Found a tick

Thank you :D I think if it had been a big fat white one I'd have run to the vets.

If the ticks in UK and Ireland carry the horrendous diseases that our over here carry (Lyme Disease, Erlichiosis, Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever), it is a good idea to save the tick in a little plastic zip-loc type bag and freeze it. Then, if the dog (or human) gets ill within 30 days, you have the tick for lab study.

Do your ticks carry diseases, or are they just a nuisance?

I actually just found one on Lady three days ago. I'm not sure if it was a big or small one (it was about the size of 1/2 a fingernail). When we go to the beach, I check her regularly (particularly her ears and belly) and have never found one, but this one was right on her back, buried in her black hair (so glad I caught it!). I pulled it off of her with tweezers then burned it in the sink. Is there anything I should be looking out for (in terms of behavior) that will let me know the tick was carrying something? And how long before any symptoms arise if it was?

Thanks!

Very well done Pauline!! I'd have been grossed out too.

Do you have Lyme disease in the UK? In certain parts of the US it's very common for deer ticks (especially) to transmit Lyme disease.

In any case, you really don't want a tick feasting on Dylan. I'd have been really stressed about it as well. Good job getting it off him.

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Originally Posted by team bella

Yes I wondered about the vasaline. Is there a reason for not using it? My friends cat came home with a tick she used vasaline and it apparently smothers them (the tick not the cat) and they drop off.

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It does smother and kill the tick, but it also causes them to regurgitate into the host (your dog). That potentially passes the disease(s) if the tick is infected.

I remember once a few years ago seeing a small white thing on Phoebe which I thought was a tick. I did the whole vaseline thing because I had heard it mentioned on 'Animal Hospital' but nothing happened. It didn't get any bigger but I decided to bring her to the vet anyway as I wasn't too sure of the proper way to remove a tick safely. The vet checked her and it turned out not to be a tick at all. It was a wart. :rolleyes: Just as well I was too scared to try and twist it off.

Ooo ouch!