I am a bit worried I have not removed a tick properly and if not what harm will it cause. Found a little tick on Freddy's ear whilst grooming him today. He obviously collected it on yesterday's afternoon walk yuk. Anyway I have only ever had to remove one before so am not terribly confident. I have some 'mikki tick tweezers' which say heat them gently before grasping the tick and it will let go so it can be pulled out. However when I did this Freddy immediately yelped and pulled away (he is really sensitive) so I had pulled the tick out but I am not sure if I got all of it. The body had got squeezed and as it was still very small I don't know if I got the head out. I covered the area in antiseptic powder. What is the danger if I haven't got rid of it properly? Thanks!

I'm not too sure of the dangers of not removing tics, maybe they can cause infection - obviously they are feeding from the dogs blood so  my advice would be to take him to the vets, or at least phone them to see if they think a visit is necessary.  My boys picked up a few tics in Scotland last holiday and on our return I took them to the vets who gave them an antibiotic injection just in case any infection was there.

Hi, you'll probably have nothing to worry about, even if a mouth part was left in, but just keep an eye on the site over the next couple of days.

If you really want to worry yourself (:-O) then have a look at this site http://www.bada-uk.org/petsproblems/keepsafe/keeppetssafe.php - there is a lot of good information there.

I've not come across the mikki removers before, but I would be slightly concerned at using something that has to be heated prior to use ... this in itself could cause the tick to separate before complete removal is achieved. I use the Tick o'Tom removers, they're excellent. Also they're probably more useful than the Mikki in that you don't have to heat them so can use them anywhere anytime.

Thanks that's useful. I agree with hindsight it seems really foolish to be heating the tweezers before use, no wonder the poor dog jumped! I will keep an eye on him and also look for that tick remover because it sounds a lot better! 

I'm on the lookout for a Tomo'Tick too - I have one of the Mikki ones and it was totally useless last year when one of my cats came in covered in tiny ticks, which were too small to fit into the tick remover. I ended up pulling them off by hand, some were not a lot bigger than a pin-head, I can only assume they were hedgehog ticks as she'd been in the shed where a hedgehog had been living about 18mths previously. I removed more than a dozen and thankfully none of the removal sites became infected.  Oddly enough they stayed on the cat and not one went onto my dog.

I've purchased one of these:  http://www.ticktwister.co.uk/  I haven't had cause to use it yet (crossing fingers I don't have to) but someone on this forum highly recommended it.

Worth asking your vet if they stock them. My own vet does, but for some reason don't have them on display - seems odd as I live in country where ticks are very very common - and sells them for as good a price as you can buy on the internet, with no postage costs.

Can I tell you something gruesome?

Look away now if you are squeamish...

My sister in law was removing a tick from her dogs ear, she was quite close as she hooked the tick with a remover then     ...flicked it      ...into     ...her hair!  Apparently there was so much screaming, shaking, and running around and it ended up in her cleavage :)

Yikes!!

I've just put my Tom O Ticks to good use!.

Had an SOS from a lady down the road, her small son had a black thing stuck in his armpit,and she wasn't sure if it was a tick or what to do about it, so she called me to have a look.  ( I've had literally hundreds on my dogs over the past few years, and a couple on me too)

The smallest of the hooks removed it easily and she slapped a load of antiseptic on the spot. So the Tom O Tick remover is equally good for humans!

> My sister in law was removing a tick from her dogs ear, she was quite close as she hooked the tick with a remover then     ...flicked it      ...into     ...her hair!  Apparently there was so much screaming, shaking, and running around and it ended up in her cleavage!

LOL..... when I was a kid my sister found a large sheep tick in her hair. Mum took her to the doctor, who dabbed some surgical spirit on it in the (busy) waiting room. But it jumped off and they never found it!

Hi Honeybee,

I would get the dog checked out by the vet to make sure everything is okay.  The consequences of not removing an infected tick properly can result in Lymes Disease which has some particularly unpleasant symptoms for the dog.

