Mackenzie's Dog Tick Experience 3 June 2009

We live on almost two acres of land with woods around us, painfully obvious after winter winds blow several down. We have had deer, rabbits, fox, snakes, and a bear through our property but ticks have never been an issue... until this spring. This spring it has been difficult to stand at the edge of the driveway to look a lady slippers or stain the front steps without getting a tick on oneself. I had noticed this while staining the deck and mention to Daddy that we need to check the girls each night for ticks. We both forgot. Tuesday Mackenzie and I were outside for awhile as I was staining the front steps. I worked that night and wasn't home to dress Mackenzie but she often dresses herself now anyway. The next day Mackenzie dressed herself as well. At one point in the afternoon I decided to check on Mackenzie to see why she had been in the washroom so long. I had to open the door to find her with a sink full of water, and up to her elbows in bubbles, washing her brass horse, Mackenzie-dubbed "trophy." She had stripped off her sweater to keep her sleeves dry and I was able to notice a black spot on her back. "What's that, Mackenzie?" I asked out loud instead of keeping it to myself. It was a tick. Yeah. I called mum, the retired nurse for advice since I had a tick on me while camping years ago, as had we all. We didn't have the liquid on hand to put on it to get the tick to "back out" so she suggested the old match method (light it, blow it out, and touch the tick). Mackenzie squirmed a bit when I tried this and I was afraid I'd burn her. The tick didn't budge. Mum suggested making it hard for the tick to breathe and something hot like a muscle relaxation lotion. I put some "Tiger balm" on the tick, and again, it didn't budge but Mackenzie had a red spot where the balm had been. I then went online to research a solution. The wisdom of the Internet said not to use the old match or Vaseline method but to grab a hold of the tick with tweezers, as close to the head as possible, a pull slowly and steadily. So up to the bathroom we went. Mackenzie was getting more upset now and said it hurt when I tried to pull the tick off her. It had a strong hold on her and Mackenzie's skin would pull as I pulled the tick. The tweezers weren't able to hold on and it slipped out repeatedly. Mackenzie was in tears by this point and thought the tweezers were hurting her and didn't want me to go near her with them. I had some rubbing alcohol to drop the tick into at hand and held this to her back and the tick. I hadn't read in my first aid book at this point that this is supposed to loosen a tick's hold. I thought it might kill any "germs" if nothing else. The tick still wouldn't let go and Mackenzie had lost her willingness to co-operate. I told her I'd take her to a doctor to have the tick taken off. We still had 20 minutes to pick up Taylor at school so I went back to staining the front steps and Mackenzie buckled herself into her car seat, ready to go. Mackenzie fell asleep in the car so I gave the tick another try before leaving for Taylor. The tick kept slipping out of my tweezers. At the walk in Family Focus clinic, we waited a brief while before seeing a doctor. He said he removes a tick about every other day and that his tweezers are sharper. He also pulled the tick with a quick, removing-a-band-aid, technique. He bottled the tick for testing for rare lime disease (found in deer ticks). He checked the area where Mackenzie's tick had been but didn't swab it or anything else to care for it. Kenzie was incredibly calm at the doctor's office, and calmly lay on her tummy. She did ask if it would hurt and was told, "no." She later confirmed that "it didn't hurt a bit." We also received a phone call later to tell us it was a common dog tick. Both Mackenzie and Taylor were reluctant to go outside or to bed for the next three days and were regular with checking for ticks. I bought some bug and tick spray that worked at keeping the ticks off. The only difficulty was that it contained deet and wasn't to be used on children under the age of 12 years old. I sprayed the girls clothes instead. This meant that Taylor still got a tick behind her ear and one on her back. Regular checking for them kept any ticks from getting a good hold though and we had no more trouble with them. And we're thinking of getting a dog? What are we thinking? Ah, what's one more "baby" to check for ticks?