Dog Days of Summer: How to Remove a Tick

July 23, 2008

Ummm, yuck! Turns out there's a word for what I'm feeling when I look at this bug – entonophobia, or fear of ticks! And, trust me, your pets should be scared, too. If you see one of these creepy crawlers on your furry friends, I've got tips for tweezing ticks.The common external parasite can transmit fatal illnesses like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme Disease, and you should do daily checks for the dangerous ticks, especially if you live in woody, grassy, or brushy areas.

Ticks look like this creature – they're tiny black, brown, or reddish eight-legged insect about the size of a pinhead. However, when they attach themselves to your pet, they can swell up several times their original size! See my removal tips when you read more.

Safety first so put on latex gloves! It's important to avoid direct contact with the tick and contaminated skin, as diseases can be transmitted from tick to pet to human.
Place your pet somewhere where you can get a good grip . . . and he stays as comfy as possible. It helps to have another set of hands to hold or distract him.
Try to ID the head or mouth parts of the tick – you'll want to grasp it with tweezers as close to your pet's skin as possible. If you grasp it by the body, it can get crushed and force harmful bacteria into your pet's bloodstream.
Pull the tick out using a straight, steady pulling motion. It's important to be slow and gentle so its head will not remain lodged in your pet's skin (which can lead to inflammation and secondary infection).
Safely dispose of the tick by flushing it down the toilet.
Apply a pet-safe antiseptic ointment to the bitten area.
Throw away your gloves and sterilize the tweezers, too.
Now give your pet a treat – he's been through a lot!

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7 Comments

BellaVida12 3 years 41 weeks

I've pulled little insects off my Malti-Poo Bella. She's been running through grass @ the park and around my Parents' there is lots of stray cats. I've used Promeris for Dogs that I bought from the Vet but even a few days after applied I found 2 more little bugs running through her hair and even a couple fleas. I got them off but I am REALLY freaked out.

Yogaforlife 3 years 41 weeks

I keep my dogs on flea/tick meds year round. All the sudden this past February, my Benny started limping so I took him in for x-rays and nothing showed up and they did a Lyme Disease test and it came back negative. Well he continued to get worse and stopped doing steps, would just lay prone in one position all day (not normal for a herding dog) and would act acky all over. Then I noticed that he was alternating which shoulder he was favoring and we never knew which one would hurt him that day. The vet took blood and sent it away for a different type of Lyme Disease Test that can't be done at the vet and is more thorough and it came back positive for a really rare form of the disease. He spent 30 days on antibiotics and he's back to his normal self although the vet warned that they can't ever really cure lyme disease, just keep it in remission and that he may have a bout of days where he's really sore and to bring him in if that happens. Knock on wood - he's been fine since. Anyhow, she told me that during tick season, to put the tick meds on my dogs every two weeks since they have double coats and we live in an area that is known for lyme disease. If you ever think your dog has it and the vet test comes back negative and the dog continues to show symptoms of it, ask for them to send away a blood culture. Found out the test at the vets can only detect the most common strains and I'm so glad my vet insisted I do this other test. It's only $200 and it's totally worth it.

jennjennnbubba 4 years 43 weeks

I have heard of the tick spoon before.

kia 4 years 43 weeks

I have a tick spoon called, Ticked Off, for tick removal. It is a notched spoon so that you pull out the hypostome (mouth part) clean. If you squeeze the tick then it is possible to squeeze the bacteria into the host body during the removal via the hypostome.