Yuk, have regularly had ticks on me as I go out to play in tick country often ... wee tiny ones that can only be removed by sellotape (a small roll an essential item to sit alongside the twister tools!!), but never had one in my hair!! Don't fancy that at all.  I hate it when a tick has managed to gorge itself so heavily on your beloved animal - some are too hairy to always find the hiding ticks - and then drop off completely full. I find there are two options for these ticks that have dropped off, the first is they're squashed without you realising you're going to tread on them - wont go graphic but we all know what ticks fill themselves up on!! The other is when you stoop down to pick it up thinking it's one of the sultantas you've dropped, having just finished a baking session!!

> I've just put my Tom O Ticks to good use!.

Just in case anyone is searching for one of these they are actually " O'Tom tick " ( See Perry's link) - I always call it a Tom O Tick too :-D :-D . Maybe we can start a name change campaign :-D

this is useful...WHY oh why does FRANCE not have such things ? sigh. where there are PLENTY TICS ! oh common practice here is to BURN with a stub of cigarette the tick if large enough to kill it and make the claw things whatever easier to get out of the skin. NOT DOING THAT myself i add...i am clumsy...would stub my pup if i tried it !

Trouble with burning, and many of the other ways such as 'smothering' in vaseline or covering in surgical spirit, is that the whole tick may not be removed, which is when problems arise. The big advantage of the tick twisters is that it does cleanly remove all the mouth parts of the tick. You can actually do the same job as well as the twister tool, though not pleasant if you really don't like handling ticks by: place a finger on the end of the tick and gently rotate it anti-clockwise a few times, it'll come off just as easily and quickly as using the tool.

LOL bet that was a site toi be seen who got their hands down her front!!!!!!!!

right. anti clockwise hey. sounds just in time to stop me ordering one. have not probs picking up nasties and twisting them...will do that !

No apologies for repeating something I've said a few (many!) times before.    We lost my beautiful Phoebe with Lymes disease after a delay with misdiagnosis from the vet .    Lyme's wasn't common  in the area at the time, but it sure is now - even my next door neighbour has been  in hospital with it, and it's an occupational hazard with Gamekeepers.  

It's a horrible death for a dog  - doxycyclin is the antibiotic of choice - nothing else seems to touch it.

I now have Scalibor collars on the dogs, and we haven't found a tick since using them.    Of course I hate chemicals on the dogs, but nothing like so bad as losing one to Lymes.

Jo  

wow !! how topical !!! i am having this lyme vaccination on saturday for my pup !!! is human and dog affecting...what a horrible thing. WHY IS UK NOT VACCINATING ? well fed up...i need a jab too ! surely humans can have a vaccin too ? anyone know ?

I remember you saying this before Jo and I looked at Scalibor collars for my dogs but there is a contra - indication if you have cats in close contact with the dogs which mine can be so we are stuck with Frontline :-( . The chemical used in Scalibor collars is extremely poisonous to cats apparently! Which area are you in? I'm sure Lyme disease is pretty prevalent in Scotland but not sure which areas!

>surely humans can have a vaccin too ? anyone know ?

No, apparently not.

Lyme disease vaccine information.

bad news ! science has not found an agreed vaccin for humans still ! withdrew one i read..uh oh. so everyone takes the risk...right...maybe tic remover tool...but by the time bitten  ? infected ! not much help really...phew ee...pup just pooted below me...horrible smell...must have been the duck scratchings last night fatty things...well i will ask my vet, insisting, if a pup can have a vaccin why not me and how much and ok he won't do it but someone could ! saturday. i want to know.

>well i will ask my vet, insisting, if a pup can have a vaccin why not me and how much and ok he won't do it but someone could

Why would you want to expose yourself to such risk? I suppose being taken into hospital because of the side-effects of such a potentially hazardous vaccine would be one way teaching Fairy to be less dependent on you, but it seems a bit extreme to me.

