Critters make my skin crawl
May 30, 2010 4:25 PM Subscribe
How do I assure myself that I did not just bring in ticks to take over my house?
I took my dog hiking in the mountains yesterday and came back exhausted. After feeding both of us, I changed clothes and collapsed in bed. I hung the hiking clothes over the bed foot-board. Today when I was in the shower, I found a tick on my stomach. The removal process went fine and I feel okay, so I'm not that worried about the possible tick-transmitted diseases right now.
I immediately checked all over for ticks, moved the clothes to the hamper (where they will be washed as soon as the bedclothes are out of the washer), and checked the dog for ticks. I didn't find any more on either me or the dog (though we both have a lot of hair, so it's hard to say). However, now I'm paranoid. I've never lived in an area where I had to worry about ticks, so it didn't even occur to me last night to do the tick-check-clothes-wash right when I got home, so they had all night to...do whatever it is that ticks do when they want to infest something. In fact, I don't think I've ever had a tick attached to me before. It was a repulsive surprise.
What should I do to ensure the dog, I, and the furniture are all tick free? Problem - the dog is allergic to every topical OTC flea/tick medication we've tried, so Frontline and Advantix are out. I don't actually want to slather myself in DEET or something if it's not necessary, but I'll do it if it'll just be for a few hours to scare away any possible still-feeding ticks. And what about the bed/rugs? Is there any sort of non-toxic repellent around to put on those? Is it even necessary? I need some direction here, even if it's just "stop being a freak, ticks don't infest that quickly" type of direction.
I took my dog hiking in the mountains yesterday and came back exhausted. After feeding both of us, I changed clothes and collapsed in bed. I hung the hiking clothes over the bed foot-board. Today when I was in the shower, I found a tick on my stomach. The removal process went fine and I feel okay, so I'm not that worried about the possible tick-transmitted diseases right now.
I immediately checked all over for ticks, moved the clothes to the hamper (where they will be washed as soon as the bedclothes are out of the washer), and checked the dog for ticks. I didn't find any more on either me or the dog (though we both have a lot of hair, so it's hard to say). However, now I'm paranoid. I've never lived in an area where I had to worry about ticks, so it didn't even occur to me last night to do the tick-check-clothes-wash right when I got home, so they had all night to...do whatever it is that ticks do when they want to infest something. In fact, I don't think I've ever had a tick attached to me before. It was a repulsive surprise.
What should I do to ensure the dog, I, and the furniture are all tick free? Problem - the dog is allergic to every topical OTC flea/tick medication we've tried, so Frontline and Advantix are out. I don't actually want to slather myself in DEET or something if it's not necessary, but I'll do it if it'll just be for a few hours to scare away any possible still-feeding ticks. And what about the bed/rugs? Is there any sort of non-toxic repellent around to put on those? Is it even necessary? I need some direction here, even if it's just "stop being a freak, ticks don't infest that quickly" type of direction.
Best answer: Ticks aren't going to infest your house. If you find them on you or the dog, remove them, dispose of them (flush them, crush them, whatever works for you). Ticks live in grassy fields (in most areas) to quest for a host. Unless you have tall grasses growing in your house, I would not worry about it. When I do my tick research in Costa Rica, I use 30% DEET. I used that 100% or whatever (it was a really high concentration) that is sold for hunters, and my face started to get numb and tingly. Not cool. 30% worked great, and I rarely have t o remove any (but I always check).
Always do a check before you go in the house. Check yourself , check the dog (especially by the ears and under legs). Wear white socks and tuck your pants legs in when hiking (you will look like a dork, but you will see ticks if there are any). Wear light colored clothes. Avoid grassy, bushy areas.
Repellent for your bed/rugs is not necessary.
I was working with a guy down in Costa Rica, and he went into the rainforest for five minutes (not normal hiking, he was trying to find his cows, long story, not important). He came out, and was absolutely COVERED with ticks. It grossed us all out. His wife ended up picking 700+ off of him. He was not wearing repellent. Just thought I'd share the horror.
