Removing a tick

david75

Been keeping an eye on a lump on my dogs back and sure enough it's a tick.
Tried some googling but Im not sure. Can anyone recommend a totally effective and safe way to take this thing out?

Thanks in advance.

pawrick

Tick tweezers should do the job or with practice an ordinary one but greater risk of the tick breaking.

650Ginge

But some vinegar on the tick first leave it ten mins.

Get tick tweezers, a chemist should have then. Then remove it gently, I twist slightly.

Make sure to let the vinegar soak into the little fecker first.

peasant

Fingernails...and a good dose of un-squeamishness.

Works better than any tool

Knine

The best way is the Tick Tweezers. A petshop should have them.

**Stomach Churns**

Graces7

peasant wrote: »

Fingernails...and a good dose of un-squeamishness.

Works better than any tool

Agree totally. Mine used to come in full of ticks and I got used to getting them out, If you are new to ticks though, wonder if you know that by the time you can see them any real damage is done?

They are tiny spider like things until they attach, when they suck in blood until full, usually three days then drop off to feed on the blood.. then find another host...

I still used to take them off. Nip and twist...

deadlybuzzman

Whatever you do don't do what I did.
When I found a huge lump of a tick on the dog I turned into Seth Rogan having a panic attack, followed by me doing an insufficient amount of googling followed by me getting my face splattered in tick goo as it burst as I tried to pull it out!

Afterwards I read that if you cover the tick in vaseline it starts to suffocate and is easier to remove as it relaxes it's grip and I probably would do that if there's ever a next time

david75

Thanks lads.

Interesting development. I poured some vinegar on it and let it sit. Then did it again ten minutes later and let it sit.

Then got an old comb and just really gently combed it through really slowly. Something lifted and I put it on the floor.

Looked and it was just a scab head basically. But the 'bubble' was still on his back now it looked like a little bag of puss which then went all pink a few minutes later. It still looks like a tick but seems not to be given the puss.

Totally confused now.

Graces7

david75 wrote: »

Thanks lads.

Interesting development. I poured some vinegar on it and let it sit. Then did it again ten minutes later and let it sit.

Then got an old comb and just really gently combed it through really slowly. Something lifted and I put it on the floor.

Looked and it was just a scab head basically. But the 'bubble' was still on his back now it looked like a little bag of puss which then went all pink a few minutes later. ????It still looks like a tick but seems not to be given the puss. ????

Totally confused now.

Cannot quite work out what you mean in that last sentence? What you call the bag of "pus" is the blood it has taken from the dog or cat. So it is part of the tick, like a balloon that it has inflated. This one was near ready to drop off! Are you saying the body ie the bag came off but left the head in? That you combed off the body and left the head in the animal? Please explain?

Graces7

deadlybuzzman wrote: »

Whatever you do don't do what I did.
When I found a huge lump of a tick on the dog I turned into Seth Rogan having a panic attack, followed by me doing an insufficient amount of googling followed by me getting my face splattered in tick goo as it burst as I tried to pull it out!

Afterwards I read that if you cover the tick in vaseline it starts to suffocate and is easier to remove as it relaxes it's grip and I probably would do that if there's ever a next time

The trick is to get your nails round the head, ie go beyond and under the swelling that is full of your dog's blood now. . Nip the head not the body. If you pull the body off the head will still be in the dog and hard to get out then.

mulbot

I've always found rubbing vaseline over and around the tick works really well.

peasant

Generally speaking, putting "stuff" (vaseline, vinegar, perfume, whatever) on the tick is not such a good idea.

You do not want to put the tick under stress. Because when under stress they apparently regurtitate some of the ingested blood back into your dog...including some of the nasty bacteria/virus that they may be carrying which is what makes them so dangerous in the first place.

The same goes for endlessly trying to line them up properly for removal with a tool. Between a reluctant dog, fur and not being to see properly, more often than not you end up sqeeezing the tick...again...not something you should be doing.

That's why I always use my fingers.
I can use them blind (don't need to see exactly where I am at because I can feel it) I can gently and carefully get my fingernails in the correct position (again because I can feel exactly where I'm at) I can follow the tick even when the dog moves under me and when the nails are in the right position...one determined twist-pull...and the tick is out before it even knows what's happening.

Also...the longer you faff about, the deeper the little bugger digs in

Seriously people...don't be so squeamish...the thing needs out with the least fuss possible...just use your fingers



(You can always throw up afterwards )

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

I used to take these out of cows the entire time. No biggie. Align your fingernails each side, gently push into the skin so as you're going to grip as close as possible to where it meets your dogs skin, and just give it a quick pull.

mulbot

peasant wrote: »

Generally speaking, putting "stuff" (vaseline, vinegar, perfume, whatever) on the tick is not such a good idea.

You do not want to put the tick under stress. Because when under stress they apparently regurtitate some of the ingested blood back into your dog...including some of the nasty bacteria/virus that they may be carrying which is what makes them so dangerous in the first place.

The same goes for endlessly trying to line them up properly for removal with a tool. Between a reluctant dog, fur and not being to see properly, more often than not you end up sqeeezing the tick...again...not something you should be doing.

That's why I always use my fingers.
I can use them blind (don't need to see exactly where I am at because I can feel it) I can gently and carefully get my fingernails in the correct position (again because I can feel exactly where I'm at) I can follow the tick even when the dog moves under me and when the nails are in the right position...one determined twist-pull...and the tick is out before it even knows what's happening.

