Who doesn’t love a long walk in the woods with their dog, or letting their housecat outside to romp and play with the birds? Although these things are some of the joys of being a pet owner, our pets often bring unwanted visitors back with them: ticks.
Ticks are small arachnids that live as parasites by attaching and sucking the blood from their host. There are over 800 different species of ticks in the world, but they all can spell trouble for your pet. Ticks carry a wide variety of diseases that can affect your pet including Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Anaplasmosis ("Dog Fever"), and others.
Tick removal skills are critical for those living in areas where Lyme disease is present. Lyme disease is transmitted to dogs (and people) from tick of the Ixodes family, but we know that the tick has to feed at least 24 – 48 hours in order to pass the disease on to its host. Because of this, if you make tick detection and removal a daily task, you should be able to stop Lyme before it’s transmitted.
Look for ticks
To protect your pet from ticks, look for them on your pet regularly. Start by running your fingers over their whole body, starting at the head, and concentrating on areas like behind the ears and arm pits. Be sure to check the less-seen areas too, like between toes, inside ears and around the chin and mouth. If you feel a bump or swollen area while scanning with your fingers, stop and check to see if a tick has burrowed there.
Identify the tick
Make sure that what your feeling is, in fact, a tick. If the tick is swollen with blood, it may be easy to see. But some ticks are extremely tiny and often black or brown, which could be the same color as your pet’s skin or fur. Get out the magnifying glass if you have to; it is much better to catch a tick early than let it be on your pet’s skin until it is so swollen it is easy to see.
Gather materials
Gather all the materials you’ll need to remove the tick beforehand. Especially if you have a squirming pet, it will be better to have everything within arm’s reach than having to get up to get something when you need it. To remove a tick you will need: gloves (latex), tweezers, isopropyl alcohol, a jar/container with lid, and a treat for your pet.
Prepare
To start, put on your gloves. The tick may be carrying infectious material that can severely affect humans as well as pets, and you won’t want to get any of the infectious material on your skin. Once you’ve put on your gloves, keep your pet calm as you position the tweezers. You’ll want to grab the tick as close to your pet’s skin as possible, without pinching your pet’s skin. If possible, have a second person help you to keep your pet calm and steady.
Remove the tick
Once you’re ready, grab the tick with the tweezers close to your pet’s skin, and pull with steady pressure. Do not twist or jerk back on the tick. Pull steadily with gentle pressure until you feel the tick come free. Once you’ve freed the tick, take a close look at it and make sure the head and mouthparts are still attached. If they aren’t, they are still in your pet’s skin. Occasionally, this can cause a bit of local inflammation or swelling, but in general it isn’t as dangerous as we may have been led to believe.
Dispose of the tick
Once you’ve removed the tick, place it within the jar filled with isopropyl alcohol to kill it. Put the lid on the jar, and clean your tweezers with alcohol. Remove your gloves, and consider keeping the removed tick for a few days. If your pet starts to exhibit unusual symptoms after removing the tick, it may be helpful to bring the tick in with you when you visit the vet. Having it can give the vet valuable clues about what is making your pet sick.
Monitor your pet
After tick removal, keep a close eye on your pet. Symptoms from tick bites may take several days to show up. Inspect the tick bite area once a day for a few days after removal to see if there is any swelling, redness, or rashes present. If you notice any of these symptoms, or any other unusual behavior in your pet after tick removal, call your vet immediately.