A Tick??

Salt001

I just pulled something out of my dogs skin.It was quite flatish and an oval shape,quite featureless also if that makes any sense.
There was some green gunk stuck on the end of it when i pulled it out and there is now a red mark and a bump on the dog where it was.There is no discharge though from the site.
I put some germoline on the dog because its up under her neck,she won't be able to lick it off.
If anybody has an idea what it was or if I need to do any thing else all advice will be gratefully accepted.

Cherry Blossom

It sounds like you pulled a tick out of the dog but left the head behind, this can become infected so you need to keep a close eye on it. Tick also carry diseases and its very important that you don't squeeze the contents of the tick back into the dog. There's a bit of a knack to removing them, you need to twist it as you remove them to make sure you get the head and mouth parts. If you aren't confident doing it the best option is a spot on treatment which kills them and they drop off a week or so later when they die.

Salt001

That sounds totally horrible,my poor furry baby,thanks a million for the advice.

Salt001

Just had a bit of a google on the whole world of ticks,wish I hadn't bothered now.
It was quite stomach churning.
I'm never taking my dog out again :eek:.
Well not really but we live in the country and there are very few routes where we dont have to jump into the verge if a car comes.

ladyjuicy08

What color was it? Spotted few reddy brown bugs on my cats past few days brought to vet tonight who have treated them with advocate . But they checked them over couldn't see anything on them no fleas no bugs I don't know what it is. I noticed another when I got home.

Salt001

ladyjuicy08 wrote: »

What color was it? Spotted few reddy brown bugs on my cats past few days brought to vet tonight who have treated them with advocate . But they checked them over couldn't see anything on them no fleas no bugs I don't know what it is. I noticed another when I got home.

It was a pale beige colour.But I think some ticks can be reddish brown.
Have a google but I wouldn't bother having your supper first .

Cherry Blossom

Salt001 wrote: »

It was a pale beige colour.But I think some ticks can be reddish brown.
Have a google but I wouldn't bother having your supper first .

They change in colour and size as they feed off the animals blood, I'm sure you really didn't want to know that though!

ladyjuicy08

Do ticks move cos this thing legged it yet vet couldn't find anything

Cherry Blossom

ladyjuicy08 wrote: »

Do ticks move cos this thing legged it yet vet couldn't find anything

Not once they have latched on.

Salt001

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

They change in colour and size as they feed off the animals blood, I'm sure you really didn't want to know that though!

Yeah I gathered that from the google .
Waaay to much information .

ladyjuicy08

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

Not once they have latched on.

I dunno what this thing is den ... I thought mite been from chick crumb I use as litter bt went thru tays can't see anything hopefully this advantage stuff will work cos ewwwwwwwwww

teflonchest

Fleas and Ticks are always a problem when you have a cat or Dog at home. There is nothing to worry. You can get Flea Treatment easily. There are a lot of names like Frontline, which specialize in Flea/Ticks treatment.

Graces7

The thing about ticks is that they only stay on the host animal three days then drop off replete. By the time we see them it is usually two days and any damage eg infection will already be done.

ie they are tiny when empty and that is when they attach. They crawl rather than run, Have had them on me also and not pleasant.
Like minute spiders.

We lived many years among sheep fields and the cats used to come in with up to 20 a day. I got used to pulling them out with fingers. You can feel them letting go. But sometimes some would get missed ( long hair on cats) and just drop off. And no they cannot run so if it ran it is not a tick.

The cats are so good with stuff like that.

Only once did one attach to one of the dogs, but that is understandable as the cats roam.

NB we do not use chemicals, as the cats lick each other... We tried once but even when safe it made no difference. Easier to do it by hand

Horrible things and a relief to be in cattle country where there are no ticks.

SillyMangoX

The literature has changed in regard to tick removal according to the lyme disease research centre, its recommended you pull the tick straight out without twisting, if you twist you have more of w chance of crushing the tick thus spreading disease. Once the body is removed from the mouth it no longer transmits disease, and the chance of getting an infection is quite low from a mouth part

CJhaughey

The best way I have found is to use the O'Tom Tick twisters, they look like small crowbars and you slide them under the tick and just twist.
The tick comes away with the mouth attached and nothing squeezes the tick body.

noddyone2

Get 'Advantage' or similar from the chemist or vet. Easy to apply (back of the neck), lasts a few months. Ticks can spread Lyme disease to humans. Always amazes me to see people walking in the hills wearing shorts.

