Ticks!

I too have had Lyme Disease: on top of the fatigue, brain fog & pain of the disease, a fortnight of twice daily antibiotic injections that caused nausea and vomitting right over the Christmas holidays was no fun. And sadly the underlying rheumatoid arthritis that had bumbled around in the background of my life with a single episode in fifteen years was sparked into life by the immune response.
On a more happy note, we visited the town of Lyme in New England from where the disease gets its name and it is a lovely area!
Prevention - the cat gets treatment and he, I & MrPP get the all over body check (and I mean ALL over) whenever we come in from the garden. I never found 'my' tick or got the rash ...
Can - I hear so much about people who struggle on and on with this desease and the co-infections. Might I suggest having a read about the American author Amy Tan's experience as it may give you a different pespective to discuss with your consultant. Sendng your wife my very best wishes.

As said take great care with ticks my DiL had one at the top of her leg which she didn't know about till she went for a shower she squeezed it out but didn't go to the doctor as it was late at night after that she now has type 1 diabetes no history of it in her family and absolutely no sign of it previously

I would read about Frontline before using it on any animal. We used it on our two bichons, one was fine but the younger one began having seizures! Having researched it, there appears to be a link with Frontline and seizures, in fact I’m sure there was going to be a class action in America against the manufacturer. We stopped using it and just took our chances. Luckily we had no fleas, ticks etc during their lifetime (16 and 14 years).

Type 1 diabetes doesn't always have a family history even though it plays a part. So if your father or brother has it etc you are at a higher risk but it isn't seen as hereditary. Your genes along with environmental factors play a part. So your DIL would have been carrying the gene and then something triggered the auto immune response -just as PP has said, she believes the Lymes disease triggered her rheumatoid arthritis.
Both my sons have T1, we don't know anyone else on either sides of the family that also has it. Mine were both diagnosed in the same week ( twins) I believe it was triggered by a very bad sickness bug they both had after they swam in the river. It is a well known river swimming beauty spot but there were several sickness cases that summer. They were both very poorly. Then 5 months later they both developed T1. My husband has auto immune issues which I believe runs in families which is often the "link". He is coeliac and has other auto immune problems - but coeliacs seem very much linked with T1. Often in families one child will be T1 and the other will be coeliac. You may well find that your DIL has family with other auto immune issues.

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I would read about Frontline before using it on any animal. We used it on our two bichons, one was fine but the younger one began having seizures! Having researched it, there appears to be a link with Frontline and seizures, in fact I’m sure there was going to be a class action in America against the manufacturer. We stopped using it and just took our chances. Luckily we had no fleas, ticks etc during their lifetime (16 and 14 years).

Collies are a bit strange with tablets/injections too. The vet is a bit anal with giving them worm treatments for that reason.....but I've had another 4 off him today - all on the underside of his mouth. He hates me at the moment. My tic tool came today. And I rang the vets earlier as it all seems to be prescriptions only. So going for the tablets that she has suggested.

Quite agree scarlet some collie are very sensitive to some drugs/ medication.
Our collies have always been fine with front line.

Thanks all for your comments and support I’ll suggest that American author to my wife PPS

Stronghold drip on or if there’s only a couple Vaseline covered over them is affective as it stops the critters breathing.

Ticks are a massive problem for sheep so I know a bit about them both on them and humans. This link shows you what to watch out for after having a tick https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/lyme-disease/. The https://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-ticks/ have lots of information and also sell the tick removal tool to help raise funds.

Never squeeze a tick. Always get to the doctor if there's any suggestion of infection - you don't always get the bullseye. If you've had a tick and start to get other symptoms, you need to tell your doctor as many don't even think about it.

I just want to add that I've never found Vaseline to work very well on animals because it melts in the heat from their body.

Any one who has Lyme has my deep sympathy.

For ticks on animals my old dad and his brother used apply iodine through a dropper. Don’t know how effective it was.