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I think I have discovered an engorged tick on my 5 pound Shih Tsu's neck. I attempted to remove it with a kleenex, but to no avail. If anyone can lend some knowledge or insight into this, I will eternally grateful!
1- What do engorged ticks look like?
2- How does one remove them?
3- Does the dog need to be seen by a vet?
As I am phobic about "all-things-tick-related" this is a bit of a dilemma. Am hoping some level headed, more seasoned dog owners out there might be able to assist!
I think I have discovered an engorged tick on my 5 pound Shih Tsu's neck. I attempted to remove it with a kleenex, but to no avail. If anyone can lend some knowledge or insight into this, I will eternally grateful!
1- What do engorged ticks look like?
2- How does one remove them?
3- Does the dog need to be seen by a vet?
As I am phobic about "all-things-tick-related" this is a bit of a dilemma. Am hoping some level headed, more seasoned dog owners out there might be able to assist!
Thanks in advance!
None of our pups have ever had ticks, so I couldn't tell you how to get one off of your dog. But, when I was probably about 12 I got one of those nasty things on my neck! When we got home from a camping trip, which I didn't want to go on to start with! I noticed that I had this weired pain at the top of my neck, right at my hair line. My mom checked it out and told me it was a tick! To get it out my mom first tried to pull it out with tweezers. I guess it was small tick, it hadn't gotten it's fill yet, so it wouldn't come out with tweezers. I have heard that if they are pretty full they will normally come out pretty easily with tweezers. Anyway, with mine, they made me hold my head down and they poured some alcohol on my neck. I guess it makes the tick come out on its own? I have also heard that you can take a lighter and hold it right by the tick (lit obviously ) and it will make the tick come out on it's own, but I don't know how well that would work with a dog. My dogs are scared of lighters! lol! If the tick is engorged you should be able to just pull it out with tweezers. Ticks drop off when they can't eat anymore, so if it's really fat it shouldn't be too hard to get out with tweezers. You have to be careful to not break it's head off when it's still under your dogs skin though, or so I've heard.
So, to answer your questions, 1. an engorged tick is pretty easy to spot. They really get pretty big, they will look like they are very full. 2. You can take your dog to the vet and have them remove it, or you can try one of the things I already told you about. If it's engorged I would suggest trying to just pull it out with tweezers. 3. It's really up to you, if you feel like your pup needs to go to the vet than I would suggest taking him. I don't think that's dogs normally get sick from ticks, but ticks can carry diseases. If it was me, I would take my dog to the vet, just to be safe. If you can't get the tick off your self, or if part of the tick breaks off and stays in your dogs skin, yes, take your dog to the vet. Also, if you do get the tick out yourself and you still decide to take your dog to the vet, I would suggest that you put the tick in a container and take it to the vet too.
After putting out "May day! May Day!" phone calls to a number of my friends, one finally phoned and sure enough, it was an engorged tick. Trust me, they are NASTY! The look like grapes..Ugh! What I ended up doing was soaking a paper towel in nail polish remover, (as supposedly ticks aren't fond of nail polish remover!) and then yanked it out of the little dog's neck.
The tick is now somewhere within the septic system of suburban Boston, and little dog and I will be sleeping better tonight, I'll tell ya!!!
Thanks again for your response. It is so wonderful to know that there are helpful people out there in a time of need!
Are certain the entire tick is gone? If you don't get the head you'll be right back in the place you abhor.
Place a all to your vet tomorrow about getting a flea/tick preventive to avoid this in the future. Also will take care of any eggs that might have been hatched by possible fleas.
June 7th - watch that area really carefully - if the head didn't come out with the body you could have problems again. Also watch for signs of illness - there are lots of tick-borne diseases that can cause problems.
I've heard it's true, I've heard it isn't true - that if you dab some Vaseline on the spot it will prevent the tick from getting air and smother it. It can't hurt and if the head is still in there it would keep it from growing again. You might try a little Neosporin, which is petroleum based, with the topical anesthetic in it. Just like humans, dogs itch like everything where they have had a tick bite...
After putting out "May day! May Day!" phone calls to a number of my friends, one finally phoned and sure enough, it was an engorged tick. Trust me, they are NASTY! The look like grapes..Ugh! What I ended up doing was soaking a paper towel in nail polish remover, (as supposedly ticks aren't fond of nail polish remover!) and then yanked it out of the little dog's neck.
