Monday, May 16, 2011

"I'd Like to Check You for Ticks"

I always hated that song. The thought of little bugs crawling around makes my skin itch. Unfortunately, my skin has been itching like crazy for the past couple weeks.

It started out with one tick on a certain furry member of the family. Then, I found one on my little girl last week. I cried like a crazy woman and went into webMD induced panic. After much reassurance from family/friends/friends' family and a call to the pediatrician, I calmed down enough to enjoy Pennsylvania and Colonial Beach, VA with a sweet friend.

Since returning home, we have found two ticks on me, two on Kogi and no less than 8 on the floor where Kogi usually hangs out. Ahhhhhh! Needless to say... I am FREAKING OUT! I hate bugs with a passion! If I find a bug in the house, I usually cover it up with a plastic cup and wait for someone else to kill it.
Kogi, poor thing, has been kicked off the bed and no longer is allowed on the furniture. His monthly topical tick medication has done nothing to prevent these little devils from hitching a ride on him. We have now added a tick collar to his everyday outfit, but these bugs are stubborn and we keep finding them around. HELP! John is even picking up flea & tick shampoo today for Kogi. I feel so bad for the little puppy. :( He is itching up a storm and has left clumps of his hair throughout the house.

We purchased chemicals to spray around the house, but we can't spray it until we figure out a good time to get Ellington and Kogi out of the house for a few hours. I have never encountered his problem before. What should we do? I am tempted to move near the city and never step foot in a wooded area again... ticks don't live in the city, right? I may even ban outdoor activities and become the crazy woman who never leaves her house for fear of tick bites. Advice would be GREATLY appreciated!

4 comments:

  1. Ticks freak me out too. I'd probably be the same way if I were in your shoes...but it sounds like you're doing everything right! I've only had problem with flees...& we had to flea bomb the house (which was awful because we had to clean EVERYTHING afterwards)...or you can call in an expert to exterminate those creepy critters. I'd ask your vet (or Petsmart) & your pediatrician for advice about the ticks though.

    Good luck!

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  2. i had a bunch that hitchhiked onto my running shoes and socks last summer and it was all i could do not to just light my house on fire and consider it a loss after a few weeks of those lil bloodsuckers running loose in my house.

    i ended up using those natural citrus based tick/flea killer sprays and they worked like a charm.

    supposedly they're non-toxic to kids and animals.

    best of luck.

    - sleep

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  3. Are you using a flea/tick preventative from the Vet? If so, then call your vet and let them know it is not working. We use Sentinel once a month for our dog and Frontline during the summer. Haven't seen a tick on her for over a year now. We went camping and she didn't pick up any then either. Good luck.

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  4. I'm glad to hear (read) that we are not the only ones that have encountered problems with bugs. Eeewww, even the word BUGS makes my skin crawl.

    MC: We aren't at the fogger stage yet because I know what a hassel it can be to wash EVERYTHING afterwards. Thanks for the encouragement :)

    Anonymous: My heart goes out to you for your tick experience... it sounds just awful, but I'm glad to hear that those little devils are now GONE! If we don't get any results after all of the dog's treatment, I am definitely going to look into natural treatments. Let's hope something works (my fingers are crossed)!

    Shebra: We do use a flea/tick preventative, but it has done nothing to deter these pesky little fellas. We have a new vet and are going to talk about switching to a different brand STAT! :)

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