I Found A Tick on Rooney…

So a few weeks ago, we went hiking in the gorgeous Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve. This hiking location has amazing views of the Bay Area and the perfect incline for a short hike and a good workout. Unfortunately, this location also has a lot of ticks (we didn’t know that until we were already there).

While Rooney is on regular flea and tick medication, I wasn’t happy when I found two ticks on him in the next fews days. I was also in a bit of a panic because to be perfectly honest, I think I went 1 or 2 weeks too long before I gave him his most recent dose of flea and tick medicine (and I actually gave Rooney his dose later that same day). You see, January was an insane month and we had a pretty big family emergency, and some days I couldn’t remember my name let alone when I gave Rooney his flea and tick medication.

Enjoying the scenic views of the Bay!

A post shared by Rooney the Corgi (@mykidhaspaws) on Feb 3, 2018 at 10:21am PST

When we got home from the hike however, I IMMEDIATELY bathed Rooney to try to remove as many ticks as possible from his fur, and gave him his next dose of flea and tick medication. The two that we found on him were right next to his ears, so much so that they initially felt like cartilage under his fur, similar to the normal feeling of a dog’s ear, but upon further investigation, we indeed found 2 ticks.

So, we removed the ticks carefully from Rooney, and then I went into research mode. Everything I found indicated that there is no way to know what kind of tick it was and whether or not the tick passed on a disease to Rooney.

Therefore, I reached out to Rooney’s veterinarian (who is also one of my closest friends), and she let me know the following:

Firstly, it takes 24 hours for ticks to pass disease.

This information unfortunately didn’t make us feel better because we found ticks on Rooney on Day 2 and Day 3 after the hike.

Secondly, it takes 4 weeks for tick-borne diseases to show up in a blood test.

So, we are headed in for a 4dx blood panel next week. According to IDEXX, this is the “only test that allows you to efficiently test for heartworm disease and tick-transmitted pathogens, as recommended by the Companion Animal Parasite Council.“

What did make me feel better:

If I was looking for a bright side in this scenario, I would tell you that there are two things that make me optimistic that Rooney isn’t, and wasn’t, infected with a tick-borne disease.

1. The ticks seemed dead and weren’t full, which I’m hoping is an indicator that they died due to the dose of flea and tick medication we gave him.
2. The sites where we found the ticks have remained healthy with no secondary infection
3. I think it’s important to note that Rooney hasn’t shown any signs or symptoms of tick-borne disease, which according to PetMD include:
   • Reluctance to Move
   • Fever
   • Fatigue
   • Loss of Appetite
   • Swollen Lymph Nodes

Waiting Game…

So, next week Rooney will get his 4dx blood test, and we will know for sure that he is tick-borne disease free.

Have you ever found a tick on your dog? Have you ever had to get a 4dx test for your dog?