Found tick how do I take it out?

[Trinitii]

I just found a tick under my mastiffs ear. It looks dead. It is not as gorged as others I have seen and it is grayish black. I really think he had to have had it when I first got him as we have not been to the mountains and do not have ticks around here.

My question do I have to worry about leaving the head in? Can I just pull it out or should I use alcohol?

Nasty little thing

Trin

[spidey]

Do a search here. I found a tick on Rakki last week, and I did what the good folks of RDN recommended - I just had a container of rubbing alcohol beside me, grabbed it right down by the skin (and I mean RIGHT down by the skin) and pulled it off. Others recommend covering it with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball, and it should let go after a while (if I'd read that before I pulled it off, I might have tried that first). I had a panic because I thought I'd left some mouth parts in, but Judi W and other kind souls reassured me that the black stuff I saw was likely just blood. Don't squish it, and put it in a container of alcohol that you can keep for a while (just in case your dog gets sick, you want to be able to show the tick to the vet, and the alcohol kills and preserves it). Clean the area well afterward. Also, they're surprisingly hard to get off! Let us know how it goes, and remember to do what I did afterward - run around saying "yuckyuckyuck" :p (I hated deflea-ing badly infested animals when I was a groomer, and ticks are even creepier).

[Judi W]

Only the females become engorged, the males do not. Be aware that if you found a male, an engorged female most likely already dropped off the dog after feeding and is probably hiding in a crack someplace having babies.

[Trinitii]

Well, the soaked cotton with alcohol didn't work. So my husband took the tweezers from the dog ER box and pulled it off. We are not sure if we got the head. There is still a bump in the skin. The tick was moving and I did see a little stinger in the front.

What signs should I watch for?

Trin

[Brooke&Ryan]

Are you asking about signs of lyme disease?

:)
Brooke

[Trinitii]

Sure, Signs of anything that I need to watch for. If the head is still in there what will happen. We are looking at pictures on the net and it looks like we got the head. Maybe the bump is just where the blood coagulated under the skin or just inflamed from having the tick in there.

Oh I have the heebie jeebies!

Trin

[Brooke&Ryan]

Here ya go. I understand. Ticks give me the creeps also. Bleeechhh!

Clinical signs
The most common sign of Lyme disease in dogs is arthritis, which causes sudden lameness, pain ands sometimes swelling in one or more joints. Other signs that may be seen include fever, lack of appetite, dehydration, inactivity, and swollen lymph nodes. In severe cases, the infection can cause kidney failure and death although this does not occur commonly in dogs. The signs of heart and nervous system dysfunction seen in infected humans are not often seen in animals.

:)
Brooke

[Judi W]

Get over it! You are much more likely to leave part of the tick on the dog by using tweezers than your fingernails. With the tweezers you cannot feel when you are right at the dog's skin nor can you grip the head properly. Pulling a tick cannot be more distasteful than picking up warm poop with a plastic bag.

Of course, when something has bitten through the skin to a blood feeding source there will be a bump left when it is removed.

[livinzoo]

you think its bad to pull a tick off a dog, its even worse to pull it off your self.

[Hershey's Mom]

My Vet instructed me to take a tick off by lighting a match, blowing it out, and touching it quickly to the ticks body. The heat causes the tick to let go, and if you are ready with tweezers you then pull it out right away. This way you don't risk leaving the head in, which can cause infection.

[cheryl]

Hershey's Mom,
I've heard that, too, and have seen it work. Anything hot enough to cause pain to the tick will make them pull out to run away.

[spidey]

Actually, they don't recommend using heat anymore - it's been found that many ticks "vomit" before letting go when heat is used, and this sends all their stomach contents (including any viruses, bacteria and parasites) into the dog.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Originally posted by spidey
Actually, they don't recommend using heat anymore - it's been found that many ticks "vomit" before letting go when heat is used, and this sends all their stomach contents (including any viruses, bacteria and parasites) into the dog.

Amanda---Very interesting. I had not heard that before....

:)
Brooke

[Hershey's Mom]

Wow, I'm really glad I know that now.... I've only had one tick to remove, and hopefully that was the last, but if it ever happens again I guess I won't be using any heat!!!
Thanks for the update!!