Anyway, don't freak out.
posted by bolognius maximus at 4:39 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
Always do a check before you go in the house. Check yourself , check the dog (especially by the ears and under legs). Wear white socks and tuck your pants legs in when hiking (you will look like a dork, but you will see ticks if there are any). Wear light colored clothes. Avoid grassy, bushy areas.
Repellent for your bed/rugs is not necessary.
I was working with a guy down in Costa Rica, and he went into the rainforest for five minutes (not normal hiking, he was trying to find his cows, long story, not important). He came out, and was absolutely COVERED with ticks. It grossed us all out. His wife ended up picking 700+ off of him. He was not wearing repellent. Just thought I'd share the horror.
Anyway, don't freak out.
posted by bolognius maximus at 4:39 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
Just to avoid the spread of misinformation here, there ARE some breeds of ticks that will infest your house. However, they tend to be dog ticks, and you're not likely to have picked them up in the mountains.
Now, if you had started this anecdote with "I brought my dog home from a kennel/dog park/other doggy area, and noticed later that there was a tick ON HIM," that would be cause for concern. Several varieties of dog ticks have become well-adapted to spending their entire lives indoors since that's a great place to find dogs.
Most other ticks still need to be outside for some of their life-cycle, and you are vastly more likely to have picked up one of those types of ticks out hiking in the backcountry, especially since the one you found was on you and not the dog. Check yourself and your dog one more time, but beyond that I would say don't worry.
posted by little light-giver at 5:14 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
Now, if you had started this anecdote with "I brought my dog home from a kennel/dog park/other doggy area, and noticed later that there was a tick ON HIM," that would be cause for concern. Several varieties of dog ticks have become well-adapted to spending their entire lives indoors since that's a great place to find dogs.
Most other ticks still need to be outside for some of their life-cycle, and you are vastly more likely to have picked up one of those types of ticks out hiking in the backcountry, especially since the one you found was on you and not the dog. Check yourself and your dog one more time, but beyond that I would say don't worry.
posted by little light-giver at 5:14 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
You need to know there is a difference between dog ticks and deer ticks.
Deer ticks are the ones you care about from a medical standpoint. They're small, around the head of a pin. If you're bitten, there's a distinctive radiating redness that occurs.
Dog ticks, my friend, are the bane of my existence. They're medically irrelevant, but bigger, the size of a grain of rice-ish, but a little shorter, and fat. They are black and they are a little spidery.
What we do is: separate clothing for outdoor fun and a flashlight to review bedding at night. In bad seasons, when it's quite warm, we'll shine the flashlight through her fur to find them.
Short of that: you get used to it. You pull them off with your fingers and flush them down the toilet, or if you're a big softie like Mr. Llama you escort them back out of the house.
What you are going to need is this: flashlight. Because it's simply the finest flashlight you'll ever own and if you're looking for creepy crawlies YOU WANT THIS FLASHLIGHT and seriously Fenix should start sending me money.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 5:22 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
Deer ticks are the ones you care about from a medical standpoint. They're small, around the head of a pin. If you're bitten, there's a distinctive radiating redness that occurs.
Dog ticks, my friend, are the bane of my existence. They're medically irrelevant, but bigger, the size of a grain of rice-ish, but a little shorter, and fat. They are black and they are a little spidery.
What we do is: separate clothing for outdoor fun and a flashlight to review bedding at night. In bad seasons, when it's quite warm, we'll shine the flashlight through her fur to find them.
Short of that: you get used to it. You pull them off with your fingers and flush them down the toilet, or if you're a big softie like Mr. Llama you escort them back out of the house.
What you are going to need is this: flashlight. Because it's simply the finest flashlight you'll ever own and if you're looking for creepy crawlies YOU WANT THIS FLASHLIGHT and seriously Fenix should start sending me money.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 5:22 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
Watch your body for evidence of a tick bite. It may take a couple of days to develop. If you get a rash that looks like a bulls eye you got bit by a lyme tick. Go to your doctor. Don't let your doctor dismiss a bulls eye rash. Almost certainly you should go on a dose of strong antibiotics and follow up with tests. My bulls eye rash was a circle about 3-4 inches in diameter and it itched like a mosquito bite.
posted by nogero at 7:43 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by nogero at 7:43 PM on May 30, 2010
Best answer: bolognius maximus has good advice about prevention/inspection.
wending my way, you don't say where you are, so here is a site with info. on some of the different types of ticks. It includes lots of helpful (though creepy) photos. Here are a few more photos. Please note that Lyme disease is only one of the many tick borne diseases out there. The list at wikipedia actually is not bad. There is also some useful info. here. There is some useful prevention advice here. Finally, here is some info. on tick diseases and dogs.
