Beware.. Ticks!

 

13 years ago I chose the most adorable little puppy to join my 'family' I'd only moved out of home four months before to start my adventure in a new town for Uni & having always had pets all my life, it felt natural to surround myself with some four legged friends. So Jessie joined our family alongside Jack & Felty my cats & Twitterbug my Scaly Breasted Lorikeet. Jessie was a tan & white Border Collie and had a gorgeous personality from day one.

Our Journey's both began at the same time..

Like any family member Jessie grew with our family & over time he welcomed other dogs into our family (they were older than him & he would often look after these dogs, particularly in their old age & lead them to dinner etc) he welcomed my children and he welcomed my new family when my husband & his kids moved in. He would look after me, protect me & he knew when I was upset & cheer me up.

Jessie was very intelligent. He knew 'find toy' & would search until he found his favourite toys. He loved toys & had a large collection.

Jessie has been gone 2 months now, he passed away after being affected by a paralysis tick. I came home one Friday evening to find him laying in the garden, unable to get up. We took him to the vet, we asked about ticks but the vet thought it was more likely he'd sustained a sprain or a fall.. The next morning, still at the vets for observation he hadn't deteriorated nor had he improved. The vet still felt a rich was unlikely and was thinking moreso nerve damage? They asked me to call back closer to lunchtime & when I did I was told they had found a tick & had commenced the tick serum.

Unfortunately Jessie had a reaction to the tick serum so his health began to struggle, that afternoon we took him 'get well cards' and his toys. That evening the vet said his health was further declining & the next morning the phone rang and I felt sick.. I knew ge's passed, I couldn't answer the phone & made my husband take the call.. I knew it was bad news.. My beloved companion of 13 years, the one who'd been with me through thick & thin was gone.. Taken by an ugly insignificant insect :-( I was very upset, wondered why the vets hadn't picked it up earlier & angry..

I write this post as the weather is warming up, apparently there are more ticks than ever around & I'd like to spread some awareness in the hopes I could help save someone else's beloved pet suffering the same way our beautiful Jess did.

We'd never had ticks before, it was the first case we'd had in our backyard in 28 years so it wasn't something I was actively preventing against. We now use the tick collars on our dogs ( which are relatively inexpensive) and check them over regularly by running our hands over them to detect any lumps or bumps.

There are spot on products, Advantix that can be applied like flea preventers, but if your using this product to prevent ticks, you must use it fortnightly, not monthly like you would flea control.

I'm sure Jessie is in doggie heaven playing up a storm with all his mates who passed before him. His death was senseless & I urge all dog owners to go & check their dogs over, buy some preventative products & don't become complacent.. These hidden nasties can be in any of our backyards so protect yourselves, your children & your pets..

RIP Jessie (1999-2012)

Jessie had a gorgeous smile that could make you happy even on the bleakest day.

A Deep Thought.. A turning point..

Tonight I had planned on writing all about my exciting trip to IKEA to downsize some of my bulkier furniture in an effort to make more space before the littlest man starts to crawl! (Ill have to write about that next time)

Instead I find myself motivated by a post that Jen from Lovely Living wrote this evening and she thought it was crazy to be blogging at 11:15.. it must be insane to be blogging at quart to 2!  However, her blog post was discussing the recent sad events that the King family have faced with the recent passing of both Lisa King's son and husband.. I read of this story last week myself, and whilst I don't know this family personally, I have in the past read their blog and it bought up a lot of emotion, over the big 'What If's?' in life.. What If we aren't here tomorrow? it's a thought I would really not rather bear, however, when faced with other's stories such as these, it is a real possibility for any one of us and that is scary.. 

Jen's post focused on one's own accountability for one's health, how very true.. I too in the past have put little focus on my health.. overweight for the past 8 years to varying degree's, i'm at my heaviest now since the birth of Charlie and for the past 6 months although uncomfortable I haven't really done anything about the weight creeping up.. I find it easier to blame my PCOS, more recent sedentary lifestyle and fact that I am extremely 'time poor' of late juggling the 5 kids, house, work etc.. than actually facing up to the fact that I NEED to do something pro-active about it.  

My friend emailed me the other day, she signed up for the Channel 10's  '1 Million Kilo Challenge' she added me to her 'team' (although I honestly never got the email) however, I was like 'Yeah right, lets put that one on the back burner like I have time for that...' in hindsight, how terrible.. how can one not have time for one's own health?? 

I don't think it is all to do with weight loss though, I must say.. I think to have a healthy life you have to be healthy in every single way.. mentally, spiritually, physically so working on all of those aspects of my life are going to also be on my agenda. And not just for myself, but for my Husband too, because if I feel like I have no time, I guarantee he must feel like he doesn't have a nano-second to spare, but we need to make the time.. for the sake of our family and of course for ourselves.  

I think its terrible that it often takes somebody else's loss to motivate many and inspire many to do the right thing.. because it really is so hard to knowing the 'What If' can happen as it clearly did in this instance, I guess all of us who are now motivated to change are fortunate that we can learn from this and do something about it.. then stories that are told, such as Lisa King's are not in vain.. 

As all my blog readers are my witness, this is a turning point for me..