How to remove a tick from a dog: removal algorithm, what to do after the procedure

How dangerous are ticks for dogs?

Blood-feeding ticks from among the Ixodidae and Argasidae are universal carriers of any infection through a transmissible (through a bite) route. Each type of warm-blooded victim has its own pathogens that lead to illness. In humans, the most dangerous are encephalitis and Lyme borreliosis, and in dogs, piroplasmosis comes first, which, despite the possibility of successful treatment, kills up to 90%.

A tick detected in time is a guarantee that your dog will not suffer much from bites of a harmful insect.

Such deplorable statistics are explained by the delay in seeking veterinary help, but if the treatment turns out to be timely, there is a high probability of a speedy recovery. A slight delay already results in lifelong complications and a longer, expensive period of therapy. It is precisely purebred dogs, as well as hunting breeds, puppies and older dogs that are most susceptible to Babesia infection, even through a single tick bite. Note! Not every bloodsucker that bites into a dog can infect your friend with Babesia, but it’s not worth the risk. It is advisable to have each parasite removed for analysis, especially since dogs usually react calmly to attempts to remove a tick.

When a portion of Babesia enters along with tick saliva, it penetrates into the red blood cells and leads to their disintegration. The dog loses hemoglobin, falls into a coma within a week from the onset of the first signs and dies, continuing to suffer heavily throughout the entire period of the illness.

• The picture of piroplasmosis appears after 2 - 4 days, less often - up to 2 weeks, counting from the moment of the tick bite, and is rapid in nature.
• At first, the dog suspiciously turns away from the previously favorite treat, not to mention the usual everyday food.

• Then her movements become reluctant, sluggish and constrained, as if every step causes her considerable muscle pain, which she is forced to overcome every time.
• At the same time, a high temperature, about 41-42ºС, with chills occurs - the dog is noticeably burning and often, with difficulty, breathes.
• The dog begins to feel sick, vomiting occurs, and sometimes intestinal upset may occur.
• The dog refuses walks, avoids games and tries to hide from his owner’s eyes.
• The dog's mucous membranes turn pale or yellow.

But the primary sign is urine that has changed in color, becoming intensely dark, reminiscent of coffee or tea leaves. Therefore, after you have managed to remove a tick from a dog, you need to observe it for about a week to see how the pet will behave and feel. If there is any suspicious deterioration, take your dog to the vet immediately!

Note! Babesia piroplasmosis is not the only infection that a dog can get when bitten by a tick - there are known cases of infection by rickettsia ehrlichiosis, hemobartonellosis microbes, as well as Lyme borreliosis, which is also common in humans.

The most dangerous types of parasites

For the research to be effective, you need to know what the insect you are looking for looks like. All ticks are small and look like spiders (until they attach themselves to the dog). Once fed, the parasite changes.

In nature, there are many species of bloodsucking arthropods.

Ixodid ticks, which are predators, pose a particular danger. They can parasitize plants for a long time, choosing twigs and grass.

As soon as an animal or person is nearby, the pest strives to jump on his body with lightning speed. The insect is helped in this by the claws and suction cups located on the legs.

Having reached the “food”, the parasites become voracious and are able to significantly increase in weight due to the blood accumulated in the abdomen.

With the saliva of the tick, infections enter the animal's lymph, causing hemoparasitic diseases, dangerous not only for dogs, but also for their owners:

• 
  anaplasmosis;

• bartonellosis;
• borreliosis;
• dirofilariasis;
• piroplasmosis;
• staphylococcus;
• encephalitis;
• ehrlichiosis.

Most illnesses are so serious that they can result in paralysis or death.

Types of ticks

Depending on where parasites prefer to settle, they are divided into 2 types:

• 
  earworms love to feed on fat and blood from the canals located in the hearing organs;

• cutaneous can be found on any part of the body, but the most “tasty” places for them are near the hair follicles.