Also...the longer you faff about, the deeper the little bugger digs in

Seriously people...don't be so squeamish...the thing needs out with the least fuss possible...just use your fingers



(You can always throw up afterwards )

They will come off quicker with vaseline than digging them out with your nails-

peasant

mulbot wrote: »

They will come off quicker with vaseline than digging them out with your nails-

Huh?
Between first detection of tick to cremation* of tick in an ashtray I usually spend under one minute..it would take me longer to just get and put on the vaseline




*
Ticks are very, very tough to kill. Squishing them is too messy (and they still live afterwards). Just throwing them out ensures that they suck again on another victim ...that's why I incinerate them to make sure.

david75

Sorry for the late reply. Basically I don't know now if this is a tick. A scab came off it earlier. A tick shouldn't do that. I'm attaching a picture. Please if anyone knows for sure let me know.

Lady Haywire

david75 wrote: »

Sorry for the late reply. Basically I don't know now if this is a tick. A scab came off it earlier. A tick shouldn't do that. I'm attaching a picture. Please if anyone knows for sure let me know.

Definitely not a tick, could the dog got a prick of a thorn or a prod of some sort? You mentioned pus coming out so it could be just a wee abscess under the skin.

Ticks are ridiculously easy to take off once you get over the 'Ew' factor. Nails, twist, ''click sound'' and they're gone
I've been taking them off cows, dogs, cats, myself, for years (just plucking tem off) and the only issue I had was when I put white spirits on one to see what would happen. Ended up with a large abscess on my arm and now I've a lovely scar :pac:

david75

He's in the Phoenix park every day and I throw the stick he's a bullet after it and they constantly stab and jab him and no bother on him. This is dead centre on his back though. Never happens there. It's like a blood boil? Thanks for that though.

Lady Haywire

david75 wrote: »

He's in the Phoenix park every day and I throw the stick he's a bullet after it and they constantly stab and jab him and no bother on him. This is dead centre on his back though. Never happens there. It's like a blood boil? Thanks for that though.

Could be a blood boil too, I got one of those a fortnight ago and haven't a clue how I got it :pac: I'd just make sure it's clean now after the vinegar, that can't have been pleasant for him!

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

It's not a tick for sure. I don't know what it is

david75

It isn't. I can tell now.

Thanks for all your help. Had mylo since he was a baby and there never has been a dull moment. Even the troubled stuff. He's five now. And still at it

mulbot

peasant wrote: »

Huh?
Between first detection of tick to cremation* of tick in an ashtray I usually spend under one minute..it would take me longer to just get and put on the vaseline




*
Ticks are very, very tough to kill. Squishing them is too messy (and they still live afterwards). Just throwing them out ensures that they suck again on another victim ...that's why I incinerate them to make sure.

It won't take a minute with vaseline-as you rub over it, it will come off

Alun

Just pull them out, straight, without twisting is the current recommended method. Applying vaseline or anything else can result in the tick regurgitating it's stomach contents into the host, something you definitely do not want to happen.

See here ...

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-ticks/tick-removal/

topmanamillion

peasant wrote: »

Fingernails...and a good dose of un-squeamishness.

Works better than any tool

This is the best answer you are going to get.
Its the only way to be sure you get a good grip and pull the whole thing off. If its been there a couple of days chances are its pretty full and that will make it easier to come off.
If you`re a fan of gore, a good stamp with your boot when you pull it off is morbidly satisfying!

Alun

topmanamillion wrote: »

This is the best answer you are going to get.
Its the only way to be sure you get a good grip and pull the whole thing off. If its been there a couple of days chances are its pretty full and that will make it easier to come off.

Errm no ... If you have very long fingernails perhaps and can grip it around the mouth parts just with your nails, but if you don't you'll end up squeezing the body, and squeezing the body is a big no no for the reasons I gave above. Has nobody here heard of Lyme disease?

Graces7

Alun wrote: »

Errm no ... If you have very long fingernails perhaps and can grip it around the mouth parts just with your nails, but if you don't you'll end up squeezing the body, and squeezing the body is a big no no for the reasons I gave above. Has nobody here heard of Lyme disease?

My nails are short and never a problems.. you can feel the difference between body and head

Only time I have had any trouble is with ticks on myself when t was hard to access them.

matsy1

Any Lyme diesese encountered?

Turnipman

matsy1 wrote: »

Any Lyme diesese encountered?

There's a long, scary thread about it on politics.ie - some poster's unfortunate daughter contacted Lyme Disease and is in a wheelchair.

http://www.politics.ie/forum/health-social-affairs/258639-lyme-disease.html

(Don't know if I'm allowed to post that link here, if not, my apologies.)

AryaStark

Turnipman wrote: »

There's a long, scary thread about it on politics.ie - some poster's unfortunate daughter contacted Lyme Disease and is in a wheelchair.

http://www.politics.ie/forum/health-social-affairs/258639-lyme-disease.html

(Don't know if I'm allowed to post that link here, if not, my apologies.)

My Mam has Lymes Disease and it is no laughing matter... Tics really freak me out now!

Neon_Lights

Ag science 2008 vintage - "The Babesia is a member of the protozoa"

Still remembered duck yeah