Graces7

noddyone2 wrote: »

Get 'Advantage' or similar from the chemist or vet. Easy to apply (back of the neck), lasts a few months. Ticks can spread Lyme disease to humans. Always amazes me to see people walking in the hills wearing shorts.

At the last count, Lyme was being caught from deer ticks not farm sheep ticks.

With us it was sheep ticks.

We try not to use chemicals/toxins on our critters. Also, our two groom each other.

anniehoo

SillyMangoX wrote: »

The literature has changed in regard to tick removal according to the lyme disease research centre

Would you have a link to this info SillyMango? It makes more sense to me to twist and not pull, but would be interested to read the latest news on it.

SillyMangoX

http://asp.cumc.columbia.edu/lymedisease/askthedr/for_pt/displayanswer1-lyme.asp?Departments=LymeDisease&Controlnumber=3047 and from what my lecturers and the vet Im on placement with is saying!

Salt001

I'm just going to check her every day when we come back for our walks.
This is the second time she had one on her and both times they were totally flat so I'm hoping that they hadn't been on her that long.
She gets a whole lot of attention and petting and has a short coat so I reckon we would find them quite quickly.

I hope!!!! .

HigginsJ

Yea I found one on my cat few weeks back. Managed to remove it with a pair of tweezers and got spoton treatment from vet for it then. She was saying they are seeing alot more animals with ticks than usual this year.

Once removed and treated your animal should be fine. We are lucky in some ways we dont have the ticks they have in Oz that cause paralysis in animals.

Salt001

Is it only if there are sheep nearby that you get them?.

SillyMangoX

anywhere really in long grass

CJhaughey

HigginsJ wrote: »

Once removed and treated your animal should be fine. We are lucky in some ways we dont have the ticks they have in Oz that cause paralysis in animals.

But they do cause some serious diseases in Dogs and Horses, Tick bites can make them lame and cause them to become very lethargic.
Plus their joints can swell.

BullBauld

Ok so I just pulled a tick from my dog earlier, dirty little fecker. I'm not sure if head came out too, I just got rid straight away.

I didn't put anything on the area, should I have?

anniehoo

BullBauld wrote: »

Ok so I just pulled a tick from my dog earlier, dirty little fecker. I'm not sure if head came out too, I just got rid straight away.

I didn't put anything on the area, should I have?

You can put some antiseptic spray around the area and keep the hair off it if you can.If your dog is scratching some hydrocortisone will help with the itching sensation. It can take a week or more for the wound to heal over.

Graces7

anniehoo wrote: »

You can put some antiseptic spray around the area and keep the hair off it if you can.If your dog is scratching some hydrocortisone will help with the itching sensation. It can take a week or more for the wound to heal over.

We have always been fortunate but maybe ours just got so used to the creatures! Never any scratching so I think their thicker skin works better.

When I have been bitten by them the itching has been ferocious. They like to attach in warm, moist places.. go figure and yes, there too :eek:.

Our cats are longhaired here so less visible

In that house surrounded by sheep; twice I had a tick crawl across the laptop screen while I was emailing in bed. They are rock hard and impossible to crush in their spidery state so the thing was to pick them up with a damp tissue and loo or burn them.

The ll/farmer claimed he dipped his sheep three times a year and told us to wash ourselves when we asked re the ticks. Claimed HE never got them, but then he lived down in the village well away from them.

Living among cattle is much healthier! Never a tick here in the 2 years. Not even in the long grass.

Salt001

I'm keeping the furry baby away from grass outside the fields were sheep are, I'm just hoping this does the trick .
Re BullBauld's post I put germoline on the bite site.

planetX

Salt001 wrote: »

I'm keeping the furry baby away from grass outside the fields were sheep are, I'm just hoping this does the trick .
Re BullBauld's post I put germoline on the bite site.