Ear mites are smaller in size than skin mites, so they are more difficult to detect. A sign of presence will be a brown substance accumulated in the dog’s ear.

The cutaneous parasite, saturated with blood, brightens and becomes clearly visible. Moreover, the female is larger in size and looks like a small wart.

It is the females who are more dangerous - they can parasitize a dog for weeks, systematically poisoning its body. The male, having had enough, can fall off on his own.

When insects are active

Females linger longer on the animal’s body in order to, having had enough, lay eggs. The clutch is a cluster of cells consisting of a nucleus and cytoplasm, covered with two layers of membrane. They may vary in shape and color.

The first “spawning” occurs with the onset of spring warmth and continues cyclically until late autumn.

The eggs themselves do not cause harm, but after 3-4 weeks, larvae appear from them, resembling a poppy scattering on the animal’s body. These are not yet fully formed individuals, but are already active bloodsuckers.

After feeding on blood for several days, the larvae fall off, and the stage of transformation into a nymph occurs on the ground. Young insects are already able to “land” on dogs and, feeding on the blood of animals, continue their development.

How and when to look for a tick on a dog

To remove a tick from a dog, you first need to find it in the thick of its fur. And this requires knowing where and when to look for a bloodsucker. After all, after sucking the required portion of blood, it falls off the victim’s body on its own. But before this, the tick will have time to transmit the entire supply of pathogens concentrated in the saliva, and then the dog will definitely be infected. This is why it is so important to find the tick in order to remove it urgently.

Ticks on dogs should be looked for between walks so that the insect can swell a little with blood and become more noticeable.

• For these purposes, it is important to make a rule to examine your pet from spring to autumn after each walk, carefully feeling its fur.
• The time interval is important here - the tick, having caught on the edge of the fur, crawls onto the skin, closer to the places where it is thinnest and where there is close access to the capillaries.
• Therefore, it is pointless to examine the dog immediately upon returning to the house - it is impossible to find a tick that has not had time to attach itself.

• The parasite must have time to dig in and swell a little so that, once fixed, it can be successfully removed.
• Therefore, the optimal time is not after the completed walk, but before the next one or between them, so that there is a reserve of at least 2 - 3 hours - then there will be a guarantee that the tick can be detected and properly neutralized in time.

No less important are the areas where inspection must be most careful. This is the muzzle, especially the ear area, neck, areas of the inside and back of the paws, stomach, chest and groin.

Note! When palpating, you need to look for an uncharacteristic lump that has formed on the skin under the fur, where it was not there before - it may just be the mite you are looking for.

Tips to help remove ticks from your dog at home:

How to protect your pet

It is impossible to completely protect your four-legged pet from a tick bite, but you can really reduce the risk if you follow a number of preventive measures:

1. Carefully choose places to walk with your pet, and examine the animal’s body after each visit to the street.

2. 
   Before leaving the house, it is advisable to treat the dog with a special spray that repels insects.

3. You can also use drops rubbed into the withers. But they begin to act after 18-20 hours, so the animal is treated in advance.
4. In families with small children, it is better to use special tablets with prolonged action.
5. Collars impregnated with anti-tick and flea products are a great help. The accessory is designed for long-term use, but the first effect begins to appear only a couple of days after the collar is put on the pet.

If the animal lives in a private house or is taken out to the country, it is recommended to periodically treat the garden plot with targeted insecticidal agents.

The correct algorithm for removing a tick from a dog

When a tick is actually found on a dog, there are two options - take the pet to the veterinarian or remove it yourself. The first option is preferable, especially since there you can also analyze the bloodsucker and make sure of the presence or absence of pathogens that threaten the dog with a serious illness. But a veterinarian only makes sense if you can get to her quickly. If there is simply no such opportunity, then you will have to deal with the tick yourself. Mastering the skills of independently removing a tick from a dog will be useful for the future, because no dog is likely to be immune from ticks. Therefore, every dog ​​breeder should carefully remember the clear procedure for extracting the parasite.

