[1_Rain_Drop]

"If you feel a pinch , look carefully! They are like the size of pinpoints."

I had one of those on my ankle last year. Didn't know it till I rubbed my ankle and felt something hard (picture rubbing a fish against the scales) that's what it felt like. I removed it and showed it to my doctor. He thought it was a gnat and didn't take me seriously till I said I had to pull it off. Said to return if a bulls eye appears.

Anyway, that thing was super tiny! How in the blazes are we supposed to find them on our pets?

[To Hell With Poverty]

There is a brand new flea and tick collar out called Seresto...it kills fleas and repels ticks. It costs an arm and a leg but lasts for 8 months so seems like a much better deal than Frontline, which only kills the ticks after they've bitten. I'm considering it for my 4 cats since down here in the Ozark we have something scary known as "bobcat fever," which is tick-borne and has been described as feline ebola!

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

1_Rain_Drop:" Lyme disease is caused by bacteria carried by the blacklegged tick, commonly known as the deer tick.
Early symptoms include headache, muscle pain and fatigue, and in some cases a tell-tale bullseye rash.

The "bulls-eye rash " occurs only in 50 % of the cases
The bulls-eye is only but one observable indicator
The bacterium is like a spirocete and virus in that it has a flagella (tail-like ) that allows it to travel through the bloodstream
if it rests in a bone joint, it can become arthiritis
If it rests in avital organ , it can manifest itself in many ways .
It has the ability to form an 'over coat' , like a virus , and can lay dormant for 15 - 20 years before it reappears.
Most doctors don't know how to treat it as the symtoms can lay dormant for a number of years, depending on where they lay dormant.
If bitten , contact a doctor who has current information about tick bites; if ignorqant , get another doctor for tratment .
Like ADD (learning disability), there are no specific symptoms - but rather a series of symptoms, some of which may , or may not , occur.

Treatment : Antibiotics for 14 - 21 days
Search online for specifics and recent suggestions and more recent information.
Prevention : Rubber bands on long pant legs , and/or , spray with pyrethrum (natural/ flower insecticides)
Wear 'flea collars' specific to fleas and ticks for annimals, especially where deer are known to inhabit.
Ticks are known to alternately infect rabbits , chipmonks, squirrels, and other 'warm blooded' annimals .

I had three tick bites last summer while visiting friends in New Hampshire, and after doing internet research online, I knew more than my doctor.
This is an unknown issue that many doctors will overlook, or be ignorant about; be assertive as you may know know more than the doctor !
Get antibiotic treatment within the first week and you may overcome this debiliatating disease of Lyme , or several other diseases that the tick is the vector of creating.
This is nothing to screw with ..

[freeangel]

“Said to return if a bulls eye appears.”

Less than 50% of Lyme infected patients actually get that bulls eye rash.