Ticks

[Rot777]

Hey,

I have a 3 year old male rotti, he's got a addisons disease which is an immune disorder which makes him more susceptible diseases and illnesses.

Today after work, I was playing with him and a short period after I was cleaning up the yard and around his feces I found 3 big bugs. I researched it and discovered its called a brown tick. I am so grossed out by it and am worried.

Should I contact the vet?

Where are they coming from, the dog house? or are they hiding in his coat?

I brushed him in the morning and didnt find any,

are they in his ears?

He hates being brushed on his hind legs, Does that have anything to do with it?

thanks

Shaun

[spidey]

Ticks are very small bugs, I'm not sure what you think you found with your research, but if they were big bugs, they weren't ticks (unless they were some kind of super-mutant ticks). And anyway, ticks are a concern if they're on the dog, bugs hanging around his feces are probably beetles or flies, and not something to worry about.

[ReeboksMomForever]

Rot777 - I agree that they sound like beetles or something other than ticks so I wouldn't worry. You said you dog has Addisons disease - my rottie girl who died three years ago also had Addisons for around 8 years of her 10 years. Please keep the below in the back of your head or show it to your vet - I'm sure your dog would be fine now if you used Frontline Plus or another tick preventative but down the road it may be lethal. Don't want to scare you - I would just rather no one else go through what I went through!

Originally Posted by ReeboksMomForever

I use Frontline Plus on Tex and our lab but I do want to relay something important just in case. My rottie girl, Reebok, who passed away June 18, 2004 has Addison's disease just about her whole life. During her last year of life she was not doing too well due to the fact that the medicine she had been on for around 8 years took a toll on one of her kidneys and she had to have it taken out. Not long after having her surgery (of which she perked up tremendously) I came home from work and she couldn't walk on her back legs - I thought her ACL (of which she had to have surgery for when she was young) had gone out again! Before taking her to my vet I found a huge, blood-filled tick on her which caused her paralysis and not long after taking it off of her she was as good as new (for her). At that point I put Frontline Plus on her before I went to work to keep the ticks off as I did not want this to happen to her again. I got home from work that night and she was laying down, cold to the touch and hardly breathing - I got her to the vet immediately and we did everything we could for her but at 4am the next morning with me laying by her side she took her last breath! We assume that the one kidney she had left could not take the 'poisin' in the Frontline Plus and shut down. I, to this day, feel like I had something to do with her death and will never forgive myself even though I was just trying to help her! Sorry this is so long but I'm sure my dog is not the only one out there with one kidney and I would like to keep this from happening to anyone else - you never get rid of this guilt so PLEASE if your dog does only have one kidney please tell your vet my story and make sure it is ok to put Frontline on your dog...

[Rot777]

These things were as big as beetles, and were orangish brown and moved really slow. I just dont know where they came from. I brushed him yesterday and didn't find anything, his dog house is clean.

[spidey]

Originally Posted by Rot777

These things were as big as beetles, and were orangish brown and moved really slow. I just dont know where they came from. I brushed him yesterday and didn't find anything, his dog house is clean.

Well nature is full of bugs. They probably don't come off your dog, they probably just came from outside. I'm not sure why you think they had to have been on your dog or in his kennel, there are bugs everywhere.

[Steelerfan]

I wish ticks were that big.

[Cash]

Google has a very handy tool called "images"
Type in ticks and see what they look like.

You can also treat your dog for tick prevention. More than likely though, if you haven't pulled an engorged one off of your dog, then you are ok. They are the nastiest of the nasty critters, and you have to go over your dog with a fine toothed comb to find some of them. Deer ticks, the ones that carry Lyme disease, are about the size of a pin head - TINY!

[damp]

Well, ticks are tick… and all I remove look alike… but the size differs. I have removed ticks as big as a plum stone...fat, ugly, bloody and very "un-delicious" but those big bugs are much easier to get rid of and KILL than the small one. Even they are all the same.... ticks

However I should have a permanent pass card to my vet, to bring my dog in when ever I notice a bug.... in the yard or on my dog!
He goes to the vet when he is sick (when/after I have tried all my quack tricks)

[JaniceH]

I agree...I don't think these bugs are ticks. Ticks don't usually crawl around feaces. When full of blood they are usually about the size of a shiny grey/green bean or pea.

This last year I have used Advantix and Teazle has not yet had a tick on her this year. I treated her in April and again in July and she has stayed clear.