Get It Off Of Me

     Tis the season. No not Christmas, wood tick season. We all enjoy springtime: the warmth is returning, the grass is greening up, the trees are budding, and flowers are blooming. With all this beauty around us it's hard to believe there is an evilness lurking out there, eagerly waiting to latch on to any living creature that ventures by. That tiny evil being is the dreaded wood tick.
     I am afraid of all creepy, crawly things, but I do think the wood tick easily holds the top spot on my list.
     This is a topic I previously discussed in my posting of 4-2-11, titled 'Springtime and the Wood tick', but it is a subject that bears repeating.
     Coming from the Twin Cities wood ticks are not in abundance as they are in my current location: The 'Wood Tick capitol of Minnesota'. More appropriately it is dubbed 'The Deer Tick Capitol of MN'.
     All tick varieties have the potential of transmitting diseases to their unsuspecting prey. However, the deer tick appears to be the tick that can cause the most damage to us two-leggers and our four-legger companions.
     On our Whitney, we use a product called Frontline, for tick disease protection. Also, all of our neighbor dog friends use the same product with consistently good results.  Our vet, Dr. Kyle Adkins, also offers a Lyme's disease preventive shot for added protection.
     As with anything else, there is no guarantee, but they are excellent preventive measures. Dog friend Tucker, is an example that there is no 100% guarantee. A couple of years ago Tucker was diagnosed with a form of Lyme's disease, even having all of the preventive measures. The vet quickly treated the symptoms and Tucker is doing fine. However, he does now suffer from arthritis. Is this from the nasty tick bite or just from being an older dog? Who knows, but since that summer, Tucker does need to take a daily pill for his arthritis aches.
     We all do a tick check on our dogs every night. (Well, the all doesn't include me.) For Whitney's sake I have DJ do the checking. If I were to find one on her, my scream would scare our little girl. When I look into her eyes I wouldn't hear, "Get it off from me," instead I would hear "You keep away from me."
     Last year, my friend Karen sent me a 'helpful hint' that she had received from a nurse. Here's the hint: Soak a cotton ball in liquid soap; cover the tick with the soaked cotton and swab it 20-30 seconds; remove the cotton ball. The tick and head should be attached to the cotton.
     I have not tried this myself, but the nurse stated she has succeeded using this method every time. Her method is for humans, but my thinking is it should work on dogs, too.
     If the need arises and you give it a try, please let me know if it works for you. Or if you have another remedy, please send it my way.
     Tick check before lights out, everyone.

     So long, I'll see you soon!