Reply With QuoteYes indeedy, horrible little bug*** .Originally Posted by seikopath
Stay careful out there
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37252925
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Yes indeedy, horrible little bug*** .
Hate these things. Our dog has had a few in the past but didn't realise they can be so problematic.
I've always treated my dogs with a veterinary product that kills the buggers as soon as they take a bite, similar to a flea treatment.
I've never found a tick on them as a result.
Dot's had a couple this year that we have satisfactorily removed.
Interesting about Deer as carriers as we often have one or two in the woods at the back of the garden where I walk Dot.
The good thing about a white Bully is that you can spot any tick right away, much more difficult with a longer coated dog.
Cheers,
Neil.
A friend of mine got it while in Devon. Very nasty. Took him 6 moths to get over it
I know a couple of people who contracted Lymes. Both of them nearly died, and both of them have suffered severe long term/permanent effects on their health
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
it's a lottery. Good to see people are more aware of it these days.
Fas est ab hoste doceri
Milly and Tiggy our black Labs have a dedicated pair of tick removal tweezers.
Living on the edge of the New Forest heavily populated with deer they pick them up on occasion, throughout the year.
A daily smooth around of the dogs normally discovers any unwanted passengers.
With a twist and a gentle tug tick removal is swift and clean. It's important to remove the whole critter which is then put in paper, set alight whilst waiting for the "POP" which indicates a successful execution.
Nasty beasties!
Very nasty little critters. I didn't notice this one until the following day, by which stage it was firmly embedded just below my knee.
I have a pair of removal tweezers, but went to the health centre to have it removed.
Neil
Our whippet picked up a tick a few weeks back - her fur is so short, it was easy to spot. We popped it out with a "tick twister" we'd bought from the vet, which did the job incredibly easily. I must say, I never thought of incinerating the eight-legged blighter (nice idea!) so I just crushed, bagged and binned it.
Rohan sell anti insect clothing including socks, trousers and shirts that may be worth investigating. They are impregnated with permethrin for the life of the garment.
There is a recommended rotation whilst twisting too, but I can't exactly remember now whether it's clock or anti.
I will speak with Flossie, she's chief tick tugger and report back.
They go with quite a "POP" when you torch the blighters.
I check the dogs over whenever they have been in known territory out in the forest or wherever. It's funny because they think sitting/standing there having a check over is as a result of good behaviour.
Another biscuit now, please!
Ha, love it.
We spend a fair bit of time down by the New Forest and check her after every walk, this was the first one we found. I have to say, it never occurred to me that there might be a recommended twist direction: I assumed it worked like a nut-and-bolt, and twisted it anticlockwise...! Seemed to come out easily enough, and left nothing behind.
Thanks Dave-0.
Noted.
I picked one up a few years ago on my upper arm, probably while walking in Richmond Park. I must have unknowingly brushed the main body off, presumably when changing clothes. Then the next day I felt something else brush off when getting ready for work (mouthparts?), and I had the classic bull’s-eye. It wasn’t painful initially, presumably they have their own local anaesthetic. GP prescribed prophylactic antibiotics. The bull’s eye took many months to disappear and the bite itself was very slow to heal. Horrible b*stards.
Wild camping early this summer we came home covered in the little sods... The smaller ones... There's a few different types. The tiny ones would be practically impossible to find on a dog until they've had a good drink!
Old army trick was to hold a lit cigarette as close to the critter as you could stand and the heat draws out the tick, cleanly.
Worked a treat, but don’t blame me if you’ve not got a steady hand!
On a trip to Germany I noticed that many supermarkets sell a tick removal aerosol which freezes the tick prior to a tick-lifter fork pulling the thing from your skin. This prevents the tick regurgitating into your bloodstream - one of the main causes of infection. Sadly I haven't seen this aerosol anywhere in the UK.
As a preventative, it is possible to purchase permethrin spray from vets or the internet, which can be used to spray socks, shirts and trousers to prevent the ticks getting to you. I haven't worn shorts in tick country for 10 years or more.
Capful of whisky filled to the brim and put flush over the skin/tick so it's submerged makes them drop off and into the cap within 5 minutes.
Ive heard that a cap full of shampoo has the same effect.
Ive done whisky with the dog and it worked a charm. I thought it was safer than the tweezers because it wouldn't risk the head staying embedded.
https://www.thebarkark.co.uk/shop/do...FY8YGwodqTUB9w
Watch out for medical misdiagnosis too:
http://www.alzheimersweekly.com/2016...e-disease.html
Rob.