LOL jeangenie!

obviously not my intention to teach her separation no. what risk ? will read again. read not that popular so withdrawn for humans. doubt he will know anything more about humans than when we spoke about it. not off to doctors here in France, would cost me an arm and a leg and take weeks before all specialists involved agreed on anything ! last time i thought of that  ? just ordered a skin cream treatment from the usa off internet for 40 usd that saved me at least 300 euros consultancy fees for somthing minor that would have taken weeks here in France ! ...can't see risks..headline reads glaxokline took it off market due yes to poor sales...volume issue...well anyway...can't have one.

http://www.obcarskas.eu/resources/chatonetchiotauburoaprestoutcaweb.JPG

i must find PLACE/SPACE for all these BOOKS i have to read ! kitten and pup resting in my mess after a BITE INHIBITION session between themselves ! I KEPT WELL OUT OF IT ! they might have LYME PARASITES on them ! kitten TOTALLY unvaccinated against ANYTHING of course at 7 months old...owners keep saying WILL DO ...pup...not yet LYME vaccinated ! i could GET IT FROM THEM !!!

I WILL TEACH HER SEPARATION I CAN TELL YOU !! if she so much as HAS ONE TIC ON HER ! i am NOT GETTING LYME or like my COUSIN last weekend in the Dordogne did...got a TIC OFF HER ENGLISH COCKER SPANIEL !!! my mother rang me ! said LOOK AT YOUR PUP they all were saying...in case SHE had got some too from it ! WHAT ABOUT MEE !!! MOI MOI MOI ?? my mother...RANG ABOUT MY PUP !!! LOL !!!

correction...cousin had a TIC on her...NOT SURE IF LYME TOO !

that is the problem with GB influence...my mum is a frog ...French...she is DOG OBSESSED more than HUMAN now ! exactly what happens to people in GB !! no spanking...toleration of tics ! all sorts ! even LYME not an issue for humans ! I give up ! NO ! i do not give up...I MUST NOT get LYME disease !

>what risk ? will read again.

"What I have found is that people with Lyme who become asymptomatic may, upon vaccination with Lymerix, experience a retriggering of symptoms. Those who never had symptoms of Lyme disease, meanwhile, will, upon vaccination, experience the symptoms of Lyme disease."
- Dr. Andrea Gaito, LDA/FDA Meeting

I once did a bit of reading up on tick removal on the net. The consensus seemed to be that you need to get the tick off without letting any of the fluids inside the tick go back into the dog. For this reason I opted to get a Otom tick remover. We have holidayed in the Highland's and have had ticks on the dog's up there. I got my tick remover from a vet in Inverness.

Ailsa

ach so...jg found humans can get the symptoms with vaccination ! not good oh ! well i just rang breeder who came out with a very very long word i should have written down about this bug too...said the vaccination for dogs is only 85 percent certain ! her vet gives guarantee that he will treat any dog he vaccinates free if it gets it ! now...i must ask MY vet that condition ! not a BIG risk but still a dog risk with vaccin ! not even talking about the effects of the vaccin ! my breeder says she has it done to her dogs...did nto mention side effects...

i do not like all this about this lyme disease...but vaccination for pup is going ahead !

and a tic remover ! and this will force me to BRUSH the dratted thing daily now ! will do her coat good...bought the dog brush the other day...to stop using my own on her...she rolls in MANURE daily after all ! don't want THAT smelling in my hair and have to wash mine daily ! every other day is bad enough ! get soap in my sensitive eyes...stings...

sigh. on this separation fallback issue. it is just now apparent. that whilst my friend who calls himself DELTA vis a vis Fairy is acceptable to her...she will NOT stay with him here without barking madly the moment i leave the place. tried to go out for some WASHING powder...dogs not allowed in store of course. i need some clean clothes tomorrow for dog classes ! will dry fast in heat of southern France...but NEED TO GET SOME ! without a howling and shrieking that brings down the rooves here !