A Terrible Llama, dog ticks (and there are actually several kinds) are not disease free, and no one should handle any tick with bare hands. Please see some of my links above on identifying ticks and on types of tick diseases.
Having contracted Babesiosis in New Jersey, I am super cautious about any kind of ticks.
posted by gudrun at 9:26 PM on May 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
wending my way, you don't say where you are, so here is a site with info. on some of the different types of ticks. It includes lots of helpful (though creepy) photos. Here are a few more photos. Please note that Lyme disease is only one of the many tick borne diseases out there. The list at wikipedia actually is not bad. There is also some useful info. here. There is some useful prevention advice here. Finally, here is some info. on tick diseases and dogs.
A Terrible Llama, dog ticks (and there are actually several kinds) are not disease free, and no one should handle any tick with bare hands. Please see some of my links above on identifying ticks and on types of tick diseases.
Having contracted Babesiosis in New Jersey, I am super cautious about any kind of ticks.
posted by gudrun at 9:26 PM on May 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank, all. I feel mostly better. I might even stop scratching my scalp at some point. I'm in the DC area, btw, if it makes any difference. After reading about how many of the types of ticks are pretty much everywhere, I didn't think it made that much difference for indoor eradication.
gudrun - thanks for the ton of links. I did read up on tick transmitted diseases, and will keep an eye out for symptoms (I currently have a crick in my neck that's making me paranoid, but as it's just on one side and I'm fine otherwise, I'm going to refrain from worrying yet) of anything, including, but not limited to, Lyme disease. I didn't see anywhere in those links where it told you what to do after you'd unwittingly brought ticks into the house, though, which was the main thing missing from my own Google-fu. I'm starting to suspect it's because the answer is "nothing."
posted by wending my way at 9:48 PM on May 30, 2010
gudrun - thanks for the ton of links. I did read up on tick transmitted diseases, and will keep an eye out for symptoms (I currently have a crick in my neck that's making me paranoid, but as it's just on one side and I'm fine otherwise, I'm going to refrain from worrying yet) of anything, including, but not limited to, Lyme disease. I didn't see anywhere in those links where it told you what to do after you'd unwittingly brought ticks into the house, though, which was the main thing missing from my own Google-fu. I'm starting to suspect it's because the answer is "nothing."
posted by wending my way at 9:48 PM on May 30, 2010
Well, you don't really have an infestation in your house, and vigilant checking of you and your pet as soon as you come in from outside should do the trick. I am not a believer in throwing chemicals around unless you really have to. That said, here is some info. for you that includes product names (look for the tick control section). Probably products with permethrin would "safest" for you and your dog, but I would not do anything unless vigilant checking does not work.
posted by gudrun at 11:15 AM on May 31, 2010
posted by gudrun at 11:15 AM on May 31, 2010
no one should handle any tick with bare hands.
I wish my lifestyle was such that finding a tick was such a novelty that it inspired a hunt for tweezers or gloves but after you've picked off thirty in one day (a horrible summer day in 2007) you accept your close personal relationship with pestilence or you can't get anything done.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 2:23 PM on June 1, 2010
I wish my lifestyle was such that finding a tick was such a novelty that it inspired a hunt for tweezers or gloves but after you've picked off thirty in one day (a horrible summer day in 2007) you accept your close personal relationship with pestilence or you can't get anything done.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 2:23 PM on June 1, 2010
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Do a thorough check, and as good of a check as you possibly can on the dog, wash your clothes, and don't panic.
posted by schmod at 4:38 PM on May 30, 2010