My dog has a tick - advice needed

[maristella]

My dog has a tick. I applied Vaseline then tried to tweezer it off, but very stupidly only pulled part of it off. It is slightly swollen and I've put some lavender oil onto it.

Please help - what now?

Ah, the head & mouth parts probably still in there.
Your googling is as good as mine, heavy duty disinfectant time. Nasty buggers.

Thank you!
Would savlon be ok?

What happens to the remainders of the tick? Do they need surgical removal?

My poor dog
He's new to me and is my first dog, so I'm on a learning curve, hence the questions!

As a vet I can remove the head of a tick without the need for an anaesthetic, but it is tricky and requires patience.

My dog had one. I wiped with alcohol then used tweezers close to the skin and got whole thing out. It was very satisfying. I would think vaseline would make it extra slippy and hard to grip. I may be wrong, but i believe if you leave part in it regrows and you can try again?

How soon would it re grow?
I'm so new to this!

You need an 'O Tom' tick remover. Never try anything else as it will just explode its stomach contents into the dog. Yum. Maybe buy one for next time, we have it and its great!

www.otom.com/how-to-remove-a-tick

Fab, thank you, I've just bought one!

Wouldn't be without the OTom!! Once you've got it it, be sure to destroy it, though (by giving it a very firm squish till it pops, or - particularly satisfying - wrap it in paper and burn it ... big pop when it's dead).

Our dog had one last week and wouldn't let the vet near it. She applied Frontline and it died and fell off two days later and I was £40 lighter.

Please do not ever put Vaseline or anything else for that matter on ticks. Any form of stress or squeezing causes them to regurgitate the blood they've sucked back into your dog's bloodstream and increases the likelihood of infection being transferred.

The o'tom is the only way is ever recommend removing a tick because it's easy and safe and always gets all of it.

And they don't regrow by the way! :)

I definitely won't! I'm going to put on frontline today, keep it disinfected and dash him into the vets if it worsens or doesn't improve.

Another vote for O Tom, on my vet's advice ...

That tip about frontline is good....
Very satisfying when you pull a tick out properly, like pulling out a power plug (yuck).

My pup had a tick the other day, from the garden. In the absence of rubbing alcohol I poured neat vodka on her leg and pulled the thing out with my bare hands, rubber gloves were slowing me down and I couldn't get any sort of purchase with tweezers. I kept it in a Tupperware box in case she got sick and I had to show it to the vet, I think it's still there .

It's really important not to twist the tick when you're pulling as that can leave the mouth in the skin.

My previous dog used to get them all the time from the fields and ponds. I used to do a 'tick patrol' on an evening... again gross but necessary.

cansleep your post is full of misinformation.

www.bada-uk.org/defence/removal/indextickremoval.php

The above link gives the correct, safe way to remove ticks.

my apologies, I've always found it easier with my fingers