Not a happy post, but one that needs to be shared.
Growing up in Michigan, and spending a lot of time outdoors, I never saw a tick and was never worried about them. In recent years tick populations in Michigan have exploded and now they are everywhere. Ticks have become a major problem in Southern Michigan. As our winters become warmer the prevalence of ticks increases. One Spring day after a hike near Marshall I removed close to 50 ticks off of our dog at the time, Barkley. While during Spring and Summer, they are their most abundant, in Michigan, ticks are a threat all year long. Even in January, if the temperature rises above 40 degrees, ticks become active.
Henri was only 18 months old when he passed away in January as a result of exposure to Lyme Disease. The Photo on the left was only a month before he died. He was full of life and ready to accomplish amazing things. The photo on the right is the day before he died at the MSU vet clinic. You can see his IV port on his leg. This was all the energy he had left. As a result of the Lyme Disease, his immune system was attacking his system and most of his organs were affected. Words alone cannot express how devastated and guilty I feel at the loss of our sweet boy. I was responsible for his safety and somehow, I let him down.
Please click on the link, read the article, and watch the video about ticks and Lyme Disease.
Please share this story so others do not need to go through what we did.