It really is vitally important that a dog learns to be content to be alone and wait for the owner (in competitive obedience there is the down-stay with the owner out of sight for 10 minutes!); there will always be an occasion where the dog must be left so it's only kind to teach it that this is nothing to be afraid of.

this is...AFFECTING HER POSSIBLE EATING OF CROQUETTES NOW !! i need FISH oils...she is NOT EATING them again...sigh...will eat chicken breast I EAT tonight of course...not STARvING her as vet advised...i did that a few days at a time several times...she just HOLDS OUT ! and goodness knows what it does to her temper !

barking...howling SCREAMING is the reaction to a MINUTE of realising i am not around ! even if my friend she ADORES is here ! lovely attachement to me i say to that...flattered...and i will teach her to trust being apart from me...but 3 months old...and VERY attached to me. i can take her ANYWHERE...she BEHAVES...lies down without orders...does not wander off...she is USED to behaving ! is a MARVELLOUS example to others around here i must say for that ! they are AMAZED such a young pup off lead is so mature in behaviour and does not need a lead to restrain her from rushing around ! she only rushes around HERE or in the FIELDS ! never in bars or shops ! but then DOGS ARE INTELLIGENT ! they do UNDERSTAND ! sigh. well DID not HAVE a lead for her at the first few weeks so HAD to control her by just telepathy or words !

This may not be the case anymore, but 30 years ago it was common practice for vets in the southern US to dose dogs with DDT to kill off ticks, worms and god knows what else.

We went for a walk in the woods a couple of years ago on a very hot T shirt kind of a day. Two days later I was scratching a remote part of my shoulder and wondered what the lump was that I could feel...horrified to find a decapitated tick under my fingernail. Absolutely gross. Now I never go there unless I am covered up.

AAAHH !! of course ! up early today as normal...night before last was bad so needed my sleep...and my friend is exasperated this morning...luckily only stayed 2 nights here the pup snuffled all night...he moved to the couch where the pup found him this morning and assaulted him thinking he had gone and returned !! LOL! said this has to stop ! he needs his sleep and has 2 nights of bad sleep ! well i SLEEP through her snuffles i said !

i did ask vet to check her lungs...didn't need to ask he did...and her heart...he said normal for pups to breath heavy when asleep.

the CHICKEN LAST NIGHT ? was TASTELESS ! problem with supermarket food i said to friend who cooked and brought it for us...NOT EVEN MY PUP finished it ! says it all ! she is NOT food orientated at all i tell you again ! Ate some...ONLY because she saw US eating it ! but ? not even the KITTEN has finished the 2 portions i could not face myself put out on dish for them ! now THAT tells you ! not ALL French food is good !

now yes ! pup HAS to learn to have me outta sight when doing obedience etc that i am MOST keen on doing...ah, but she IS only 3 months old of course i say...time for that...she LETS me put petrol in car and step outside for a fag if a glass door between us i add. does not bark then.

I enjoyed having someone to watch RESIDENT EVIL film and KING ARTHUR the last 2 nights with...horrible film that resident one...kept jerking at the horrid bits...pup did not like all the noise either...stared at the tv screen...probably because it was distracting us from her...but he is not keen on dogs. thought pup wonderful but she is hyper evenings and HERDS and BARKS at him if he so much as goes to the toilet out of the kitchen. sigh. oh bother...well it was a defunct camera...pup just chewed a cable..broken camera anyway...nikon...got wet and dropped a few times...sigh...must get rid of all my excess leads of broken equipment here soon to special dump. if i can find one !

whoops...just before a moderator gets up and sees i have DIGRESSED again..off at tangents...did get told i add...i thought...what were we on about ???

TICS !!! ah yes ! well tomorrow i have that jab...and the 2nd another month later...SO CAREFUL ! if anyone comes to France to have thse special not done in GB jabs against LYME it takes 2 jabs ! and SOME vets will guarantee treatment of dog if it gets it AFTER having the jabs as it is only 85 percent certain !! not good that...of course BREEDERS told me that AFTER i made RDV and vet ORDERED the stuff at my local not their vet ! i wish people would tell others things IN ADVANCE !   sigh. it is SO common to be pleased to say TOLD YOU SO and I KNOW BETTER when it is TOO LATE !!! sigh...let me not digress onto humans though......has to order it...obviously NOT DONE OFTEN in France even then i say based on that ! not in his stock !

