my german shepherd amber has a tick just behind her ear, how do i get it off?
i only noticed it cos she started pulling her head away when i was stroking her. Is it ok just to pull it out?

Grab firmly and twist.... clockwise I think it is......

Let me check....

Try this:

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/information/tick_removal.htm

Oh god, my stomach is churning at the thought of doing this

Oh god, my stomach is churning at the thought of doing this

Just think of eating it once its off. Theyre crunchy and full of protein.


Pop it off, then pop it into your mouth, but eat it quickly before it locks onto your tongue.

uurgh:gag:
i`m going to have a go in a minute, will let you know what it tastes like!!!!

Be very careful not to leave the head in the skin. Twisting normally releases it easily out of the skin. If unsure let a vet do it.

Please stop it Jabberwocky- I know that you'd be as squeamish as the next person if you were actually forced to eat one!

Stick a lit fag end on the tick making sure you only get the tick not the dog, it then will die, if you pull them off you leave the head inside the animal, I burn them off when my cat gets them and I have never hurt my cat yet

thanks a lot jabberwocky, i held her and my oh got the tweezers on the horrid thing. we`ve just inspected it and it was intact. I`m sure she`ll feel much better now thats not attatched to her head.
didn`t bother tasting it though, just had lamb curry!

I don't think they don't die kaitykaybell - when you burn them, they just let go - I wouldn't like to do this on an animal with relatively long hair though!!

You can actually get tick removers now that send a shock through the tick forcing it to let go... same idea as a hot match end or fag end but less dangerous ;)

Probably too late now but don't twist! Get hold of the tick's head with tweezers as close as possible to where it's gone into the dog's skin (so you don't squeeze the tick's body) and pull straight out.

I live in an area where ticks carry nasty diseases and there's always loads of info in the papers and on tv round here, particularly with experts lamenting that the twisting advice is still doing the rounds. The heads aren't like threaded screws (!) and don't need twisting. The advice on the link not to put oil or such like on is correct though - it might kill the tick but before it dies it becomes distressed and can regurgitate gunk into the bitten site.

Hope it came out ok anyway.

Oh and don't be too alarmed by my mention of disease coz as far as I know the real baddies are only in limited areas in Europe. Best to keep an eye on the site over the next few days though in case of adverse reactions (excessive itching, swelling and the like).

Edit: took too long posting! Please don't try touching with a match or cigarette either - same problem as with oil etc above. Glad it's out intact - well done.

thanks a lot jabberwocky, i held her and my oh got the tweezers on the horrid thing. we`ve just inspected it and it was intact. I`m sure she`ll feel much better now thats not attatched to her head.
didn`t bother tasting it though, just had lamb curry!

Glad you got the little bugger out!

I used to remove them from sick hedgehogs, and I know how nasty they can be.

They DO taste lovely though :D


*Jabber sprints for the exit*

that was a good link though, i`ve never had to remove one before.
was worried about bursting it as i had read it could cause infection, so i let my oh do it, i hate creepy crawlies

Be very careful not to leave the head in the skin. Twisting normally releases it easily out of the skin. If unsure let a vet do it.

Nasty things- be very careful ,dont yank it off or you'll leave the head in the dog and it could get infected. Try this from the Dog Rescue website

http://dogrescues.org/bdr/pages/ticks.htm

I know, I've removed enough of the buggers! Horrible things they are! :gag:

guys an old trick is to smother them with alcohol and it would drop off after a while and i mean all of it

guys an old trick is to smother them with alcohol and it would drop off after a while and i mean all of it

They all drop off eventually when they've got a belly full. Trick is to get them out before it gets that far.

this one had had a belly full. she had the right face on with me afterwards so i`ve just got back home after a run in the woods with her, she`s cheered up now!

Stick a lit fag end on the tick making sure you only get the tick not the dog, it then will die, if you pull them off you leave the head inside the animal, I burn them off when my cat gets them and I have never hurt my cat yet

My friend swears by this method with his ferrets

I've at last found a link to a decent site in English:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2257_remove-ticks-pets.html - see also the comments at the end.

If you try to smother/burn/otherwise kill the tick before removing it you run the risk of it regurgitating into the bitten site, which could cause infection.

tick pullers are great I never go on holiday without mine. You can buy them from any pet shop and they remove everything including the head in one easy swoop.

Something for tea jabber.........

http://www.bada-uk.org/gallery.html

wot we did was get some vasaline and cover the tick in it dont pull it u may leave the head in and u may just get the body then it will become infected. doin it like this the tick will come out as u cut off the oxygen suply

Gosh, my skin is positively crawling with this thread. One of my cats came home with one on her foot. The vet advised us to either paint it with surgical spirit or to put some frontline on it. I took the easy way out and took her for him to sort it out!

You have to watch out for one thing though - elderly cats can develop weird skin growths which look identical to ticks. They don't react to being painted with frontline or alcohol and the cat would probably hit the roof if you touched it with a lighted cigarette!

Sorry if I seem to be on a bit of a mission here, but I'm going to have one last go :)

Ticks need to be removed by smoothly pulling straight out as described here (http://www.placervillevet.com/tick_remove.htm)

If you burn or smother a tick (with cigarette, vaseline, whatever) then yes, it will drop off, though not necessarily immediately. BUT: in its distress it is likely to spit toxins back into the wound.

OK, the diseases ticks carry in the UK are not as nasty as those where I live (I'd never heard of tick borne encephalitis (http://www.travelhealth.co.uk/diseases/tick_encephalitis.htm) before I moved here) but it's still not a risk I'd like to take.

well ambers back to her happy self now. I used the fine point tweezers and pulled it straight out, they get a good grip on their victims though. gave the area a real good clean afterwards and there dosn`t seem to be any swelling, but will keep an eye on the area!
thanks guys