Ticks on dogs

[jeraldo]

My dog was recently bitten by a couple of ticks and we removed these successfully. She now has small, pus-filled lumps where they were. She hasn't displayed these symptoms before with ticks. Will they go away if we leave them and just use colloidal silver/TCP?

[paddywak]

Removing tics isn't as easy as it seems, if you leave the tiniest bit of the tic in the wound it can cause infection and this sounds like whats happened here. a trip to the vets may be advisable before it gets worst

[tamborine]

Removing tics is v.easy, with tweezers: Heat end of tweezer with lighter, place on tic (tic retracts it hold) & pull off. Apply antibiotic oil on wound.

Saves £££s at vets - my consultation fee = j.eel :o)

[tamborine]

Once tic is removed heat up tweezers again & place on wound momentarily (cauterises & kills any eggs). Savlon is good for after.

nb always flick lighter over tweezers to sterilise after use.

[woofgang]

If you are looking for a way to terrify a dog and likely get bitten, touch it with hot tweezers!! Any infection left by the tick will be under the skin so unless you brand the poor dog, you are unlikely to do any good.

[woofgang]

I unscrew ticks from my dogs but it is a knack and you need to do it carefully...squeeze too hard and you inject the body contents back into the dog and risk infection, pull too hard as you are twisting and you will pull the body off and leave the head in the dog

[tamborine]

hot tweezer ends are tiny & tapped on wound for nano-second....not long enuf for dog to notice. dog would be distracted by holding its collar.

You can use a vet - he'll do same & charge you.

[naomi24]

Our vet recommends smothering the tick in a great dollop of Vaseline. I've done it on my dogs several times - and it works. It suffocates the ticks and they just die and fall off. No chance of leaving the head attached.

[woofgang]

Mine doesn't and he is in the New Forest which is a Lyme disease hotspot so they are red hot on ticks

[woofgang]

sorry, meant mine doesn't do the hot tweezer thing

[Clanad]

We have several outdoor dogs here in the western U.S. On finding ticks, we grab a bottle of mineral oil and some cotton swabs... similar to naomi's trick with the Vaseline. Swab the tick generously with the mineral oil and after the tick dies (or backs out trying to escape) swab the wound with alcohol as a defense against infection...

If you really insist on a heated object then use our neighbors trick of heating a common pin and hold that to the body of the tick... they back right out. Problem is, even with the pin not touching the dog, they sometimes become skittish and hard to hold...

[jeraldo]

Thanks all for your answers. I ended up taking Winnie to the vet and he said she had reacted and had a slight infection and gave her a jab of antibiotics to keep the infection treated. Nothing else necessary. Have removed ticks for years from our dogs using the tweezer treatment which has always worked. This was new and different. My son advocates the heat treatment but says use a candle!!! I think not.

[Goofy]

a really good tic(k?) remover is available form some vets, and on the internet www.otom.com
It works every time with our dog - whoc picks them up almost twice a day at teh moment