Oh Dear!

Poor little Skye she somehow stumbled head first into a tick nest and ended up with numerous miniscule tick larvae on her head and body (even on her eyelid).

Yes, this is Skye - she had to have a "tick shave" - I bought her a couple of plush doggy coats to keep warm

Whilst we were at St Ives showground both dogs had picked up quite a few bush ticks, which were removed easily with no ill effects.

Being in a tick area Skye has been having Frontline Plus applied fortnightly - last  application was last Thursday.  On Sunday evening Skye's bark was a bit hoarse but I thought she'd just pulled too hard on the lead and hurt her throat, however, Monday morning she looked a bit wobbly around the hind legs so I had a bit of a search - found a tick, it looked like the bush tick, but just to be safe I phoned the local vet - Doyalson Animal Hospital - they said come round straight away.

Jen, the vet,  looked her over and found another very small (pinhead size) tick - she said it was a paralysis tick larva and suggested that they keep her in overnight and give her a Permoxin wash.  Later they phoned and said they'd found at least a dozen minute larvae and weren't sure how many more there were and asked if they could give her a "tick shave" and also administer tick antivenom intravenously.  The vet thinks Skye may have stumbled into a tick nesting area.  She said she'd had a dog with up to 50 tick larvae on it - it didn't survive.

Skye came home late this afternoon - she doesn't LOOK or SOUND like herself , the voice change could take a few weeks to come back to normal (lararyngeal paralysis), her eyelids are also paralysed and she needs eye cream applied 3 times a day to keep the eye moist.

It will take a bit of time getting used to the new Skye. Her rear legs are still a bit weak - she can't jump up to front seat or step, but she isn't having any trouble eating!

It's good to have her back - the motorhome felt empty without her!