RanchGirl Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 My son found a tick on his stomach today. I pulled it out with the tick key (which I just ordered from amazon thanks to this forum and it arrived today, just in time!), wiped with apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball and applied antibacterial ointment. The site did have a tiny, tiny spot of blood a minute or two after i removed the tick. Obviously I will watch the bite site for a rash or infection. The tick came out in one piece, with a white chunk of ds' skin in her 'mouth part' which she promptly let go of in the baggy. There was no blood on the white piece of skin. The tick was not engorged. We are in Minnesota and there are deer ticks and plenty of lyme disease here, but I have looked at pictures online and I believe this is a female American dog tick, not a deer tick. Apparently these dog ticks can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia and possibly ehrlichiosis to humans, but not lyme. I have never heard of any of these 3 diseases but I will call our pediatrician in the morning and ask their advice. So here are my questions for the tick experts: (1) is it likely that the tick did not get to his bloodstream based on this description (no blood on the white piece of skin the tick was holding onto)? (2) would you start antibiotics prophylactically based one what I have told you? I typically avoid abx whenever possible. If it was a deer tick I would definitely start him on them, but with this kind I am not sure. I am seriously ready to move far far away from here. This was the 7th tick I found this week in our house (4 came in on the dog and 2 came in on the kids' clothes after a walk in a nearby nature area this week, but today my son was only in the backyard). I am so so so creeped out about these disgusting things right now!!!! I also just finished abx for a bullseye rash myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I wouldn't worry too much. Generally the ticks have to stay one for a bit before they transmit what they have. We've got lots of dog ticks here (no deer ticks yet thankfully) and honestly, we've come to see them as no big deal. This is our third spring in this house and despite the ticks we've found we've only had one attached to one of us. Keep your lawn mowed, keep the dogs on revolution and spray your kids clothes with bug spray. If you're adventurous get some chickens. They LOVE ticks. It's not something I'd move for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie in Oh Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 my kids all end up with 5-10 a year. We check every night until it gets really hot. No one has been sick yet. We have woods and a creek and the cats and dog raom in the woods a bring them into the house. I just remove them and then put some atibiotic cream on the site. Hasn't been a big deal and I wouldn't trade iving in the country for tick free living, though I do agree that the were pretty gross to me at first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 (edited) my kids all end up with 5-10 a year. We check every night until it gets really hot. No one has been sick yet. We have woods and a creek and the cats and dog raom in the woods a bring them into the house. I just remove them and then put some atibiotic cream on the site. Hasn't been a big deal and I wouldn't trade iving in the country for tick free living, though I do agree that the were pretty gross to me at first. I think everyone in this house got over the gross thing this spring. We just had more of them then usual and there was a point when we just gave up freaking out about it. Like you said, it comes with the life. Sure I have ticks but I also have wildlife, quiet, truly dark nights, a veiw of the forest that stretches to the horizon, etc. I'll gladly put up with the ticks. :D Edited June 1, 2011 by WishboneDawn spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 My dd has had 3 in the past week (2 wood/dog, 1 deer), and I've just marked their locations on my calendar and have been monitoring her for any signs of illness/fever. I am, however, completely creeped out that she is the only kid who has brought them in, out of 4 who play in the EXACT same areas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I would only do antibiotics if symptoms started. I pull ticks off my kids all the time and if we did antibitiocs for every one we'd be on them half the year. I hate ticks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I grew up in the middle of the woods, and now I live in the middle of the woods with my kids...my parents pulled ticks off me all the time, and I find them on my kids pretty regularly. No one's been sick yet. I never realized ticks freaked people out so much until I started reading message boards, really--I always just thought of them as part of life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilo90 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I was JUST about to post a tick question so I appreciate your thread. I had our first experience with ticks this morning. Kids played in someone's backyard last night, got home at 10:00pm, went to bed, bathed them at 8:30am this morning and there were the ticks. Ugh. Two on the 8 yr old, FOUR on my 5 yr old and none on my oldest daughter (thankfully). Called the peds nurse to see what to do and she advised me to come in for an acute appointment. (We're military, so they aren't making money off of us.) Couldn't get an appt on base so we ended up at a walk in clinic. She told me that they would not start them on antibiotics when there were no symptoms. Fine with me(hadn't asked she just volunteered the info) She said the common meds for Lyme can turn kiddos teeth yellow. She also said that the blood test for Lyme could not be done until 3-4 weeks after the bite occurred. I think my panic button is primed because DH leaves in a week for a year deployment and this was just one more thing to worry about. I greatly appreciate the advice from those commenting on this thread to not stress. I have looked my 2 month old over top to bottom several times. Just don't want to miss anything. The doc we saw today said that time on the skin does not effect how likely or unlikely one is to get a disease from an infected tick. That contradicts what I have found on-line, though. I'm glad to hear confirmation from some of you that getting them early on does help. I saved the ticks, but I really can't figure out what kind they are despite looking at pictures on-line. It definitely looks like we had 2 different kinds, but I don't know. Good Luck RanchGirl. We'll pray for no