Heebie Jeebies

**warning, warning, content might give heebie jeebies**

Yesterday morning, I sat on the couch to watch the morning news, and grimaced at the TV as they commented on the frost advisory that was out for the the umpteenth time in May (yes, it is 3 days before June and we still have to cover our flowers for fear of frost. Actually, I think half of my flowers have died already. Crazy). Anyway, Rudy (our dog) stretched his way over to the couch to say his morning "hello." He leaned in for a scratch, and headed to the sliding door so he could be let out for his morning call. However, as I got up to let him outside, I noticed something at the base of his tale. It looked like a growth of some sort. I immediately sighed at the thought of a growth, because last year he had a growth that had to be surgically removed that cost us a pretty penny. And I certainly did not want to pay more money to have another skin tag removed on a DOG. What boggled me even more was that I hadn't even noticed it before, because it was a pretty good size.

I went ahead and started to prob it, only to realize it was just barely hanging on. I could practically pull it off myself, and he wouldn't even notice. Only, just before I did, I noticed something funny. That skin tag had LEGS! I immediately yanked my arm away, and did a little squeamish dance. I had been poking and probing a bug. I called the vet, and she said to bring him over right away, because it was most likely a tick. That thing was huge. Like the size of a beetle! I didn't even know we had tick's in our yard. I seriously couldn't get my skin to stop crawling. I would share a picture, but I didn't think most viewers would like to get a good look at my dog's rear end. However here is a picture from the net. The enlarged tick is close to the size of the one that was on poor Rudy.



So we went to the vet and Rudy had his little friend removed. They actually had to shave a spot on his tale to get to it. It was one of the bigger ones they had seen. So, of course they are sending it to somewhere like the DNR to get evaluated (and make sure there isn't any disease in it), but in the mean time I am supposed to monitor him for signs of infection. And to think I touched the thing without any gloves on. I felt like spraying the house with Lysol, taking a shower, there had to be something I could do to calm my nerves.

Anyway, today is a new day. I've calmed down a bit, and Rudy is no worse for the wear. I honestly don't think he even knew anything went on. Oh, the life of a dog, without worries, fears, or anxiety.