• It is best to remove the tick with tweezers - special ones are sold in pharmacies and points of sale of veterinary supplies. It has a grip that is bent at a right angle, into which you need to carefully insert the protruding body of the parasite right next to the skin. When the tweezers are turned in any direction, the tick is easily removed with a grip without damage - so it is completely suitable for subsequent analysis.
• You can also use ordinary tweezers, but its tips should be positioned horizontally, parallel to the skin, and not vertically or at an angle. The gripper should be used to pry under the body of the tick, at the point where the head enters the skin. If you fix it by the body itself, you can inadvertently crush the tick. Holding the tick firmly, you should unfold the tweezers with a twisting motion - it will easily separate in one piece. You shouldn't pull it up - it may rupture, and then the head and proboscis will remain under the skin.

• If you don’t have any tools at hand, wrap your fingers in any clean cloth or bandage and begin removing the bloodsucker. Make a clamp with your fingers at the base of the body, as close as possible to the point where the tick enters the dog’s body, and confidently twist the parasite in any direction. Do not try to tug or pull up - it is securely fixed inside with claws, so it is more likely to rupture than to successfully remove it.
• All that remains is to disinfect the dog’s bleeding wound left by the tick. Peroxide, alcohol or any other antiseptic is suitable for this.

Note! To facilitate removal from the dog’s body, it is permissible to moisten the tick with any alcohol solution and nothing more! Other liquids are more likely to harm than help.

Diseases and symptoms

Each disease is accompanied by symptoms. If your dog shows any symptoms, you should immediately consult a doctor to avoid dangerous complications.

Piroplasmosis

This disease is one of the most common. After infection, the incubation period is up to 2 weeks, after which the following symptoms appear:

• The animal becomes lethargic.
• Appetite decreases.
• Body temperature rises.
• I'm thirsty.
• The mucous membranes become pale and a yellow tint is observed.
• The urine becomes darker and may have a red tint.
• Vomiting and diarrhea.

Borreliosis

This disease can have completely different symptoms, since in this case the infection can affect different systems of the body. It should also be taken into account that with this disease the incubation period can last a different amount of time and reach several months.

Ehrlichiosis

Once in the body, the infection can affect several vital body systems at once. Regarding symptoms, they may appear within a few weeks, but in some cases the infection can have an incubation period of up to several years. Symptoms include:

• Decreased appetite.
• The dog becomes lethargic and shows no interest in games.
• The temperature rises.
• Vomiting and diarrhea.
• Weight loss.
• Bruises appear on the mucous membranes and skin.

Remember that these diseases are very life-threatening and, if not properly treated, lead to the death of the animal. The help of a specialist, examination and use of medications are required.

Mistakes when removing a tick

Inept attempts to rid a dog of a tick often turn fatal, and the infection becomes maximum. Let's look at the most dangerous misconceptions.

• Often they try to remove a tick by applying an oil drop - they say this will force the tick to leave the wound on its own due to blocked breathing. The parasite really won’t be able to breathe under the oil film, but it won’t get out and will die, leaving its head under the skin. But before dying, he will relax his proboscis, and all the contents, along with infected saliva, will vomit under the skin - the pathogens will immediately enter the dog’s bloodstream.
• Exactly this result is achieved by wetting with other aggressive liquids that kill ticks on a dog - kerosene, gasoline.
• Similarly, you can infect a dog as much as possible by tearing off the body of the tick from the head hidden in the thickness of the skin, because the salivary glands - a container of pathogens - will remain inside, and their contents will quickly enter the dog’s blood.

Moreover, they will refuse to take a tick with damage to its integrity, as well as one doused with oil or other liquid, for analysis. That is why it is important for a dog breeder to be able to free a dog from a tick at home, as expected.

