Ticks are a major problem for both pets and humans because of the dangerous diseases they carry and transmit. Even when you take precautions (such as using tick preventative products), you may still find a tick on your dog or cat (or other household pet). A tick bite is typically seen as a bump or swollen area on the fur, with a tick burrowed just under your pet’s skin.
Prompt and proper removal of ticks is important in preventing an attached tick from transmitting an infection to your pet. It can take between 24 and 48 hours for a burrowed tick to infect its host, so removing it quickly is critical. For purposes of this article, we refer to the removal of a tick from a dog, but the same steps will apply to most pets.
If you have inspected your dog and found a tick burrowed on your dog’s skin, follow these steps to remove the tick safely. Note, if the tick is too deeply burrowed into your dog’s skin, or you are uncomfortable with removing the tick yourself, please take your dog to a veterinarian immediately so it can be removed safely.
Learning the proper way to remove a tick is very important because, if the pest is removed incorrectly, it can result in infection being “injected” into your dog’s blood stream. Incorrect removal can result in:
- The tick’s mouth parts being left behind in the skin – this can result in septic abscesses and serious blood infection.
- Compression of the tick’s abdomen – can cause tick to regurgitate the blood meal, injecting infective agents to into the blood stream of your dog
- Puncture of the tick’s body – again, can cause tick to regurgitate the blood meal.
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