Apologies for bumping an old thread, but I hope a reminder of the risks of Ticks and Lyme disease may help someone.
I was diagnosed with Lyme a couple of months back, and in my case it's pretty clear that I have had it bubbling away for some time and that it has got into places you really don't want it to get to.
The NHS, and GP's in particular, do not seem to understand the disease in any depth and are pretty poor at putting a bunch of disparate symptoms together and getting the right answer - I had to specifically ask to be tested for Lyme despite a number of the classic symptoms being present (facial palsy, joint pain and arthritis, cognative impairment) but no rash. Worst still is that even once they have the right answer they can do very little to treat an established infection under the NICE guidelines. Quite simply if it isn't caught early then the NHS are going to struggle to beat it.
Can I suggest that, if you enjoy any form of outdoor activity and aren't already aware of the signs, you have a read up. The Lyme Disease Action website ( www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk ) is a good source of information. Note particularly the tiny size of ticks in their Nymph stage - truly disturbing.
Oh and finally, if anyone has direct experience of using alternative treatments I would be very interested to learn about them.
Last edited by Mr Nuttington; 5th August 2019 at 10:31.
Chap who works in my business is a big fan of the great outdoors and is presently struck down with this horrible ailment. Best advice is to get it looked at ASAP after removing a tick from yourself as a precautionary measure. My colleague did the typically male thing of ignoring it and is paying the price.
Sounds awful Mr Nuttington…. Take care
There was a bit about on R4 recently
James Naughtie (Ex presenter got it)
He got the rash and dealt with it quite quickly fortunately
James Delingpole has been writing about Lyme's at some length in the Spectator, specifically how long it took him to get an accurate diagnosis and how poor the treatments are. Really knocked him for six. Nasty business.
I should probably add that my post earlier painted the NHS rather harshly, which wasn’t intended. I think GPS should be slightly better informed but the reality is that it’s a complex and poorly understood thing and I suspect there’s no money in it for the drug companies and therefore little research.
Take care out in the fields everyone and get yourselves to the GP pdq if you suspect anything.
House of Representatives orders Pentagon to investigate whether ticks were once used as biological weapons
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/17/p...ion/index.html
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/weaponized-ticks/
TRUE
Fella in my office just struck down, flippin scary for him.
A friend of mine caught it too after being bitten by a tick in Northumberland. Same story again, repeated trips to the GP who was slow off the mark to diagnose the disease. To be fair, my friend hadn't really heard of it either so wasn't able to help with the diagnosis as it was months earlier when he'd been bitten and he knew nothing about the disease. He ended up very poorly and was actually diagnosed after he was admitted to hospital at the RVI in Newcastle. The care he received when he was diagnosed was fantastic by the way. This was about 5 years ago and he still has lasting effects from it. I'm told that the quicker it's diagnosed the better.
I visit the Isle of Arran a lot and a few years ago both me and my wife were badly bitten by ticks whilst out mountain biking. She had over 30 bites and I had about 25. We used tick tweezers to remove them and due to the amount of bites I rang 101 for advice. The call taker had no idea what I was talking about and kept trying to guide me towards flea bites. It seems that despite the terrible effects of Lymes disease the NHS still seem behind the curve in diagnosing it. I'm on Arran right now and after a walk today there were a couple of ticks crawling on my trousers. As Mr Nunnington says- be aware!
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This thread is timely as my Sister-in-Law was diagnosed with Lyme disease last week. She thinks she was bitten about a month ago, had an itchy bite mark from that time but the "bullseye" rash only appeared recently. Is now on antibiotics, hope they caught it early enough before it got too entrenched. Time will tell I guess. Took a couple of trips to the GP before it was diagnosed which is disconcerting.
Last edited by gary1064; 5th August 2019 at 22:11.
I got bitten by a tick on Saturday.
No bullseye rash and no flu symptoms (yet). The bite did swell like a mosquito bite and was itchy.
Fingers crossed the tick wasn't carrying the disease.
If you know you have been bitten then get to the GP pdq and demand antibiotics (doxycycline generally). No point doing the test yet as it takes a few weeks for the antibodies (which the test looks for) to develop. Its worth printing off the NICE guidelines (NG95 I think) and taking them with you in case the GP hasn't a clue. BTW about 30% of cases never get a rash so don't wait for that. Good luck.