Prevention methods

To avoid having to remove the tick from the dog’s body, it is worth protecting the pet. For this purpose, there are acaricidal drops on the withers. Anti-tick tablets and special collars impregnated with tick-repellent compounds are also sold. If your dog is walking on a private dacha, it is worth treating it yourself against ticks. For this you can use, for example, Medilis-Ziper.

Working aqueous emulsions are prepared immediately before use. To do this, the product is mixed with tap water from nearby bodies of water, stirring constantly and evenly for 5 minutes. The finished emulsion should be used within 8 hours. To apply the product, spray equipment is used, designed for spraying solutions and emulsions of insecticides over surfaces. The effectiveness of the product against ticks in the grass litter is about 1–1.5 months. If there is a significant amount of precipitation, the effectiveness of the product may decrease. If necessary, due to the presence of ticks in the treated area, it can be re-treated.

Also, before a walk, you can treat the fur and collar or clothing (if the dog walks in clothes) with a repellent, for example, produced by MediLIS Laboratories LLC with the drug Medilis-Comfort. Clothes and other fabric and leather products should be processed in the open air (outdoors). Place clothing and direct the product stream in the direction of the wind. Spray on products from a distance of 20 - 25 cm from them, holding the package in an outstretched hand at the rate of 1 press on the spray head per area of ​​10 cm X 10 cm (1 dm2). Dry the clothes (at least 2 hours) and put them on. Re-process clothes after 15-20 days or after washing. When using chemicals, you must strictly follow the instructions and do not allow the dog to lick itself after application.

What to do after removing a tick

Removing the parasite from your dog is half the battle; then you need to take a close look at your pet, how it eats and behaves. But first you need to decide how best to deal with the tick itself.

• Ideally, if it was possible to remove it undamaged, transfer it for research to determine whether this parasite was a carrier of Babesia or another, more rare, infection.
• To do this, the tick is isolated in a jar or vial and sealed, but to keep it alive, a cotton wool moistened with water, a rag or a piece of paper napkin is placed inside. A regular bag, plastic or glass bottle will work as a container.

To submit a tick to a laboratory for analysis, you must remove it unharmed, otherwise the tick will not be accepted from you.

• The maximum period for submitting a tick for analysis is 2 days from the moment it is removed.
• When the dog owner is deprived of such an opportunity, the whole tick, which has retained its mobility, should be destroyed without fail - forcefully crushed between layers of paper, or better yet, burned.
• Damaged parasites should be disposed of in the same way.

Now, for a week or two, the owner is obliged to carefully monitor the condition and behavior of the dog, especially in the first days after the bite.

Remember! If during this period the pet shows lethargy, becomes sad and apathetic, is reluctant to play, turns away from the offered treat, which it usually begs for, and even more so when vomiting occurs - immediately seek veterinary help! The development of piroplasmosis is evident, and the clock is ticking for your dog!

Ways to protect yourself from a bite

Preventive measures against tick bites include the use of the following protective drugs and ammunition:

1. Tick ​​collar . A long-lasting protective agent that does not kill the insect, but repels it, thanks to its special impregnation. It usually acts not only on ticks, but also on fleas and mosquitoes. Available in different sizes, selected depending on the size of the pet. The effect is achieved only by constantly wearing the product.
2. Drops . The drug is long-acting, the period of protection depends on the specific brand. The drops are applied to the dog’s withers; they can not only repel, but also destroy ticks and fleas. They cease to act upon contact with water, and allergic reactions may occur.
3. Sprays . The drug can repel or kill the pest depending on the composition. As a rule, the animal is sprayed with sprays before a walk. May cause stomach problems if licked, as well as allergic reactions.
4. Dry mixes . It is applied to the fur, as a rule, to combat existing insects.
5. Shampoos . Validity up to 1 week. More often it acts as an auxiliary agent.
6. Pills . When taking the drug, the toxic composition acts on the pest through the blood on which it feeds. It is not always well tolerated by dogs and there are side effects.
7. Vaccination against piroplasmosis. It is carried out in two stages and provides 75-80% protection.
8. Folk remedies (rinsing wool in a decoction of geranium, washing with tar soap, applying essential oil of tea tree, citrus fruits, lemon balm, cloves, lavender to the hair). Can only be used as an aid.
9. Overalls . It protects most of the body from ticks, in addition, the bloodsucker is clearly visible on it. However, the lower part of the paws remains open and accessible for penetration under clothing.

