First of all welcome to Pet Talk, and a fellow NJer at that! My Bella came down with Lyme disease in April. You can read the thread here:

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...s+Lyme+Disease

Obviously I am very paranoid about ticks right now. She had started with the two part vaccine but developed symptoms of Lyme before the second shot. The vet, having had 200 pets over the past year in his practice come down with Lyme, recognized her symptoms immediately. She was put on antibiotics for a month for her Lyme and also on Frontline as a preventative. He said he likes to use the vaccine in addition to the Frontline because, as you mention, they do not die immediately. I had not seen any very recently on Bella and they are pretty easy to spot, with her coat being white and me checking constantly. I am wondering if she might have picked up the Lyme as a result of a bite in the fall. I do remember taking a few off of her then.

Yes ticks are HARD TO KILL! I remember once a couple of years ago, after walking in the woods behind my property, coming in and putting the clothes I was wearing in the washer immediately and then running them through the dryer. As I was folding them on the kitchen table, out walked a tick which had survived the washer and dryer! I can't tell you how much I hate and fear these things.

I thank you for your information and hopefully no one else who reads here at Pet Talk will ever have to deal with this. I agree with you that ticks are going to be bad this year. I took two off Bella within the last two weeks (they weren't attached, but walking on her white fur). I check both dogs constantly and I do wish that Ripley was a lighter color. It sure would make it easier, but he gets lots of massages and checks throughout the day. The kitties are 'inside only' so that makes it somewhat easier but they have to be checked as well in case a dog brings one in, and us humans have to check ourselves also!