ticks galore

Amalthea

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#1
I've lurked on this site a little but this is my first post. My hubby and me have a one-year-old white hybrid wolf named Moro... we had been thinking about getting a new puppy for Moro to play with, since she absolutely loves other dogs and gets really sad when our friends bring their dogs over and have to leave, she'll sit by the window and whine for her doggie friends to come back. So I saw this ad for yellow lab puppies for $75 and we called and went out there yesterday.

The lady had a male left and we were hoping for a male...we got out there and it was this place in the middle of nowhere (I'm from Kansas so this was truly in the country), and she had this poor puppy in a very small concrete pen, next to other pens with adult pit bulls and adult labs that were cramped in with each other. He was a very cute puppy, but covered in dirt and bugs... she swore she uses frontline on them but was like 'well you know living in the country'....I can understand a few bugs but this was ridiculous... the poor guy was totally covered in ticks and fleas, especially tiny deer ticks...around his ears, especially in the flaps and folds of his ears...backs of his legs, around his eyes, in between each toe of all four paws, and belly/crotch area he had places that were completely black, covered in zillions of little bitty ticks. Even though we probably shouldn't have got him, we did, neither of us wanted to leave him there. On the way home, ticks were literally falling off him and crawling around the backseat of hubby's car, I probably set about 30 of them on fire on the way back home.

We got him home and gave him two baths in a row (with flea/tick killing shampoo), which helped a lot...then he sat on my lap and I spent about five hours going over him with tweezers and picking itty bitty deer ticks off him like, literally hundreds of them, it was disgusting... but he was a very good boy and held super-still for me, even as I tweezed ticks from really delicate areas like his eyelids. Then he got a third bath, and I think we killed most of the bugs finally because by then the ticks I was pulling off weren't moving and I'm pretty sure they were dead. But hubby is taking him to the vet today while I'm at work to get professional tick killing stuff and to make sure he doesn't have any other health problems. Moro played with him a little after his baths and tweezing, and seemed to really like him, but we kept him seperate from her last night so that we could try to prevent her from getting bugs from him as much as possible.

He's golden yellow in color with an adorable brown nose and pale amber eyes. We named him Midas. Don't have a way to post pics online yet but I will eventually when I can :) We took some pictures before starting the process of getting these hundreds of ticks off, to show the vet, but it's very hard to tell what they are because most of these deer ticks were so tiny that in the picture it looks like they could just be clumps of dirt. You can still see the bite marks where I tweezed ticks off him last night though.

I feel bad about giving that breeder money for him when she obviously doesn't treat her animals like she should...but at the same time, I think I would have felt worse if we had said no and just left him out there. I don't know. We were planning to tell the vet what kind of conditions he was in when we got him, and ask his advice on what we should do/if we should report this lady somehow... I don't know if anyone would do anything though.

Anyone have any advice on helping a puppy with MAJOR vermin problems, especially a good tick-killer? I just don't want this problem to spread to Moro as well, but I think the bathing/tweezing last night, if it didn't kill all of them, at least put a good dent in their population. But I've never seen this many ticks on a dog, it was crazy. I'm hoping he's healthy otherwise and that the vet can suggest something that will completely eliminate the tick problem. And maybe suggest what to do about this breeder and if there's anything we can do.

I know I shouldn't have bought from her because it just keeps a breeder like that in business etc.... please don't flame me for it. It might have been a mistake but I am glad that Midas is out of that place and has someone caring for him now and doesn't just exist as an all-you-can-eat buffet for ticks!
 

RD

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#3
The vet should be able to give you some good advice.

I use frontline plus on both of my dogs to keep ticks under control. I still occasionally find one on them, but they aren't getting bitten anymore.

"Line combing" with a flea comb is the easiest way for me to find ticks. If any are embedded in the skin, this makes them stand out so I can remove them. If any are loose in the coat, the comb pulls them out.

For a dog with an infestation that bad I'd have tried a tick dip, but IIRC that is not recommended for puppies. Maybe there is a more natural remedy out there?
 

bubbatd

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#4
Ticks are one thing ....deer ticks = Lyme disease !! Do you have a lab you can take ticks to to be checked out ?? years ago before we had Interceptor etc , we had deer in our woods and the local College would come out, gather and check . Watch yourselves too !!! This sounds like a very bad breeder ! ( quality of the breed too!) Glad you rescued the poor pup !! Please vet ASAP and do keep the dogs separate until you do .
 

