A new experience for us this week was Sancho getting a tick.
According to the vet this has been a particularly bad season for ticks and we’re living in a highly tick infested area. So, from that perspective we’re lucky this hasn’t happened before.
Danita was out and so she had the car. It had been quite a while since Sancho had been outside and so I decided it was time for a loo break. As we went out it was clear something was wrong. He was walking like he was seriously drunk – swerving from side to side, falling over and obviously having trouble getting around. Interestingly, he didn’t seem distressed by it and appeared quite chirpy and active. He really looked like a happy drunk.
At first I thought it might be that I’d just woken him up and so was still a little sleepy and groggy. But, we’ve never had an experience of him walking like that.
I did a quick check over, suspecting a tick, but couldn’t find anything. Tried to ring Danita to see if she was nearby – Sancho has made it quite clear he’s not happy going in one of the saddle bags on my bike and so getting him to the vet needed a car. It took a few goes to get her only to find that she was probably an hour away and the traffic was horrendous – isn’t it always the way that when you’re in a real hurry everything seems to get in the way. Or maybe it just seems like that because you’re in a hurry. When you’re not, the traffic doesn’t seem to matter quite so much. Anyway, I digress.
Danita clearly wasn’t going to be home for some time and I needed to get Sancho to the vet as a matter of urgency.
Fortunately, the people who’s house we’re in had left the keys to their car. Sadly, it wasn’t the Bentley (yes there is a Bentley here), but it was just what I needed right at that moment.
I got Sancho to the vet and they found a tick on him on his chin. The vet explained the dire consequences of a tick bite for a dog. Because the toxin binds to the muscles it can potentially cause paralysis of the oesophagus, bladder and other vital organs. The percentage of animals who die from a tick bite is quite high and so the vet was warning us about this. Fortunately, Sancho is very fit but he’s getting on in years and I was worried about the impact and potential long term consequences.
As a result, Sancho spent a couple of days in hospital on a drip being pumped with antivenin and being closely monitored. I suspect the worst part for him was not being allowed to eat or drink, in case it caused choking and reflux which can burn the lungs. When he got home he was clearly starving and we had to be very careful about what we fed him making sure we only gave him soft, sloppy stuff.
As you can see, from his picture, he’s had a serious shave. We realised we’ve never seen him without a pompom on his tail.
Thankfully, he’s now fully recovered and this is an experience we would be grateful never to repeat.
Our gratitude and thanks go to the Glenorie Vet Clinic – the team there were incredibly helpful and responsive.