Having your dog with ticks, since nobody wants their pet or best friend as you want to call it to be in pain and discomfort because of this small animal.
A tick is an animal of the arachnid kingdom, which has the way of feeding by sucking the blood of other animals, especially larger animals. The bad thing about ticks is that they literally stick to the other animal, acting like a real bloodsucking parasite.
Normally these animals are found in places with a lot of vegetation, such as trees and other places with a lot of vegetation. These animals usually fall from the branches of the trees towards the animals, completely sticking to them.
In addition, on many occasions they lay eggs, something that will make these animals even more dangerous than they are. If a tick lays eggs, more ticks will come out on the animal’s body, which will continue to stick to it, being able to hatch even under the skin in the most serious cases.
A dog with ticks is very dangerous and very common, since dogs tend to run a lot through vegetation and places with many plants, thus being very vulnerable to ticks. In addition, dogs often adopt aggressive behaviors because of ticks, behaviors that they acquire as an instinctive response to the pain they feel because of these animals.
For this reason, we must try to eliminate the parasite as soon as possible from the animal’s body, since the sooner we do it, the more chances there will be of being able to successfully remove the tick and be able to return our dog to complete health.
Today we will explain everything related to a dog with a tick and we will teach you how to remove them correctly in all known ways, which will try to harm your dog as little as possible.
Instructions to remove them
- Search for ticks on the dog: The first thing we must do to eliminate ticks on the dog is obviously to detect where they are located. First of all, if your dog has strange behaviors, such as avoiding you, having very aggressive reactions when you get close and you see that he scratches and touches a particular area a lot, it is a symptom of ticks. Check your dog for ticks, something that can be seen if he has a kind of spherical insect embedded in his skin. You must do it carefully, without touching the area because the dog could become very aggressive. If no matter how hard you try, the dog does not react correctly and is very aggressive, ask someone for help or put a muzzle on your dog while you do this process.
- Vinegar: In the case of ticks, you cannot just pull it off, since it is literally attached to your animal and you will not be able to remove it as easily as you think. Before trying to pull it off and remove it completely, what you have to do is try to release the tick, that is, try to get the tick to stop grabbing the dog and thus come out on its own. One of the first remedies that I use with my dog is vinegar, an acidic compound that is toxic to the tick. The way to apply it is to take a cotton swab and impregnate it with vinegar, and then apply the stick directly on the tick. This will cause the tick to become intoxicated and die, being able to later pull it out with the tweezers.
- Lemon: In addition to vinegar, we can also use a pinch of lemon to remove the tick, since lemon is also highly acidic. All acidic products kill ticks; therefore, applying lemon will have an effect. This will also act as a repellent against ticks, since ticks are not stupid and they know that lemon is not good for them, therefore, they will try to run away from it when they detect it. Apply a few drops of lemon directly on the surface of the tick, since in this way, you will be able to keep the tick completely at bay and avoid greater evils.
- Chamomile: Chamomile is a plant that has healing and medicinal properties, something that also applies to ticks. In addition to being a good skin pain reliever, it is also a plant that is capable of scaring away ticks, something that will allow us to make ticks leave our body. The way to do it is to prepare an infusion of chamomile, let it cool a bit so as not to burn the animal and apply with a little cotton on the tick area and nearby areas. Ticks that are not attached will flee from the spot and those that are attached will lose strength and can be easily removed from the dog’s surface. Remember to check the entire body of the animal and remove all ticks from it.
- Alcohol: Burning alcohol is a very popular chemical compound, which is one of the best disinfectants that exist, also for ticks. That yes, with this remedy you have to be careful with two things, firstly because the dog could lick it and ingest it accidentally and secondly, because it stings, something that will make the dog react aggressively. Really use alcohol only when things look ugly, since many times the remedy is worse than the disease, however, it is also one of the remedies that best kills ticks, so keep in mind that it could be useful in cases of extreme need to eliminate these small parasites from the body of your best friend, that is, your dog.
- Slightly burned tweezers: Once we have applied all the above remedies and the tick is dead, it is time to remove it with tweezers. Here our pulse and ability are tested, since in order to be able to remove the tick easily and finish finishing it off, we are going to lightly burn the tweezers, since the fire will make the tick come out and die completely. The way to act is to remove all the hair around it, grab the tick with the tweezers and pull it out in one go, since the tweezers are slightly burned, we cannot leave it there for a long time since we will burn the dog. If we have done it right, the tick will have stayed put in the clamp. Now we will only have to finish it off and then proceed to sterilize the clamp to prevent infections and diseases in both people and animals. I advise you to wear gloves, since on some occasions the tick could pass from the dog to the person, making the remedy worse than the disease.
- Disinfect the wound: Once the tick has been eliminated, it will have left a good wound on the surface of your favorite animal; therefore, you must disinfect it in order to continue with the operation. We’re going to use a little iodine to disinfect the wound, just like a normal wound on an ordinary person. In addition to that, we are going to try to wash the wound well with water, since the dog’s impulse is to lick itself and we do not want it to be poisoned by the disinfectant products that we have applied to the tick’s wound. It is normal for the dog to continue looking at the area, since it will hurt for a few days until the wound has completely healed, since it will also have lost a lot of blood in this particular area.
- Check the dog again: When you have finished with all the ticks that you have detected in step 1, do something else, specifically check the dog for new ticks, since it may be that you have missed doing it correctly and you have not done it as effectively as possible. This is normal, especially in large dogs, since there may be a tick somewhat hidden in such a large body. Look in unusual areas such as behind the ears, in the dog’s armpits, in folds where the skin meets, and on the paws. Do an intensive search and if you find ticks, go back to step 2 of this tutorial and repeat to remove it. If you have not found any, congratulations, there are no more ticks on your dog, however, do not let your guard down and keep in mind the following tips for the next time.
- Prevention: The first step for prevention is to buy an ant parasitic collar, a collar that is sold at any veterinarian and whose main use is to emit an aroma that ticks and other insects do not like at all. Once you have the ant parasitic collar, check your dog frequently and make sure that you do not look too much at one part of the body or see him lick or scratch a lot in this part. Take your dog to the vet from time to time as well, as sometimes a tick can transmit certain diseases to the dog, causing discomfort or even death in severe cases. Also be careful about the places where you walk the dog and if necessary, change the place of the walk for something more urban, since in the city there are fewer ticks.