Regardless of the chosen method of protection, you should not be lazy to examine your pet after a walk, and especially upon returning from the forest or field. No drug can provide guaranteed 100% protection.

We recommend that you read a useful article on the topic: “Protecting your pet from ticks: a review of the best remedies.”

It is advisable to check the animal’s fur for the presence of a bloodsucker even while on the street, since male insects, unlike females, do not remain on the body for a long time; upon returning home it will not be possible to detect it, although the bite will have already been made and the virus will begin to act.

Unfortunately, ticks are not uncommon; they can be found not only in the forest, but also in the alley near the house. The diseases they carry are dangerous for dogs and humans, so special means of protection against their bite are required. If suction cannot be avoided, competent and quick removal of the uninvited guest, as well as timely initiation of treatment, can help the pet.

How not to pull out an embedded parasite

Before removing an attached bloodsucker, it is worth understanding how not to do this.

Table: how not to remove a tick and why

Veterinarian advice

If, when removing a tick, the head remains in the wound, try to pick it up with tweezers and pull it out, twisting it out; if that doesn’t work, just treat it regularly with iodine. A small abscess may form and after some time the body will reject the foreign body. It’s not easy to pull out the head with a needle because of the spines on the proboscis, you can dig into it to the point of significant inflammation.

You can’t cajole a tick!
The oil does make it impossible for him to breathe, but before he suffocates and/or falls off, he regurgitates the contents of his intestines into the wound. The likelihood of contracting Lyme disease in this case increases significantly (this is also very important for humans). Vaseline or machine oil, kerosene and other caustic or oily liquids will have approximately the same effect. Well, from the point of view of wasting time, this is an additional risk. veterinarian Elena Gogua
https://vetersovet.ru/chto-nujno-znat-o-kleschah/

The first thing you must remember is that most diseases are transmitted within 12-48 hours from the moment the tick bites.
Prompt tick removal will prevent transmission of most pathogens. Therefore, if you see a tick on an animal, it must be removed immediately. To do this, you need to carefully remove the parasite using rotational movements, unscrewing it like a screw from the dog’s skin, without damaging the integrity of the tick itself. Treat the resulting wound with an antiseptic. The tick can be sent to a veterinary laboratory or brought to the clinic to determine the type and, accordingly, the diseases that can be transmitted. Your veterinarian will be able to refer him to a laboratory to diagnose infections. Ekaterina Gerasimova, veterinary dermatologist
https://www.woman.ru/home/animal/article/199828/

Ticks pose a huge danger to dogs, as they are carriers of piroplasmosis and other diseases.
With the parasite's saliva, the pathogens immediately enter the animal's blood and multiply there. As soon as you notice that after a walk your dog began to look depressed for no reason, his temperature rose sharply, and he constantly squats on his hind legs - this is a sure sign that the disease is progressing. Without timely medical attention within four to five days from the moment of the bite, your dog will simply die! If drops of blood appear in the urine, then, unfortunately, you are too late. Time has passed. Therefore, my advice to you is not to be lazy and always carefully examine your dog after a walk for ticks. Well, also, do not neglect various preventive measures: vaccinations, ointments, special collars, etc. The veterinary clinic will also tell you what is best for your dog. veterinarian Nikolay Loginov
https://www.aif.ru/dontknows/eternal/chto_delat_esli_vashu_sobaku_ukusil_kleshch

