Ticks

[deste]

Our dog has a tick very cose to his eye, and I'm going to take him to the vet tomorrow. I have frontline which I have to use on him as he has just been clipped and washed. Will the frontline kill the tick on him now or is it too late

Can you not just take it off? I use a Tick Twister and they come off easily.

We have the twister thing but my daughter can't find it and the dog will not let me touch him beside his eyes.

Please try to get your dog used to being handled. Our vet is being trained up in tic-borne diseases as they are very much on the increase in UK, specially in the South, SE and East Anglia. Ideally you should check for tics every day. It takes 24-48 hours for Lyme disease to pass from the tic to the dog and it can be devastating. Frontline takes 48 hours to work. Saying all this, I am by no means perfect. A neighbour's puppy may have Lyme disease, and it's devastating. Hope your dog is ok and that you are too.

The dog is fine, he did snap at the vet but did not make contact. I did say she might need to muzzle him but she thought she would try. It was when she tried to pull it out that he snapped. I asked what I should do to stop the dog snapping because it was only when he was being touched that he snapped. That is apart from the dog groomer who has no problems. She said I should put him in a corner and ignore him and for giving me that advice I was charged for a consultation. £31.50.

In our practice we have a particular farm with working sheepdogs and a Lyme disease problem we now put seresto collars on all the dogs to prevent the ticks from ever attaching. Oh and I charge £18.59 to remove a tick.

18 quid to remove a tick!!!!

Just twist it anti-clockwise and dab some antiseptic on!

Or, as the farmers round here do, just rip it out (I'm always too scared of leaving the head in for this method)

At least I'm cheaper than £30!

I charge a full consult fee for tick removal. This will include a check over, a discussion about what products might be most suited to the pet and advice on safely removing a tick (because leaving the head behind is the least of your worries but most people don't realise this). Money well spent if you ask me.