[JuneBugs Momma]

Living in a very bad tick-bourn area of the country (northeast) I have been lucky since I acquired JB 2 years ago. When he came to us, his coat was very long (typical biewer) and I found a tick crawling up his coat. I have had no problems until yesterday.


I decided to have him done in a modified schnauzer cut this time around where the legs are larger than the body with a topknot. I also use Vectra3D on him, but, in the past I always had him cut very short (7 or 10 blade with short face). I let him out yesterday morning and found a larger tick on him. The tick must have been pretty famished cause it did not wander at all, for I found the tick embedded on the top of his little paw. I noticed it maybe a half hour after he was outside. I removed it quickly but I should have gotten a better look at it and kept it for the vet to identify it but down the kitchen sink it went. When I removed the tick, there was no blood so I got it early. His paw was pinkish at the area where the tick attached and it looked like a little paper cut. I cleaned the area with peroxide and this morning, it looks fine with a scab forming.


Some people are telling me that I should go to the vet. I have no idea why, for when I go onto the CDC website, it says that it takes up to 24 hours for a tick to transmit disease and evenso, it could take 7-14 days until you see redness or, at least in humans, a red ring around the area which suggests lymes disease. I have also been told that it is hard to detect lymes by a blood test unless antibodies are present to show they are fighting off the disease. This could take months, if in fact, disease was transmitted.


I did honestly panic because jb has been through so much (being a puppy mill dog). He came to me disease-free and I tend to keep him that way. I have no children so he is our world.


I attached a pic of his paw and if you click on it, it might become larger.


Any/all advice is appreciated!