, for them to disregard something (in this case, tick testing) is more of a move attributable to ignorance as opposed to knowledge.
Interestingly, undiagnosed Lyme disease (up to 30% of people do not get the bullseye rash) is particularly insidious. I know someone who didn’t get the rash and it took years of experiencing vague symptoms, then debilitating illness and along with this a severe loss of quality of life. All the while no doctor could quite put their finger on what was happening My friend was eventually ignored by her medical team before (after many years!) one physician who possessed higher than average critical thinking skills (keeping in mind many doctors don’t possess this skill at all) to receive a diagnosis and treatment (much of which was holistic… another subject that many doctors don’t know much about) before getting improving enough to feel like her old self again.
This kind of illness for a person, and especially the part of being ignored because all tests came back normal, is extremely difficult and frustrating for the patient. The symptoms exist, but since there is no lab confirmation the person is eventually not really paid attention to anymore.
………So yeah, I’d 100% not listen to the the doctor’s advice that your mom received to disregard the actual tick… and yup I’d send the little creepy critter off to be tested for FREE! I can assure you the tick testing lab is very happy to do their job (even if some doctors are not willing to do theirs). Tick testing actually is a huge part of a medical and science category known as “public health”.
Moral of the story: in this lifetime you have to be your own advocate and surround yourself with the right people because no one else is going to do it for you.
Wishing you a glorious Sunday!
This year, Bruce has found three ticks on him. One dug into his back, one crawling on his neck, and another dig into the back of his knee. Poor Nox has had at least two ticks. We didn’t have to worry about ticks or fleas in Colorado.
Really? Now I want to move to Colorado!
Iheard from a neighbor that deer flies are so bad that the deer are leaving the woods for residential areas to get away from them. As a result, they are shedding more ticks in people’s yards. Ewww.
Yuk! Colorado doesn’t have a lot of insects or ticks. There are spiders here and there. I loved not having to worry about being bitten. Of course, if you get up into the woods in Colorado, you can find biting animals – from the size of a bear down to small ticks.
I’ve always thought Colorado would be a beautiful place to live. Did you like it? (Other than the biting bears?)
Well, Colorado has bitey mountain lions as well. I know people who have had encounters! We did love living in Colorado near the mountains. It is a very beautiful state. The eastern part of Colorado is very similar to western Kansas, flat with large areas growing crops or cattle. The big new new in the last 5 or so years is commercial wind farms.
Hmm, with how “tooty” Toby is, we might fit in with those wind farms!
🤣
Toby drives a pretty good bargain (for himself). 🙂
No argument here! 😆