Tick = lyme disease?

corbinam

corbinam

Moderator
So we pulled the first tick off of Bentley...ever! I think it must have just bitten him because he jumped up, then immediately started biting at it. It was very very small, and easy to pull out.

I've read so much about lyme disease on the forum that now I'm worried. Should we have him tested? Or should we keep an eye on him? He's so calm around the house (sleeps a lot, etc...) anyways, I'm not sure if I would catch that particular change in behavior.
 
If the tick hadn't attached, you're fine. I believe they have to be attached for 24-48 hours to infect the dog but I just got an article from the AKC today that will answer some of that for you. It's here:
http://www.doggedhealth.com/disease...epth/spotlight-on-lyme-disease.html?task=view

The ticks you need to worry about are the deer ticks. They are REALLY tiny. Dog ticks are bigger and easier to see and don't spread Lyme. Most likely if you saw it easily it was a dog tick, but the article should help.

Hope Bentley is OK!!
 
Ann, thanks for the article! I think it might have been a deer tick only because it was so small! If Bentley hadn't bitten at it, I would never have seen it. It was probably around 2 mm.

But, the fact that he bit at it so quickly and fiercely, plus the fact that it was so easy to remove makes me think that it must have just gotten on him.

I will keep a close eye on him for the next day or so.
 
If it was just crawling on him and not attached, he should be fine although I think it is a good idea to keep an eye on him just to ease your mind.

If you are worried about lyme, talk to your vet about a lyme vaccination if you didn't get one for Bentley.
 
If the tick was not engorged you should be fine. The transfer of any disease usually happens when the tick has drunk its full and then releases. When they release they re-inject a small portion of blood to push themselves out. That's when the infection transfer would occur. The fact that the tick was not engorged would indicate that there probably was no transfer. When ever you remove an embedded deer tick, save it so it can be checked to see if it is a lyme disease vector. This is especially important if your dog has been treated for lyme disease in the past since testing the dog will give a positive response since the antibodies from the previous infection will still be present.
I have had good luck using frontline and have never had to remove an embedded tick. I also inoculate Maxine and Flora against Lyme disease.
Here in Connecticut I live where Lyme was first discovered and named.
Doug
 
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