No, they are indeed rubbish. I've called my GP last week because I suspect I might have picked it up while climbing a month ago, and the guy I spoke to didn't even know what Lymes was. It took two days of ringing around just to get an appointment to get tested.
And since my last post last night, would you believe it I've been bitten by a tick. Went for a scramble over the hills on Arran this morning and had to come down through some waist high ferns. I checked myself over and found nothing but an hour later looked down and happened to notice a tiny dot on my forearm which hadn't been there earlier. A very close inspection revered it to be a tick in its nymph stage. They are so small! I removed it with tick tweezers and wiped it down with antiseptic. NHS and Lymedisease.org guidelines are to leave it at that and be on the look out for symptoms.
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Reviving this one as a reminder with the good weather.
Finding loads of ticks on the dog recently.
Found a tick embedded in my leg today and thought I'd phone 111 for advice because I've also got covid and was worried it could mask any symptoms. Was quite surprised that 111 put it through to a GP who just straight away prescribed 3 weeks of antibiotics and said even though the risk of Lyme Disease is pretty small, I should take the antibiotics.
Last edited by Christian; 8th July 2022 at 19:32.
I’ve had three ticks so far this summer from Richmond or Bushy Park. Two became sore and started to take the telltale target pattern although small. I wasn’t particularly bothered, but Mrs Casper insisted that I got them checked. Like you, three weeks antibiotics, one which I reacted to in sunlight so it was changed. I can only remember having two before in my entire life, one in Thailand.
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I've had a couple this year. I couldn't find the tick removal tool I had but the Lyme's disease website said you can use fine nose tweezers to gently pull them out. So I dug out a pair of watchmaker's tweezers and they did the job perfectly. I had to use my loupe to make sure I had hold of the head.
Well worth posting the link again:
https://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk.../tick-removal/
We find them daily on the dog's body. Mostly on his chest or forehead. Despite the use of lotions etc from the vet. And yes, we have deer in the garden. These animals and ticks go well together, so to speak. I always cut long grass wearing a coverall with boots. Warm or not so warm weather. When you walk through woodlands, wear long trousers and put something on your head as well. It helps to cover your skin with a product containing DEET.
In March 2021, I was bitten by a spider and the effect on my skin looked like a tick bite. I went to see my GP and she put her hand on the spot; it was hot. She told me that a tick bite looks red, but doesn't feel warm when you put your hand or fingers on it. In my case, the spot was hot and it was narrowed down to a spider bite. Mind you, ticks become active when the temps are above 7(!) degrees.
Pulled a tick out of my teenagers stomach recently. Did it carefully to make sure I got the whole bugger.
I am not even in remote countryside, but just outside Kingston, where even outside the royal parks, deer roam in the woodland. I assume they are the reason for all the ticks.
Coincidently there's an article about ticks in a Dutch national newspaper today. The article comes down to the fact that they also house in short, clipped lawns. The sort of grass you walk bare-footed! A lady (with a biology background) did a test: trawling a piece of (white) blanket, over the just-cut lawn. 47(!!) ticks in one afternoon.
So, be careful where you put your bare feet!
And: an article about deer and ticks.
https://www.beaconfalls-ct.org/sites...fact_sheet.pdf
Last edited by thieuster; 9th July 2022 at 12:17.
They must be living off something - presumably the lawn owner has cats or dogs (unless there's visiting wildlife).
Dot gets a few now and then.
Fortunately with her very short coat they are easily seen and removed with the old Tom o' twist.
Cheers,
Neil.
In our case: visiting wildlife. No doubt.
Help my neighbour to gralloch and skin deer that he’s shot. Always get loads of ticks after that and no matter how careful you are usually end up with one that gets through. I use aftershave soaked cotton wool for about 5 mins then they either just come out or fall out.
Ideally use a tick tool to remove the offending critter and turn anti clockwise to pluck it out smartly. Always inspect where you’ve removed it to make sure you’ve got the head and it’s whole and complete.
I then pop it in tissue and crush it until the satisfying “pop”
Pays to inspect your dogs daily this time of year. Get lots round here as there are farmers fields near where I walk my dogs and often sheep in there who ticks love too.
We get them here in Germany. They’re pretty easy to remove with precision tweezers, just make sure you grip them as close as possible to the skin, and pinch them tight enough to grip but not so tight you break them apart. After I’ve removed one I’ll generally put it in a little bag and throw it in the freezer. That was on the advise of a local who reckons you can then later get the tick tested for Lymes, but not sure really what the point of that would be.
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