bullseyes! :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mejane Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 (edited) . Edited June 7, 2011 by Mejane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Just do what you're doing. Be vigilant. DS had the exact same thing last week (we're in central WI) and I'm doing the same. It's going to be a bad year for ticks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I saved the ticks, but I really can't figure out what kind they are despite looking at pictures on-line. It definitely looks like we had 2 different kinds, but I don't know. Good Luck RanchGirl. We'll pray for no bullseyes! :tongue_smilie: Size is the big thing. Dog or wood ticks are big, about 2/3's the size of an apple seed. Deer ticks, the ones that carry Lyme disease are tiny. I they're they're more the size of a poppy seed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golfcartmama Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I had to have a tick taken off of me last week----on my bikini line! I just couldn't get the bugger out. Anyway, she gave it back to me to put in the freezer with the removal date on it. Reason being, if I have issues later, they can send the tick off to be analyzed for diseases. We gets ticks a lot here in the south and the is the first time I started keeping them, just in case! Just thought it might help someone else~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilo90 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Size is the big thing. Dog or wood ticks are big, about 2/3's the size of an apple seed. Deer ticks, the ones that carry Lyme disease are tiny. I they're they're more the size of a poppy seed? That's very helpful. Thank you! Why didn't any of the websites I came across state it that clearly? :) (Ours seem to be bigger than deer ticks. Nice to know!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammaruss Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I have lived in Minnesota for over 43 years--very used to ticks. We own a commercial dog kennel-in the country-so we are outside 3/4 of the day and we find numerous ticks each day. The only ones I worry about are the SUPER TINY ones! If we pull a tiny tick off of any of us we take a marker and circle the spot to keep an eye on it and also mark the calendar-then go to dr if fever develops. I have noticed as I have aged-that I have a reaction to all ticks--that I did not have when I was younger.....not a thing the dr can do--just advised me to take benadryl to reduce the swelling...This is a tremendously awful year for them--but I still prefer ticks to mosquitos! Oh-and I have read somewhere that ticks do not like vinegar--I have started adding acv to my diet...for other reasons--but it would be a plus if it kept ticks from biting me!!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntieM Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Last year dd5 had a dog tick in her hair. The ped's guidelines are prophylactic antibiotics if the tick has been in place more than 24 hours. It had been. We did the meds and dd was fine. I was a bit scared because it was on her head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Timely thread for me too. We're visiting NE right now from CA. We don't really have (have never seen) ticks in the area of CA that we live in. When we got here, we went to some family land by a river and came home with a few ticks on DH and I and several on the dogs, none were attached. We didn't find any on the kids, we changed all their clothes before we left the river so that might have helped. I had just started the dogs on Revolution a few weeks before we left home thank goodness. I did some reading online and it looks like what we had were American Dog Ticks also. We will be going to my sister's ranch next week and I know there will be a lot of ticks there too. I'm going to try and remain calm and not freak out, but just reading this thread is making me itchy. :lol: The doc we saw today said that time on the skin does not effect how likely or unlikely one is to get a disease from an infected tick. That contradicts what I have found on-line, though. I'm glad to hear confirmation from some of you that getting them early on does help. I read the same thing as you, the tick needs to be attached for awhile before it spreads the disease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 That's very helpful. Thank you! Why didn't any of the websites I came across state it that clearly? :)(Ours seem to be bigger than deer ticks. Nice to know!) Here are a couple of photos with side by side comparisons of the two species: http://umaine.edu/homeowner-ipm/files/2010/10/DeerVersusDogTick.jpg http://www.lymenet.org/picture2.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilo90 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 The ped's guidelines are prophylactic antibiotics if the tick has been in place more than 24 hours. It had been. How did you know it had been more than 24 hrs? Had she not been outside for a while? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepymommy Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Ds6 is currently on a round of antibiotics. I found a deer tick on him last week and I don't like messing around with the possibility of Lyme. He was on a round of abx last summer when I found 3 deer ticks on him. I hate being this paranoid and I hate giving him abx. I almost always go the natural route with any illnesses. But ticks scare the buggers out me. I hope the redness/rash on your dc turns out to be just irritation from the bite.:grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntieM Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 How did you know it had been more than 24 hrs? Had she not been outside for a while? She was standing next to me and I was just sort of petting her head when I felt it. It was on the back side. As I started to look through her hair, she said, "Oh, that's just a little itchy spot, don't worry, I already put some neosporin on it." Gotta love those self-sufficient kids! :glare: I guess you can imagine my horror to find a tick clinging to her scalp! Anyway, a few questions and deductions later we figured it had been attached to her head for at least 24 hours but probably not much more than that. The doc was able to see that the tick had been feeding, it was starting to fatten up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mejane Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 (edited) . Edited June 7, 2011 by Mejane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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