Ryuk has been bitten by one tick in his entire life time. He is not on frontline/etc and hasn't been for a while now (in on heartworm preventative), he's checked religiously for ticks when he come in. He must taste gross as I've never had any bug problems with him.

This tick was when I went away for 3 days for a convention 4 weeks ago, it was not there when I left, was there and partially fed (not truely engorged) when I came back. It was a deer tick. My housemate's dog has had engorged deer ticks countless times, he's often covered in them, no issues. Tested completely clean his last appointment.

I'm a little concerned because a few days ago I noticed the tick bite is still there, I did get the head when I removed it (I checked). It's a red dot (no rash, no bullseye), swollen a bit, a little sensitive (though he'll let me clean it). Ryuk's not showing any signs of pain. It's summer he's which always makes him sluggish (now I'm wondering if it's because he's sick, not just because he's on average less heat tolerant than pug with a husky coat in the desert). Training has been normal, he's sound, caught me a nice mouse the other day and happily ran Gambit into trees running through the woods on our hike the other day, so behaving like his normal jerkface self....

his yearly exam is in about 2-ish weeks....which is about 6 weeks after the initial bite....I know symptoms show can up at around that time and once they start it can have some serious long term effects. Ryuk was vaccinated (by nasty local vet without my permission during what was supposed to be a rabies vaccine clinic) for Lyme at around a year old and had a not-so-great reaction to the vaccine, I'm concerned that if he DOES have lyme he'll get it in the worse way....is it worth waiting, I can put an e-vet appointment on care credit but my next "pay check" isn't until next week when I'll be gone again for a weekend at a convention which is why I timed the appointment then....

I know from actual research that lyme disease isn't to big a deal with dogs, may test positive and are FINE exhibiting no symptoms....however at the same time the dog's I've met personally who'd had it have ended up crippled....every single one has lasting problems...so while I"m trying to convince myself he's fine and can wait 2 weeks, the less rational part of my brain is freaking out at the idea of a crippled Ryuk....(the thought of Ryuk not using up all of his world domination plotting energy playing frisbee is horrifying, the zombies would rise in mere weeks), plus since I doubt my "pet sitters" would notice if he wasn't acting right the 3 days I left....

When you say "it's still there," is it open (the wound)?

So it was under three days but no idea how much under, right?

"Not fully engorged" I have read means it has been a shorter time on board .... but I don't know how to measure that time.

You know about the Western Blot test (unlike the ELISA test, which I believe cannot distinguish between immunized and exposed) that can differentiate between infected dogs and vaccinated dogs, and can I.D. a dog who is both vaxed and infected?

I'm going to see if Dr. Betty could have a look here and maybe talk about tetracycline.

If he was my dog he would be taking tetracycline 240 mg 2x per day for 4-5 days.
I am actually taking it myself right now. I pulled an engorged tick off myself 4 days ago and have had erhlichia already and don't want Lyme.
There are 0 side effects in the majority of cases from taking the antibiotic.

Doxycycline is more often recommended but is expensive and makes some dogs (and people) nauseous. And, I have 250 mg tetracycline on hand.
That is the only way I can answer your question, Jamie. I don't think the vaccine is effective.
We have a ton of Lyme disease, erhlichia and babezia here. We treat rather than test in most cases.
PS-if you do a literature search on Lyme in humans --perhaps it is just in the Center for Infectious Disease stuff in Minnesota (CID) --a recommendation that people living in endemic areas who remove a tick which has been attached for 36hrs
be treated with short term doxycycline therapy, like a day or two of doxycycline--

Edited by Betty Landercasp (05/31/2012 09:48 PM)
Edit reason: CID recommendation of Doxy.

Oh, Betty, I was just PMing you!!!

I'm so glad you were online!

Jamie, can you manage the regular vet and the tetracycline? I could probably get some $$ to you via PayPal fastest. I might have $45 or $50 in PayPal.

Get your vet to call you in a prescription for doxy or tetracycline. You can still see them in 2 wks and talk about it then.
Lyme can be a real big deal in dogs. Natalya Zahn's Oscar nearly died from a tick thing. And it's not always Lyme. It can be Erlichia or one of the other tick diseases.
All these tick diseases are treated the same way, with doxy or tetracycline.

 Quote: Betty Landercasp

Get your vet to call you in a prescription for doxy or tetracycline. You can still see them in 2 wks and talk about it then.

I had $25 in PayPal and sent it to you.

PM or email me. I could get you some more tomorrow.

Okay, calling tommorrow morning! We should be able to get in (visit is required) same day with a bit of luck. Thank You!

The wound isn't still open, but it's red, there is a scab (the scab is red) no discharge when pressed on by sterile cloth. The tick was "fat" but I've seen them engorged and this was far from it....I left friday morning, he didn't get much out time that day, was outside for a bit on Saturday, didn't get to see him again until monday...


I did remove it in the normal fashion, double checked to make sure I got the whole head, cleaned the spot, checked it a few days later and it seemed to be healing normally, cleaned it again to be sure, was surprised when I later found it back to being angry and raised. I assumed that it was a different injury when I felt it a few days ago during a tick check (thought it was a tick) but it's in the exact area I pulled the tick off and is a textbook looking tick bite. I know there were no more ticks apart from that one. They're checked two times a day and every time after they come in. Neither of my two really get ticks, housemate's dog who plays in the same areas comes in with them everywhere, he always had at least two at any given time, it's crazy.

Just as an FYI, it can take a couple weeks for a tick bite to heal completely. Kenzi had one a couple months ago (in March, in Michigan, go figure...) and it took a couple weeks to completely disappear. It did stay scabbed for a longer than normal time, but other than that it acted like a normal healing wound and showed none of the signs of a lyme bite. A vet visit and meds are still a really good idea, but I wanted to throw that out there to ease your mind a bit!!

Your housemate may want to look into a preventic collar for her dog - they're pretty inexpensive and much more effective for ticks than some of the spot ons.