Tick on my dog....uggghhhhhh

[hellymelly]

What do i do? Does she need to go to the vet? Should I comb her over to check for more? Am now really paranoid as friend's dd has Lymes disease- don't know where the dog could have picked the tick up as she has only been in our garden or on the beach, not in the fields or anything. Errgg, they are really vile. I could see its horrible little black legs.

[NigellasDealer]

You have to remove it not by pulling but by giving a little half twist or there is the danger of leaving the legs in situ. This is a bit scary.
Or I think you can smear vaseline all over it and it will suffocate and loosen its grip.
Just run your fingers all through his coat to check for more.
We used to ahve great fun twisting them out and stamping on them SPLAT.

[NigellasDealer]

although I have lost my taste for it tbh last time I had to do it I had to run through the house holding it and retching to throw it down the loo. IT IS VERY important that the legs come out.

[hellymelly]

I think we will pop her down to the vet, I don't want to risk infection by not removing it properly. I know the unscrewing thing but I have never done it, and somehow ticks make my hair stand on end, even though I am not very squeamish. One of my previous dogs got a tick, years and years ago and then I got the vet to deal with it. Am worried now that we have ticks in our garden, we do get badgers possibly, and foxes definitely, so maybe they have brought a tick in. Will check her for more, but aren't they easy to miss? She has quite a dense wirey coat (Irish terrier). This vile beasie is near her ear so I felt it as I was stroking them.

[catbus]

Invest in one of these- they're great. Very important to remove properly
www.panosun.org//TC-1.html

[Spero]

I thought it was the head you had to be sure of getting out? That's why you twist, not pull as otherwise he body can break away from the head and stay embedded in your dog and cause infection.

I found a tick on me once. It was one of the most horrifying experiences of my life. None yet on dogs and I think I would go straight to vet as not confident I could get it out.

[Owllady]

I am going back years now, 10? But mine was covered (every sad rescue) and the vet put some drops on her and then the next day or two they just fell out and we finished them off. Dog had a puck me up type injection as well uric
As I say, this was over a decade ago

[hellymelly]

EErgh I am cringing at the thought of a tick on me. Added to my Lymes disease paranoia...DH will be home soon and then it is off to the vet I think, but I might buy one of those removers, they look handy. Owl your poor dog covered in ticks. How horrible. I've had hedgehogs like that, but not seen it on any other animal. I feel very itchy now!

[littlewhitebag]

My dog gets ticks regularly. There are loads of deer around here and they spread them. I have an O'Tom tick remover which works a treat. You get two in the pack for big ticks and small ticks. I find it very satisfying removing them.

[NigellasDealer]

oh yes meant head not legs silly me....

[haggisaggis]

Get a tick remover. They are really easy to remove with the remover - we have loads round us and our cat used to get covered. Also used to us getting them (holidays in North West Scotland). dd had one just above her eye once - it just fell off though.

They get them most around the head - check around ears.

[SpicyPear]

Don't pay the vet to do it! Just get a tick twister. It's really really simple. They just fall out.

[hellymelly]

DH has taken her to the vet as I don't want to leave it in situ untl we can get a tick remover, i just want it out.

[hellymelly]

It is near an ear. littlewhitebag do you worry about Lymes? I am scared I will miss a nymph tick on one of the dds.

[moosemama]

We have O'Tom Tick Twisters and they come out really easily with them.

We keep one in our dog walking first aid kit, so it's easily to had and have another in the grooming kit in the house.

I loathe the wriggly little blood suckers.

[hellymelly]

Am off to google O'Tom tick twisters. Yuck.

[littlewhitebag]

I don't really worry but i keep an eye on her after i have removed a tick to make sure she is okay. I am not sure what the symptoms of Lyme's might be.

[hellymelly]

I don't know if dogs get Lymes actually, although I imagine they do. In people there is often (but not always) a red ringed rash around the bite. I think you then get a temp and feel a bit fluey. However if it isn't treated it can lead to very serious complications, including neurological damage. My friend's dd is really unwell and often needs to be in a wheelchair.

[SpicyPear]

Yes dogs can get it. I'm not sure how well it is treated. UK treatment for human Lymes is generally appalling.

[hellymelly]

Well it is still there as the vet nurse couldn't find it, so DH thought it had fallen off, but then he found it as he left and tried to remove it with the remover he'd just bought. Dog was not happy and twisted at crucial moment, dH said he though he hurt her, and then the vet nurse tried again, by which time pup was very stressed and kept trying to nip the nurse whenever she tried. So DH has taken her to the beach and will try again when they get back and she is worn out and relaxed. She gets very nippy if she gets stressed, not sure how to deal with that. It isn't a hard nip, but it could be when she is older (she is 6m). She has always been quite mouthy and used to do the same thing when she had to have her feet dried but we have got her over that, now it is if she is at all worried.

[toboldlygo]

Dogs can indeed get Lyme disease but they don't get the telltale bullseye rash found in humans and symptoms can be vague or absent. There is a relatively new vaccine available against it.

The thing to avoid is pissing off the tick so it regurgitates - no burning, smothering in vaseline, botched removal attempts etc - either whip it out with a proper tick hook or use Frontline and wait for it to feed, die and drop off. Or use something like a Seresto or Scalibor collar.

[hellymelly]

Well that is good to know as DH had just been told to use something hot to get it to drop off. Vet nurse suggested frontline but I like to avoid pesticides on my dogs unless unavoidable. I hope dH didn't annoy by trying to get it off, i am not sure how far into the operation he was when he had to stop.

[hellymelly]

I don't think Lymes is prevalent in our area, but from what I saw online it has spread extensively.

[EvenBetter]

My mums collie gets them a lot, they can be really really tiny, or up to the size of a baked bean, I fuckin hate them. He enjoys his tick checks where I use the pads of my fingers to check him all over, especially round the ears, neck, chest, armpits and tummy. We use a Tick Twister to get them out easily. He gets them from a forest that has deer lurking around, and the beach where there are rabbits, cows etc.