i am NOT cancelling my RDV...i will MENTION other vet gives guarantees..but hey ! who would want that ? a sick dog for months ? put it out of misery is surely better if it gets it in spite of jabs ! and one MUST be positive...85 percent is a good degree...not confidence level of 95 percent ok...but ABOVE AVERAGE !

now before all you dog lovers...WHICH I AM TOO i add...go AWOL at that last comment...let me tell you...my views on sick dogs ? is I DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH THEY SUFFER ! so ? i will NOT let a SILENT SUFFERING ANIMAL suffer unnecessarily ! i will PUT ANY ANIMAL DOWN i believe is in agony but not yelling ! i myself DO NOT YELL if in pain ! i would want that for myself. I had my scottish colley age 13 jabbed by vet at the end...she had lost all backlegs ability...was incontinent...i could not BEAR the blood and bleeding of her paws as she DRAGGED herself along the floors to me in that state...she was AT THE END ! she did not know anything about it...it was the ONLY time in my life i could not pronounce my own name as i held her on the table and gave my details to the vet for the paperwork. OBCARSKAS...i chocked on my own name.

now i have upset myself tears. darned nuissance. all this lyme thing. bad memories. dogs suffering. i need a break from lyme thoughts. vaccins. that is answer. don't think about the worst.

and if anyone objects to a comment i recall making of me putting myself a cat i ran over out of its misery...i say I WAS NOT GOING TO WAIT HOURS with it SUFFERING and going to die anyway like that ! i did that ONCE with my kitten that got run over in Birmingham when a student there...the kitten spent a night at the vet...cost me a fortune...jaws crumped...it had to be PUT DOWN anyway ! so ? all that waiting did was PROLONG the AGONY ! i was NEVER going to do that to an animal again i said after that ! I DO IT if needed.

i read CATS get tics here...well luckily this kitten of neighbours UNVACCINATED against ANYTHING i add...always GOING TO DO IT the neighbours say...i DID ask...before my pup arrived...IS YOUR KITTEN SAFE FOR MY PUP ? well it never goes out...in appartment see...it actually FOLLOWS us out the door when we go walkies...is hard to get back in...they won't let me take it out with us on lead...sigh...said it would run off...i think cats in flats are worse than dogs...they need to hunt...go out...they say they want to move now...realise the cat needs garden...

i wonder...if cats and dogs pass diseases to each other ? sigh. my pup goes out all the time...the kitten could get ill ! ooh..i must go on the pet forum to ask about kittens and cats ! i could kill the kitten of neighbour !

I mention another relevant point re tics...i said to breeder in call yesterday on this subject...collars ? she does not use them as she has several dogs of course...so said the other dogs playing would get the stuff in mouths so uses liquids on skin instead of insecticide collars.

i don't have other dogs...YET ! wouldn't mind one i add...but pup plays with kitten and other dogs sometimes...so not wanting a collar. i put liquids onto her skin at neck regularly for insects. some protection.

I'm in East Hants - on one of the heaths , and have deer right up by our backdoor.

Jo

Is Lymes disease such a huge problem in France? We have it here but i wouldn't say it is a big enough problem to warrant a vaccination. My area is rife with ticks but at the vets i work its rare to see Lymes disease. Its something that does occaisionally happen but not that frequently.
Cats and dogs can pass some diseases onto each other and there are some that are species specific. Lymes disease is not pased from animal to animal as far as i'm aware, unless its an infected tick that sucks on both animals.

I think it's on the increase here. I know someone on another site who had just been diagnosed with it after years of illness which was put down to ME/CFS.

Loads here - more than you probably need to know!
http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/

Edit: eeeep!
"How prevalent is Lyme disease in the UK? [in humans]
The number of cases confirmed by blood testing has risen from 292 in 2003 to 768 in 2006. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) acknowledges that confirmed cases do not necessarily reflect all the cases of the disease. HPA official estimates suggest there could be up to 3,000 new cases occurring in the UK every year. The true number of cases is not known, and may be higher still. Since full recovery may not take place in many cases, the total number of people affected is accumulating."