How to remove a tick

[Lily Freya]

Thank you so much Nicola.  I have already applied the vaseline as I read that it was one of the ways of getting rid of them.  I will leave well alone now, and go directly to our vet on Monday morning.  We have sent for a tick remover from Amazon, as none of our pet stores had them in stock.  They said it would be Wednesday before they could get one............so, hopefully Amazon's express will get it here quicker.

I have never experienced ticks before, but I think he might have picked this one up on a recent walk through a forest.

I appreciate the link, and the advice.

[Susiefruitbat]

Glad it is not just me. Meggie seems to be picking up 'loads' from our garden but we can't workout where 

We got the O-Tom from ebay and it is easy to remove 'IF' your puppy sits still lol. We have probably removed 9 - 10 in the 5 weeks we have had her. They are yuk and I wish I knew which bit of the garden she is getting them from.

Quite hard to find them in her ears though and you have to be quite thorough in searching.

[rubyduby]

I have tried various types of tick remover , but find they are only successful once the ticks have grown sizeably, some go red ,others blue and there are tiny black ones (different species) the heads do get buried into the skin and often break off and remain there especially if pulling with tweezers as the actual body and head of the tick is so tiny it is difficult to get anything finite enough to grip this strongly.
I think the ticks tend to occurr where sheep and deer roam, and the ticks will wait on the grass till they are brushed off, they can survive quite a while without food which is why they are so successful.
All our Cockers have suffered may ticks over the years and (touch wood) up to now we have managed to avoid any health problems.
Sadly there is no out of season for them, I have picked ticks off our dogs on Xmas day before now...guess it is just something we have to live with, noticeably when I lived in Lancashire we have very few problems , but now in Scotland they are pretty rife........

[Helen]

I get the tiny ones off with the small o-tom   Never use tweezers now as it's too easy to break the body from the head.  got a really tiny black one off Jarv last night no problem at all.

[Joules]

I get the tiny ones off with the small o-tom   Never use tweezers now as it's too easy to break the body from the head.  got a really tiny black one off Jarv last night no problem at all.

Same here.    The small O'Tom is great for getting the teeny ticks off although they are not nearly as satisfying to squish! 

[Loudon]

Yep I'm starting to scratch now thanks to you guys. Poppy came in with two and the little b's don't survive in boiling water that's for sure. My Poppy is quite nuts and often comes in with cuts with going into brambles etc and funnily enough the ticks had attached themselves to a wound that had healed. Yuck! When I was at my vets, for yet another deep cut, she said that ticks and fleas are much more common than a year or two ago.
 

Got Frontline Spray this month and think I will use the the Frontline spot on next. Is that the way to go?

[jinter]

Has anyone tried frontline spot...does it work?

[Loudon]

Has anyone tried frontline spot...does it work?

Yep, sure does. I just replied to someone who is getting up to 15 ticks a day. Poor soul! Must be sheep country.

Frontline Spot On is effective for 60 days on fleas and 30 days on ticks. Also controls lice infestation in dogs. These beasties still latch on but are dead within about 24 hours. In reality I haven't found any on my dogs since using it. There is generic alternatives available but for the sake of a couple of pounds why bother.  If buying try online as I found this is much cheaper.

Have a look at Advocate too which I understand is very effective, has additional protection ie earmites and worms  but I believe is POM. As I said on the other thread if any members know about this product I would be keen to know their opinion.

[Magic Star]

Has anyone tried frontline spot...does it work?

No, it doesn't stop them latching on, which is the worst bit really as once on, they can cause Lymmes Disease and infection, it only kills them within so long of them latching on. 

[JeffandAnnie]

Went to the vet yesterday with the Big T cat and he had a tick on his head (not the reason for the vet visit) which the vet removed with an O'Tom. He said this was by far the best tool for the job 

[CospyCockerSpaniel]

Pet grooming shops here in our place charge extra fees if your dog has lots of ticks. Is that the same in other pet grooming shops?

[AndyB]

We holiday in the Lake District several times a year and ticks can be a real problem there.  I always carry a bottle of Tea Tree oil in the "doggy" luggage and if I find a tick I put a couple of drops of Tea Tree oil on a cotton bud, part the dog's fur carefully and gently rub the cotton bud around the mouth parts of the tick.  Wait a few seconds and then remove the tick with a tick remover and apply more Tea Tree to the area with a clean cotton bud.  The tick always comes away very easily using this method and I have never left the mouth parts still attached.   I have to say it is a two person job, my husband holds my wriggly cocker Jazz firmly while I remove the tick. 

[Helen]

We holiday in the Lake District several times a year and ticks can be a real problem there.  I always carry a bottle of Tea Tree oil in the "doggy" luggage and if I find a tick I put a couple of drops of Tea Tree oil on a cotton bud, part the dog's fur carefully and gently rub the cotton bud around the mouth parts of the tick.  Wait a few seconds and then remove the tick with a tick remover and apply more Tea Tree to the area with a clean cotton bud.  The tick always comes away very easily using this method and I have never left the mouth parts still attached.   I have to say it is a two person job, my husband holds my wriggly cocker Jazz firmly while I remove the tick. 

as already stated on this thread and on the links to Lyme Disease awareness you should never put anything on ticks to make them drop off as it can make them disgorge their stomach contents which is exactly what you don't want.

If you read the thread you'll find the recommended way to remove ticks is with an o-tom tick remover.

Also, tea tree oil is very strong and shouldn't be applied neat to a dogs skin   

[Joules]

Just bumping this up as there seem to be a lot of people encountering ticks again at the moment.

I just found a teeeny one on one of my cats this morning - unfortunately, by the time I had got the O Tom out and ready for action, he had done a bunk 

[Jaysmumagain]

Ladies this is going shock you all and can assure you I have never done this, but actually seen it done on a person 
My first introduction to my love of cockers was my mate in Minnesota who had a darling called Dudley, every day she would look for ticks, and I just had to ask what she was on about, saying oh we don't have those in England - this was met with roars of laughter when she said well we had them in Ayrshire!
So every time I came in I would go in the bathroom and do a little dance and strip shaking clothes over bath - I was manic....why well here is the shocking bit, the thing that people over there do is light a match blow it out and stick it on the tick and it comes out. I aint having them do that to little ole me!
Told you it was horrid....as for finding them over here, well they were definitely at the Anglesly show last week cause I did my little dance and slight strip when one landed on my arm by the car!  Like a skunk once smelt/I mean seen never forgotten