Amalthea

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#5
unfortunately deer ticks are probably the most common kind in Kansas, at least, I see them practically everywhere, but especially out in the country. My husband has already had lyme disease in the past. I would have to ask at the vet about testing the actual ticks for disease...I didn't really know you could do that, I thought testing could only tell after a person or animal was infected! Anyway, he is taking Midas to the vet while I'm at work, and I'm getting ready to go home so I should know in a little while if Midas is otherwise healthy, besides the bug problems and skin problems he has due to so many bites :(
 

bubbatd

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#6
Ball State was the area tester and had a study going on .... luckily none in our woods were carriers. Still , after that until we moved I had the dogs given the vaccine once a year .
 

Jynx

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#7
first;, I gotta say, I probably would have done exactly what you did even tho it would have killed me to give that person one red cent..The poor puppy!

I live in "Lyme CT" so am in the heart of lyme disease..the ones you describe could very well be lyme ticks, and now adays it's not only lyme disease you have to worry about, but a TON Of other tick borne diseases as well..

Good thing you took pictures, I'd show those pictures to the local Animal Control officer, maybe they could go check out the conditions of the other animals and shut her down.

I agree your vet should know the best way to continue with this, and may even as a precaution, put the puppy on an antibiotic as in Doxy..
Good luck with him, I'm sure he is in a MUCH better place with your family
diane
 

elegy

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#8
the cdc map shows lyme disease as not being much of a threat in kansas, but there are other tick-borne diseases and i have no idea what the risk is.

ticks are so gross.
 
B

Bobsk8

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#9
the cdc map shows lyme disease as not being much of a threat in kansas, but there are other tick-borne diseases and i have no idea what the risk is.

ticks are so gross.
I didn't realize that ticks were more of a problem in the Northeast, or is it just the disease that is?
 

SummerRiot

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#11
Aww Congrads on taking your pup into your home!

Definately beware of the ticks with your other dog as well!! They are nasty little things. Be careful!!

I'd be checking daily just in case and giving my other dogs baths for it as well as a precaution.

All three of our dogs are on Revolution.
 

Amalthea

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#12
Thanks for all the replies! :) There is good news and bad news about Midas from the vet, although the good news is that the vet thinks he'll be alright in time. The vet said that he does not show any signs of Lyme disease, no worms, and gave him his first vaccinations... however, he said that the infestation of ticks was on its way to causing severe problems -- his paws were so badly infected from the clusters of ticks that were hiding in between each toe, that he has infection all the way into his toenails. He was started on antibiotics and the vet said walking will likely be painful for this puppy until the infection begins to heal, and we shouldn't worry if he isn't very active at first. He said that we were lucky to have got him when we did...another week in that condition and he likely would have lost the ability to walk. The vet asked if we saw a rusty red/orange color in the water when we bathed him, and we saw this especially during his first bath. We thought it might have been blood or just clay dirt from the country...but the vet said this was actually tick feces! bleh! He said the tick crud accumulating on the dog causes infection and severe skin breakdown, which is what was happening with his paws, and within a few weeks our puppy would likely have been dead from infection. He does have raw, red patches of skin in many places where the ticks were gathered...the vet said he thinks these will heal up, although he might have a few bald spots. The vet sprayed him all over with some oily stuff to kill the ticks (can't remember the name of it) and gave him a treatment of frontline for fleas. Ever since, dead ticks have been rolling off him like black beads of sweat. but at least they are dying!! We have instructions not to bathe him for 2 days and to bring him back for re-evaluation in 2 weeks.

My husband also asked the vet about reporting the woman for neglect and if we could do anything... and the vet said a dog, even a country dog with that amount of parasites was definitely neglect and gave him the paperwork to file a complaint with the Kansas ASPCA. My husband filled out the report and we are supposed to get a call when the investigation begins, although who knows how long that will be. All the adult dogs at this woman's house looked just as dirty and like they had just as many pests on them...I'm not sure how many littermates Midas had, since he was the last, but I know he had at least one brother, I remember the lady mentioning another male that she sold. I can only hope that whoever bought the other puppies from Midas's litter got them treated at a vet right away.

But the good news is that he should be okay once his infected spots heal up! :) Although giving money to a breeder like that is not good practice, I do feel better now about our choice... I am glad that we gave Midas a chance...I think it's better that we spent our money to give him a good home, got him treated and cleaned up, and reported the breeder; instead of saying no when we saw how bug-covered he was and leaving him there to be eaten away and forgetting about him. I only hope that the other dogs at the breeder's house will be taken care of once the investigation begins...if they don't take her dogs away, I hope they will at least force her to keep them under cleaner conditions and to treat them regularly for parasites.

Moro also played some more with Midas yesterday, although we have been mostly keeping them seperate since Midas doesn't have nearly her energy and has just been wanting lots of sleep. But she is bonding with him and it's pretty adorable :) Last night he was laying at her feet and she rested her head on him and had this very 'mother wolf' protective look to her, I really wish I had a way to post pics for you guys!

Thanks again for all the messages and support!
 

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