Ticks are external parasites and live by feeding on the blood of other animals. They are particularly nasty little blood suckers from the spider family. There are several types of tick in the UK with the most common ones being sheep, hedgehog and deer ticks. They can vary in size from a tiny little grey dot to a “lump” the size of a pea or bean after it has fed. Ticks will stay attached until they have fed and will normally drop off after about 10-14 days. The bites are often painless, so your dog might not show any signs of having been bitten.
Ticks are carriers of a lot of diseases, but the most dangerous disease is Lyme Disease. This is a bacteria which is present in the stomach of infected ticks and it can be transmitted to your dog. It can often be misdiagnosed and if untreated can be fatal. Remember though that not all ticks carry Lyme Disease and not every bite will transmit the disease but you should never leave anything to chance. It is therefore important that you use an application that will repel and kill them. There are several preparations that are suitable and you should seek advice from your vet. Two common preparations in the UK are Advantixä, which also constantly protects against fleas as well as repelling biting flies but should only ever be used on dogs, and Advocateä which can be used on dogs and cats and will treat and protect your dog or cat from fleas as well as killing internal worms, ear mites and skin mites but it does not repel or kill ticks.
Ticks don’t just like dogs! They will feed on any mammal and are not fussy what it is, so you can be just as much at risk of a tick bite as your dog. If you and your dog have been in a “ticky” area, then it is important to check for any signs of ticks – especially if you’ve been walking through long grass wearing shorts or a skirt.
The worst time for ticks in the UK is usually during October and November and March and April. They prefer moist, shaded areas and are normally found in long grass where sheep have been, moorland and woodland.
These crafty nasty little ticks will climb to the top of a plant and wait for it’s next victim to brush past. It then hitches a lift and will crawl about the body until it finds a place to attach itself. When it attaches itself, it will bury it’s entire head inside the skin and will then extend a tube-like structure to suck blood through.
It is important to remove a tick as soon as possible to avoid infection or risk of illness. The longer the tick is attached, the greater the risk to you and your dog.
There are many “old wives tales” for removing ticks – such as smothering them with petroleum jelly or using a hot needle to try and burn them out or covering them with spirits. Please do NOT use any of them! You can buy a simple and inexpensive tick removal tool, such as the O’Tom Tick Twister® or the Mikki Tick Picker®.
It is important when removing a tick that you do not squeeze it or make a huge song and dance out of the removal of it. If a tick is “stressed” during removal, it can regurgitate the contents of its stomach back into its victim and this is something that should be avoided at all costs.
If you don’t have a tick removing tool to hand, you can remove the tick with tweezers but you should be very careful not to squeeze the body and you should hold the tweezers as close to its head as possible.
In an emergency, you can tie a thread or nylon thread around the tick and pull it out. There will be resistance but the tick should come out. Again, make sure your thread is as close to the tick’s head as possible.
However, the benefits of using a tick removal tool are that the tick will be held in the tool until you can dispose of it and there is not risk of you dropping it or it falling off and it attaching itself to either you or your dog again!
Once you have removed the tick, you should check that it is intact. If any of the head or mouth parts or feeding tube are left in the skin, it can cause a very nasty infection. Once you have checked the tick, you should clean the wound with antiseptic and thoroughly wash your hands. Diseases carried by ticks are normally bacterial and can stay on the skin and multiply.
If you don’t have the confidence to remove the tick yourself, then you should arrange to see your vet as soon as possible to have him remove it.
If your dog becomes ill and you’ve been in “ticky” areas, do not forget to mention this to your vet so that he can do the relevant tests.
Fever
Lameness
Loss of appetite
Sudden onset of pain in their legs or body
Arthritis or swelling in your pet's joints
Lethargy or depression
Cough
The best way to find out if your dog has got a tick or ticks is to examine him carefully during a thorough grooming.
As you groom, check for any visible small bumps that appear to be attached to your pet’s skin. As a tick feeds, it gets larger
and can often be mistaken for a wart or sudden unexplained lump on your dog. It can be as large as a pea or bean and
therefore will be fairly noticeable.
The tick removing tools will come with instructions for the correct removal of a tick, however, we will briefly go
over the removal procedure.
You should position the tick removing tool over the tick with the tick in the largest section, nearest the handle. Lift the handle so that the narrow nose of the picker is flat on the skin. Then draw the picker slowly and firmly towards the tick so that it is gripped securely and can be carefully lifted away from the skin and disposed of. Clean the area thoroughly with disinfectant/antiseptic.