Nebraska was beautiful. Camp was set up. The sun had set. During twilight playtime with the dogs, I found an engorged tick on Huxley's chest. Without panic, I got the tick removing tool from my canine first aid kit and cleanly removed the entire tick from it's collie victim. Then I saw the gaping wound the tick removal process had left on my dog. I panicked. Now for dog lovers in areas where ticks are prevalent, go ahead and laugh "of course!" I am an outdoorsy dog person from Cascadia where ticks are very rare. I had no idea so much skin and fur were going to come off with the blood sucking insect. I nervously paced the campsite searching the internet for any article or advice about what to do. By the time I found a trusted answer, twilight was gone and I was sick to my stomach from stress.
When I used the Vet On Demand™ app for this review, I told the veterinarian, Dr. Baxter, about that evening camping in Nebraska. He explained that it is indeed normal for a large amount of skin and fur to come off when an engorged tick is fully removed. Dr. Baxter recommended washing a wound like this out with soap and water, keeping it clean and watching for signs of infection. This is the exact advice I finally found in an article on my mobile device search engine as the twilight dwindled in the cornhusker state. It took me well over a half an hour of searching to discover the truth about Huxley's tick wound. Dr. Baxter gave his wound advice in less than two minutes. He continued to warn that the real risks in finding a tick sucking on a dog are tick borne diseases like Lyme and Rock Mountain Fever. Testing for tick diseases is essential so that anything a dog may have contracted from a tick can be treated with antibiotics as soon as possible, Dr. Baxter advised. Getting Huxley tested for tick diseases is exactly what I did once we returned to Seattle. For the duration of our call, the Vet On Demand veterinarian gave me advice about searching for ticks on my ridiculously long furred rough collie. Upon seeing Huxley during our app video call, Dr. Baxter exclaimed "look at all that fur!" Dr. Baxter also relayed to me some of his favorite tick prevention methods.