Quick flea treatment question- come quickly, I found a tick!!!!

[topbannana]

Nasty shiny little bastard
GingerDog is due to be treated (with Advocate) but I don't have any for TopPup who is 14 weeks.
I also have a surplus of GingerDogs Advocate as I am on a pet health plan and get enough for one treatment a month which I don't always do as I am so shoddy Can I use half a packet on the pup (and obviously throw the other half away)?
I would buy the correct one but a clerical error on my part means we are living off baked beans and water until Thursday and I want to stop the bastards NOW!!!!

I use Advocate but it doesn't treat ticks does it?

My flea stuff doesn't treat ticks. You will have to remove it. I love removing ticks then keeping them in a tub of alcohol to stare at them.

you can remove it physically but have to grasp it firmly with your nails as near to the skin as poss and give it a little twist on the way out to ensure you do not leave the head in the skin. Then throw it onto newspaper and BURN it. Check the spot to make sure it is all out. last time I did it I nearly puked and had to run thro the house with it to flush it down the loo hysterically. (But I do have some kind of ptsd about skin parasites so am sure u will be more sensible)

Get the O'Tom tick remover - they aren't more than a couple of quid. It's supposed to be the safest way to get rid of the tick, and it's very easy. And you don't even have to touch the tick with your fingers!

I would not recommend waiting too long with getting the tick out due to the risk of diseases, such as lyme disease.

The O'Tom looks like this: www.bada-uk.org/products/tickremover.php
You can find them cheaper on other websites. We bought ours at our local pet shop.

Advocate does not kill ticks. You can use either advantix or seresto collar at the same time to repel them through the tick season.

No way!!!
So I don't get any form of tick treatment in my pet health plan?! (stupidly I never checked the packet as I used a Seresto collar last year)
I found the tick on the floor after I had trodden on it
I do have the green twiddly device, a vital but of kit with spaniels i have found! GingerDog is a magnet for them so I'm surprised we haven't had any before
Will be having words about my plan tomorrow-grrr.

I wouldn't remove it without a tick remover, as Vibbe describes. If you don't have one, most vets sell them, as do Pets At Home and most other pet shops.

As Vibbe says though, I would recommend getting rid of it asap, if necessary by a quick trip to the vet if you can't get hold of a remover quickly.

If you are desperate and can't afford a vet trip, you can use long-nosed, sharp tweezers .

Frontline protects against ticks, but Advocate doesn't.

Vaseline works on ticks on cats - smother the tick and area immediately around. The tick will eventually suffocate and fall off.

Cross posted after being distracted by large slurpy kiss from lurcherboy - who has just scoffed mackerel and seems to have saved a fair bit in his beard for later.

I would check your plan ours includes 12 treatments of advocate and a seresto collar, but every practice is different.

I don't know if it matters with animals, but if you get a tick then use a tick remover NAD never smother with Vaseline/burn etc as this will cause distress to the tick which means the tick will regurgitate it's stomach contents into you meaning a far greater wins of infection.

lonecat I checked online.
It says year round flea and worm treatment, no mention of ticks
The plan costs about £25 a month for GingerDog and TopCat. Now I find I am needing to supplement tick treatment as well it confirms my belief that it is not as good value for money as first impressions.

And thank God for small mercies but I have never actually had a tick myself (I wear trousers or socks with boots/ trainers. I can then attractively hoik them up to my knees the second I step off the pavement :o)
I am a woman of stout constitution but I think that would be a step too far :o

We burn the tick after it has been removed to stop it leaching off any of the local pets.

Our DD had a tick on her neck when she was about 3. That was an A&E job. She's now 15 and still remembers it.