SolveYourProblem.com Article Series: Dog Care
Fleas, Ticks & Bugs
How
To Remove A Tick With Tweezers
Once on a dog, a female tick buries her head
beneath the skin tissues, extends her barbed “tongue” and is
then clamped on tight. Once the head and barbed probe are beneath
the skin, no amount of shaking or scratching by the dog will
cause the tick to dislodge.
The tick then feasts upon the dog's blood in this manner until
she bloats to about the size of a pea. The male tick (brown,
and a fraction of her size) then mates with the female. When
she has received her fill of blood from the dog, she withdraws
her barbed probe, and drops off of the host dog. She'll then
crawl into tiny crevices between sofa cushions and carpeting
to lay her thousands of eggs.
Once a home or kennel is infested, eradication is no simple
process, any more than ridding a dog of the parasite is a simple
process. A single tick found on a dog necessitates immediate
and zealous efforts at all stages of its life cycle.
Removing a tick – or ticks – from a dog can be done by the
owner, providing the tick has not attached itself to the inner
ear, on the eyelid, or some other inaccessible place that would
require anesthesia. And because the tick's probe is barbed
(similar to a fish hook), brushing or combing by the dog owner
may rid ticks that haven't yet “locked on”, but does nothing
for those that are already attached.
The dog's hair should be pulled back from around the tick
for the benefit of full exposure. A few drops of iodine or
rubbing alcohol can then be applied directly on the tick. This
will momentarily shock the parasite, and in some cases, cause
it to loosen its probe.
Using a pair of tweezers, and getting as close to the skin
line as possible, the tick can be pulled out with a slight
twisting motion so that the head is not severed and allowed
to remain embedded in the dog's skin. If that should occur,
secondary infection could result. It is always wise to reapply
iodine, alcohol, or other antiseptic to the puncture once the
tick is removed. If the tick's head remains beneath the dog's
skin, applications of hydrogen peroxide can be helpful.
Once the dog is free of ticks, complacency on the part of
the dog owner usually results in reinfestation. It should be
remembered that if the dog picked up a tick, he may well have
picked up larvae from four or five thousand recently hatched
eggs. Dousing with a tick powder or other acaracide would be
beneficial here, but if the larvae have dropped off in your
home or yard, removing the original tick is only the beginning
of the battle. #
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SolveYourProblem.com
: 2009
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