The tick is now somewhere within the septic system of suburban Boston, and little dog and I will be sleeping better tonight, I'll tell ya!!!
Thanks again for your response. It is so wonderful to know that there are helpful people out there in a time of need!
Take gentle care!
I have also hear about the nail polish remover thing! I don't know why I didn't think of that? lol! Well, I'm glad you got the tick out! I agree with cleosmom and Sam I Am. I would suggest that you keep a close eye on your pup just to make sure your in the clear. Ticks are nasty little things and as I said before they can carry many different diseases. Your pup could also get an infection where the tick was, especially if a part of the tick broke off under the skin. Sometimes you can't even tell if a part of the tick is still in there. Just watch the spot where the tick was and take your pup to the vet if it starts showing signs of being infected such as, puffiness, redness, etc. And here's a website that has a lot of good info on dogs and ticks... Dogs and Ticks 101 (http://www.dogsandticks.com/index.html - broken link)
Here are a few things that might be helpful in knowing what to watch for...
Dogs and Ticks 101 - FAQs (broken link)
Moderator cut: sorry, please post links only - copyright issues
Anyway, I would suggest that you read up some to see what all you should watch for to know if you need to get your pup to the vet, and start using flea and tick prevention instead of just flea prevention. You can also get flea, tick and mosquito prevention. We have used Frontline Plus and K9 Advantix before, but we like the K9 Advantix best and that's what we use on all three of our fur babies now. We bathe them once a month and put their K9 Advantix on after they are dry. Sometimes we bathe them less than once a month, but we still make sure to put K9 Advantix on them every month, once a month. We have never had any problems with fleas or ticks and we live in Florida where both can be horrible! So, I would say that it works very well!
I'm glad that you got the tick off of your fur baby and I hope that everything works out fine! Good luck!
Oh, by the way, June 7th is my younger sisters birthday!
I just use my fingers and pull lok make sure head is on and burn em..
Wood ticks are easier as they not burrow in usually..A bear or deer tick is alot smaller and burrow in and harder to get out.Use tweezers and pull straight out and look make sure got it all..I use frontline plus so not usually get em..I had 7 bear ticks burrowed into me so far this year from hunting as weather gets colder they get nastier so be watching and really check animals over.
I phoned my vet this morning and am waiting for them to get back to me with a mini appointment. I am not sure whether I found another small tick on him, so I just want a vet to take a quick look, as well as have them look at the area where that evil,engorged specimen of nature was attached. The area that I extracted the tick from is swollen; I really just want to get a vet's opinion on it in order to be on the safe side.
This was the ONLY year that I did not use any flea/tick preventative medication, and trust me, I have learned my lesson! As he is an indoor dog, who is only outside for as long as it takes to lift his little leg, etc., I figured the med wasn't really necessary...
Needless to say, the little guy will be back on flea/tick meds in the future! "Mom" just can't go through an engorged tick experience again, and I love this little guy more than life itself!!!!
Thanks again to all of you! You guys are terrific!!!
I phoned my vet this morning and am waiting for them to get back to me with a mini appointment. I am not sure whether I found another small tick on him, so I just want a vet to take a quick look, as well as have them look at the area where that evil,engorged specimen of nature was attached. The area that I extracted the tick from is swollen; I really just want to get a vet's opinion on it in order to be on the safe side.
This was the ONLY year that I did not use any flea/tick preventative medication, and trust me, I have learned my lesson! As he is an indoor dog, who is only outside for as long as it takes to lift his little leg, etc., I figured the med wasn't really necessary...
Needless to say, the little guy will be back on flea/tick meds in the future! "Mom" just can't go through an engorged tick experience again, and I love this little guy more than life itself!!!!
Thanks again to all of you! You guys are terrific!!!
Good choice!!! I can't blame you those ticks are disgusting looking creatures.
You can also consider having chickens, geese or peacocks and that will take care of your tick population - of course, then you'd have goose poop and no grass (and might be able to hear strains from Deliverance playing in the background), but you can't have it all......on second thought, tick meds versus peacock manure...okay, I know which way the vote would go at MY house!
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