While we were stopped at a red light yesterday, I patted Rebel's back and happened to feel a small lump. Instinctively, with no hesitation and without even looking, I leaned over and pulled out the dog tick attached to Rebel, just as the light changed green. I do not recommend anyone doing this while driving, especially since one needs to be careful to remove the tick's head along with its body. But I have removed more than my share of ticks over the years, and I can do so blindfolded, so to speak. Anyway, with two of my fingers, I found myself holding a live tick which had Rebel's flesh in its mouth. I was not about to hold the tick, with its rapidly moving tiny legs, the six additional miles we had to travel home. So I opened my car window and flung the tick onto the road. I do not condone littering, but this case was an exception--after all, the litter was literally a bug. (Don't mind me, I am having a bout of insomnia this week and, hence, I am attributing this feeble attempt at humor to sleep deprivation.)
Incidentally, Rebel and I had been returning from the vet's office yesterday at the time of the tick incident. Rebel is on antibiotics again. Now it is because of an abscess; Rebel appears to have had an allergic reaction caused by an insect bite--either that or it's an infection due to excessive licking after some minor injury. I, however, am convinced it was a spider bite which caused the allergic reaction. I do not remember the exact day, but I do recall seeing Rebel step into a web with his left front paw in the garage. I also distinctly recall that a shiny black spider disappeared from the web when Rebel jumped into the car in the garage. I did check Rebel's paw afterwards, but I saw no evidence that he had been bitten. That was a number of days ago. And since Rebel has been exhibing no symptoms of any kind which would lead me to think a visit to the vet's office might be warranted, I was truly surprised to see the abscess on Rebel's left front paw yesterday morning. Actually, it looks more like a gigantic water blister between his toes. Okay, even if that particular spider in the garage did not bite him, I still think Rebel was probably bitten by some spider because they abound here in the woods. As for Rebel, he is doing just fine.
