Canine Quiz – Q5

So how did you do? Hopefully, you all did really well but, if you didn’t, maybe this week of scenarios might galvanize you into finding out a bit more or preparing yourselves better JUST IN CASE.

Next week we will be back to Tips of the Day and we’ll have another Quiz week in a few month’s time too.

Quiz Q5You have been walking through a wood that is new to you. When you get home, you notice a tick on the back of your dog’s head. You check him all over and find a couple more on him too, one of which is actually in his ear canal.

What should you do?

Ticks

The tick starts off small, with thin black legs and 2 pincer-type mouthparts at the front, and a round abdominal sac at the back. They burrow their mouthparts into the dog’s skin and lock on. They then suck the blood out which fills up the fleshy sac until it swells to the size of a raisin.

Well, ordinarily with ticks, its perfectly fine for you to remove them yourself without the need to visit your vet, provided you do it in the right way. However, as you have found one of the ticks in his ear canal, it is vital NOT to try to remove this yourself as it is a delicate procedure requiring professional help.  Since you will have to go to have the tick in the ear removed anyway, it is probably best to leave all the ticks where they are and have the vet remove them all for you (well, you’ve already paid for your consultation haven’t you!!!)

 If things had been different and there had just been the one or two ticks, neither of which were in the ear or eye region, here’s how you’d go about removing them by yourself:-

1)         Put on your gloves.

2)         Use your “tick-picker” which is a special tool just for the job.

3)         Either loop or hook it, as close as possible to the dog’s skin.

4)         Either twist clockwise or pull straight out in a constant firm movement.  (The tick will put up quite a bit of resistance and then will suddenly let go, often with a bit of a “snap” kind of noise and feeling).

5)         Check that the tick’s head has not been left behind in the dog’s skin.

6)         If it has, keep an eye on it as usually the head will be ejected as a “foreign body” within a couple of days.

7)         Clean the wound site with sterile wipes or soap and water.

8)         Dispose by killing it in some rubbing alcohol and putting it in the outside bin.

HERE’S THE “DO NOT’s”

*           Do Not Squeeze between your thumb and finger (this will inject the poisonous infected blood into your dog)

*           Do Not Burn them off with a cigarette or match head (the tick will regurgitate the poisonous infected blood into your dog as it tries to get away from the heat of the cigarette or match)

*           Do Not Cover the tick in Vaseline (although this WILL suffocate the tick, the tick will die leaving his head buried in your dog)

*           Do Not Throw the tick into the toilet to dispose of it (ticks are brilliant little swimmers and will merely live to bite another day)

*           Do Not Throw the tick onto the fire (the tick will “pop” as the contents of its abdomen heats up and the noxious vapours will be released into the air and are dangerous if breathed in by you)

*           Do Not Pull the ticks body off the dog abruptly (if the head is left in the dog it may become infected and cause an abscess)

 

 

For the most part, that will be that and a veterinary appointment is not usually necessary unless:

*           The head is still in the dog’s skin after a couple of days.

*           The area looks red and/or inflamed after a couple of days.

*           The dog shows signs of changes in behaviour or discomfort.

*           The tick is in the ear canal in which case you should not try to remove it yourself, but seek veterinary help.