Ticks On Dog.

[Kendal-xo]

We have just bathed my dog as he seemed to be scratching himself a lot. We have discovered he has ticks. Has anyone got any good suggestions of what we can use on him to get them out?

[jules77]

There are various suggestions like rubbing on vaseline and other home remedies, but really you need to get them out with a special tweezer and you should grasp the tick firmly with tweezers where the tick�s mouth meets the dog�s skin. Slowly and steadily pull the tick, trying to get the whole tick at once. Don�t twist the tick or jerk as you may break the tick�s body and risk leaving it�s head behind. After removing the tick, clean the area with an antibiotic, alcohol or another disinfectant.

The tick should then be killed by soaking it in a jar of alcohol.

Do not apply surgical spirit or any other chemicals to the tick whilst still attached to the dog The application of any solution, heat or cold, can cause stress to the tick and cause it to regurgitate the contents of its stomach, which may contain infective organisms. Surgical spirit, alcohol, or general antiseptic should be applied to the bite site after the tick has been removed.

However, having said that, unless you have done it before under supervision, I would strongly recommend you take your dog to the vet.

To avoid a reinfestation of the ticks you should use frontline, readily available online.

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=ind ex&cPath=3&zenid=f833e57bc799cde2c50426e186214 77e

[thugulike]

Try covering the ticks with vaseline. The tick can't breathe and drops off. I have heard of people using surgical spirit too but haven't tried that myself. The vet can remove them very quickly using a special tool. Be careful of pulling them off as you can leave the head inside the dog and that can be sore for a while. Good luck

[shirls52]

go to the vets and get some frontline.it costs about �20 but kills the fleas and anymore that comes.sachet form.i put mine on the back of the neck.you have the reassurance they will be killed and not linger in your home.i apply mine once a month when its hot and leave it longer when the weather cools or when i notice mt dog itching.you get 3 sachets for one purchase.

[Bellringer]

Use frontline, it cleared the ticks off my spaniel. They will go white & you can then pull them off. Look for it on line it is cheaper than the average vet.

[foxyflugel]

Hi - www.hyperdrug.com is cheap for frontline and also Drontal cat and dog wormers : 0 )

[bizzylizzy]

Hi there, I sort of disagree with some of the above. A vet told me ages ago, that the only way to completely remove a tick is to unscrew it. Sounds odd I know, but appararently the ticks screws itself into the skin of the dog, cat etc. so pulling it out can often result in leaving the mouth parts in. We treat our dog with frontline spot on, but if she gets the occasional tick embedded, we drop vodka or any other neat alcohol onto the tick, wait a couple of minutes and then use either tweezers or the little plastic tick remover we got from the vet. If you're using tweezers grasp as much of the tick as you can and gently turn it in an anticlockwise direction, it should come out complete. You sort of need to turn your hand around before you grab it, so that it's easy to twist. The vet should sell a little green plastic tick remover which is just a strip of plastic with a slit in it. You put it under the tick and twist. Good luck.

[fagsworth]

i totally agree with bizzylizzie that is exactly what our vet told us but do twist the tweezers anti-clock wise... i never used the spirit on them...just took out the tick and then used frontline ever since....problem solved