My daughter's horse has been unwell lately
and the vet thinks it might be the same disease. We live on the central coast of
CA and there are plenty of ticks here, too. Sounds like you have a worse
infestation than we do, however.
Guys, just wanted to give you all a heads up. I'm sitting here sick as
a dog. I'll be able to answer a few emails and then will have to go back to
bed, with terrible body aches and alternating fever and chills. My doctor
thinks I have erlichiosis, a tick borne bacterial disease. I'm on
doxicyclene to kick it.
In Kansas, it's been a bountiful year for ticks. They are everywhere
and in the tall grass is the worst. Two weeks ago, i came home from a
training ride. I'd found about 50 ticks on my horse. I lifted up my shirt
and asked my husband to check me over. he found nearly a dozen ticks on me..
my back, underarms, belly and hips, all embedded. Erlichiosis affects
horses, dogs and people. If your pets have an unexplained illness you might
have them tested for it. And if you feel like a strange case of the flu just
broadsides you, better get yourself tested. It truly does feel like getting
hit by a truck. Every bone and muscle hurts.
The doc told me that in Kansas, Lyme disease is pretty rare, but
erlichiosis is more prevalent than people think, and we also have Rocky
mountain tick fevers here too.
It really sucks. I've always been lax about putting insect repellant on
myself. I usually spray the horses well, but neglect myself. I won't be
neglecting myself anymore. You don't want to get this.
Oh, and it doesn't matter how long the tick has been on you. some
people think it has to be attached for 24 hours to do any harm. Not so.It
just has to be on long enough to regurgitate it's body fluids into the bite
area, not long at all.
It takes almost a week to get the test results back, so we dont' know
for sure if that's what I've got, but the doc is treating it anyway based on
the symptoms.
Anyway, in training or competition, please take care of yourselves and
your horses. They get awfully sick with this too.