It is better to prevent the disease, the animals must be treated, there is a large number of medications: drops on the withers, collars, spray, powder, tablets, a vaccine has been developed, but it is ineffective.
Not only is it toxic, it does not save you from the disease and even hides the clinical picture, so such animals end up with complications. Treatment begins already in March, the disease season begins with warming and lasts until mid-June, the second outbreak begins in August and continues in good weather until October. veterinarian Irina Valerievna Chikareva
https://penza-press.ru/lenta-novostey/110530/sezon-klecshej-u-sobakovodov-kak-uberech-pitomca-ot-ugrozy-briefing

The longer a tick sits on a dog, the more parasites it manages to release into it.
If you have time to remove a small tick that has just attached itself, then the risk of infection is minimal. If a tick on an animal turns out to be the size of a pea, then the parasite latched on several hours ago, and if the tick is the size of a bean, at least 12 hours have passed. It is advisable to take a dog with such a finding to a veterinary clinic, where the pet will be given a prophylactic dose of antidote - this way you can save on treatment and alleviate the dog’s condition. Head of the veterinary clinic “Four Paws” Natalya Egorkina
https://www.ryazan.kp.ru/daily/26818.4/3854790/

Detection of the bloodsucker

Before removing a tick from a dog, it is necessary to detect it. To do this, you need to check your pet’s fur after every walk and look for a parasite in it. If it is possible to find the bloodsucker before it begins its meal, it is immediately removed. This will help avoid numerous negative consequences from the bite.

Favorite places

Ticks try to attach themselves to the animal in those places where the skin is thinnest and most delicate. This helps them spend less energy biting and get to the blood faster.

The most favorite places of bloodsuckers:

• groin area;
• armpits;
• area behind the ears;
• spaces between fingers;
• chin.

Symptoms of the lesion

If the owner was unable to remove the tick from the dog before the bite occurred, then negative consequences can be expected. Most often, people who bring their pets with piroplasms in their blood turn to veterinarians. To avoid such serious consequences, it is necessary to carefully monitor the health and condition of the dog. If you detect the slightest symptoms of mite infestation, you should contact a specialist as soon as possible. This will help prevent diseases of the pet’s kidneys, liver and spleen.

The main signs of a tick bite:

• lethargy of the pet and complete apathy;
• dark red urine;
• increased heart rate and breathing;
• lack of appetite;
• elevated body temperature (up to +41°C or more).

One of the most obvious signs of a tick on a dog’s skin is its painful appearance and apathy.

Basic mistakes

A common belief is that the tick must first be doused with oil or nail polish to cut off the oxygen supply, the tick will die and come off on its own.

On the one hand, there is some truth here. The tick actually breathes through its abdomen, and it will actually die if you pour oil on it. Only now he won’t unhook and won’t loosen his grip, but on the contrary! His grip will become stronger and it will be more difficult to reach him. Dying, in a state of agony, it can burrow even deeper into the skin.

And most importantly, during this process he will begin to actively splash saliva inside the dog, and in the saliva of the parasite, as we already know, there are dangerous microorganisms!

Dousing a tick with oil, nail polish or gasoline can only make things worse.

How to examine an animal

The Ixodid tick is relatively large. In a hungry state, its body length can be 2 mm. After sucking blood, it increases in size and can reach 1.5 cm.

The main weapon of the ectoparasite is the proboscis, which consists of upper and lower jaws, a base and a pair of tentacles. The upper jaws cut the skin, the lower jaws are used for fastening.

It is believed that ticks fall from tree branches. But it is wrong. The bulk of ectoparasites are located closer to the ground, on grass, both fresh and dry. There are many of them in the forest, especially dense ones, near a river, in a meadow. They do not climb to a height of more than 1.5 meters above the ground.

When a tick gets on the fur, it does not immediately attach itself to the skin, so there is always time for inspection. It needs to be done every half hour.

In dogs with short hair, ticks are clearly visible. Representatives of long-haired breeds are combed with a fine comb against the growth of the coat after each walk.

Already attached parasites can be identified by stroking the dog against the growth of the fur. You will feel a lump to the touch.