Ticks and Bites

[longlanefarm]

I’ll preface this by saying my vet is coming out this afternoon for another horse and I’m having her take a look at these bite areas too. But just for some added COTH advice…

A few days ago, I pulled at least 1 tick off of all of my horses, some had 3-4. They’ve been tick-free to my knowledge all summer! What gives!?!?

Typically, a small lump is left at the bite site but one of my mares had 3-4 ticks under her jaw/mandible/throat latch area that look like welts that she rubbed open. I cleaned them up with chlorhexidine and put some antibiotic ointment on them but they didn’t look much better today.

Thoughts? Bad reaction to the bites? Topical treatment?

[JB]

Environmental conditions make “tick season” vary a bit year to year, and certainly by location. Our ticks were really bad from Spring through mid-Summer, earlier (it seemed) than usual The previous Winter likely affected it.

If she rubbed, it just may be a bigger wound than normal but if she was rubbing on wood, she may have little splinters or something else imbedded.

I find that the closer to bony areas bites are, the worse they tend to be, as there’s less tissue for swelling to dissipate.

Let us know what the vet finds

[Leather]

In our area we always get a fall resurgence of tick activity. A couple of years ago my foster mini got anaplasmosis in the middle of October when we had some unseasonably warm weather. The vets said they saw a ton of cases that fall.

In Minnesota, adult ticks will usually emerge right after the snow melts and reach peak spring-time activity during the month of May. The adult ticks will typically stay active throughout June. Adults will also become active again in the fall, usually by the end of September and through October, until temperatures drop below freezing or snow covers the ground.

[longlanefarm]

Vet recommended I give her 250mg Benadryl 2x daily for a few days. She said it’s just a bad reaction to the bites.
Yes certainly a fall resurgence! I only like the cold because the ticks and flies go away!

[Posting_Trot]

Yes, we usually get a fall resurgence as well. I think there may also be a difference in which type of tick. I think in the fall we often see deer ticks (the really bad kind in terms of lyme disease), whereas in mid-summer they’re usually the slightly larger dog ticks (sometimes called wood ticks).

I think it’s great that you’ve washed the spots with an anti-microbial wash. I’d also put a little antibiotic ointment on them, maybe mixing that with the benedryl salve.

Then if you think they were deer ticks, watch them for any symptoms of lyme disease.

[JB]

It could be worth asking for a PCR test to check for anaplasmosis. That test can pick things up before clinical symptoms appear.