Sorry, but I walk through long grass where there are no farm animals and never have been, and there are loads of ticks.
They've never caused problems for my pets, just pull them out slowly, or use frontline spot on once a month.

irelandspurs

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OTom-Tick-Twister-Hook-Remover-Tool-Pack-x-2-Horse-Pet-Dog-Cat-or-Human-/190698187612?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Dogs&hash=item2c667f6b5c#ht_732wt_1037

Graces7

planetX wrote: »

Sorry, but I walk through long grass where there are no farm animals and never have been, and there are loads of ticks.
They've never caused problems for my pets, just pull them out slowly, or use frontline spot on once a month.

That makes sense as they will seek prey of any kind that has blood. So they gather even more where there are sheep presumably?

Yet here, where no sheep, and long grass, never a tick have I seen in two years. Maybe cattle's hide is too thick for them?

Cherry Blossom

Ticks need a number of different hosts to complete their life-cycle, the larvae require small hosts. There's a pretty good diagram that explains here:

http://www.bada-uk.org/homesection/about/ticks/lifecycle.php

We have plenty of both cattle and sheep around but the only place my dog has picked them up is the area around the duck pond in the forest park which is particularly marshy (not sure if this is purely coincidental or is actually relevant) and has no shortage of small hosts for the larval stage ticks to feed on. Cattle are grazed on fairly short grass which is not really ideal for the ticks and doesn't provide much cover for the small/medium hosts where as sheep graze on 'rougher' grass which may also be a factor.

Interestingly my horses are on permanent pasture part of which is somewhat boggy (we have loads of frogs ) which is also quite highly inhabited by all manner of wildlife and a few pheasants and I have never found a tick on any of my horses which entirely negates all I have just said.

Graces7

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

Ticks need a number of different hosts to complete their life-cycle, the larvae require small hosts. There's a pretty good diagram that explains here:

http://www.bada-uk.org/homesection/about/ticks/lifecycle.php

We have plenty of both cattle and sheep around but the only place my dog has picked them up is the area around the duck pond in the forest park which is particularly marshy (not sure if this is purely coincidental or is actually relevant) and has no shortage of small hosts for the larval stage ticks to feed on. Cattle are grazed on fairly short grass which is not really ideal for the ticks and doesn't provide much cover for the small/medium hosts where as sheep graze on 'rougher' grass which may also be a factor.

Interestingly my horses are on permanent pasture part of which is somewhat boggy (we have loads of frogs ) which is also quite highly inhabited by all manner of wildlife and a few pheasants and I have never found a tick on any of my horses which entirely negates all I have just said.

Not here; they take the cattle out when the grass is grazed down and they graze in tall grass.

Interesting isn't it? Having just eaten, I decided not to look at the link

And no it doesn't negate what you said; probably the skin/hide of cattle and horses is too thick and tough compared to sheep. Ticks cannot get through it as easily as with soft skinned woollies and dogs and cats. Maybe the length of their jaws is too short! They are tiny in reality when empty.

Cherry Blossom

Graces7 wrote: »

[/B]
I decided not to look at the link

It's just a 'cartoon type' drawing of a diagram, nothing gruesome involved.

<EDT. the dogs are out there quite often too and they have got none from there either>

It is easy to tell where my terrier picks them up, you just count the yelps and that's how many ticks you need to find.

Salt001

We have had our dog for two years and in that time she has only had two ticks but there are sheep just up the road where we walk so I'm just keeping her away from the verge there.
I would imagine that cattle hides are too thick for them to get through.

barking1503

A good tip I got before is to remove the tick anti clockwise as the ticks fasten on in clockwise direction. Twisting anti-clockwise they come out easily and the head comes too.
They are gross gross gross......:mad:

Salt001

barking1503 wrote: »

A good tip I got before is to remove the tick anti clockwise as the ticks fasten on in clockwise direction. Twisting anti-clockwise they come out easily and the head comes too.
They are gross gross gross......:mad:

As far as I know the latest advice seems to be not to twist at all but to carefully pull straight out.
I did a bit of googling after I found one on the dog mind you could have done without some of the pictures .
They are totally gross :eek: