ticks on dogs

[missmooncat]

One of my dogs has got a small lump near the base of her tail,it is painful when i touch it.And she is tying to scratch and bite it but cant reach,my husband reckons its a tick,could anyone tell me what ticks look like and symptoms.
We are taking her to vets on Tuesday,but was wondering if anyones dogs have had ticks and could tell me more
thanks.

[pmjblue]

it is a small lump, probably the size of a pea, that gets bigger as they suck the blood from the dog - dont attempt to pull it off yourself unless you have a special tool, as you will leave the legs behind - the vets get them off very easily - dogs dont feel a thing. Spray her with frontline if she is doing places to pick ticks up from.

[pmjblue]

that should say 'going' places to pick ticks up from - too early in morning for me!!

[Noweia]

Here is a photo of a tick feeding on a dog if you're still not sure:

http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/itchtick_Ameri canDogTick_2.jpg

[megan07]

Hi missmooncat my mother in -law's westtie had 2 on his
Nose and we took him to the vet to have them removed.
You should not, attempt to remove it yourself, as the head
Can remain in the dogs skin.
Toby was perfectly fine but the little blighters just irritated him, we try and keep him out of the long grass now.
I am suer everything, will be ok one's the vet has had a look.
love megan

[megan07]

Woops sorry about the sentences love megan

[lankeela]

Ticks do not usually bother dogs, they just fill with blood then drop off. If the lump is bothering her, then it is probably either a cyst or an abcess. If it is a cyst then the vet will either decide to remove it or leave it alone, if it is an abcess it will either burst or the vet will drain it.

Ticks start off looking like tiny little deflated hot water bottles, then as they fill with blood as the tick sucks it from the animal, they get to the size of a currant, although they will probably have dropped off by then.

[newtron]

Where I live, if we took the dog to the vet every time he had a tick, we'd be broke. When I find a tick on our dog, I pinch it as close to the dogs skin as possible and pull. If the tick is really fat an bloated, you will probably want to use a tissue, as it will probably explode. I've removed hundreds of ticks and have never left the head in the dog's skin. The ticks are usually still alive and crawling around with their head still attached to their bodies after I remove them.

[newtron]

missmooncat, what you describe sounds more like a cyst of some type that may be a result of an infected puncture wound. Usually, I try to drain the cysts of any fluid by puncturing them and squeazing them (this is usually what the vet will do.). Then I keep an eye on it and take the dog to the vets if it does not get better fairly quickly. One time my friend was sqeazing a a huge cyst on my dog's head, when suddenly a pressurized stream of fluid squirted directly towards his eye. Yuck!! Luckily, my friend decided to where his glasses that day instead of his contact. After that, the wound healed just fine.

[newtron]

That's 'wear', not 'where'. And I didn't see that lankeela already suggested that it might be a cyst or an abcess. Actually, I was mainly talking about an abcess, not a cyst. Sorry about the confusion. I hope everything works out well.

[lankeela]

If you decide to remove a tick yourself, make sure you twist as you gently pull the tick out, as the legs go in and turn inside the body, but twisting as you pull will make them let go and slide out. Just pulling can pull the head and legs apart, leaving the legs inside the animal which can then set up an infection.

You can use alcohol on the tick, or even a lighted cigarette end if you are very careful, but I always use tweezers and pull gently.

[My Angel Pie]

i was told to cover the tick in vaseline (stops them breathing) and they will fall off???

[missmooncat]

thanks for your answers everyone.We took her to the vets and it was Flea Allergy Dermatitis,so we bought some Frontline and treated both the dogs.Its getting much better now,thank goodness.
we had treated them with Bob Martin Spot On about 2 months ago and will never use it again its a useless waste of money.
Just got to take the cat next and get him treated for fleas too.
THANKS EVERYONE

[kita1]

Frontline is cheaper on the internet.

Try http://www.hyperdrug.com/products.asp?dept=194

they don't charge postage for Frontline, I phone the order through using switch and get the parcel the following day, even if I phone at 4 in the afternoon!

Other internet sites may be cheaper again.

[missmooncat]

thanks a lot will have a look for my cat,they much cheaper
thanks