Removing ticks from a dog can turn into a nightmare. More than anything because these parasites are transmitters of various diseases and hence we must act as soon as possible. Both for the health of our pet as well as ours. Since we must prevent them from hooking and biting, because as you know, they feed on the blood of our furry ones.
So sometimes what we want or not comes into play. Only what we can do is prevent with home methods, with a series of tips that we leave you today and of course, with many more ideas so that removing ticks from a dog is much faster and more efficient, which is really what we need.
The best method to remove ticks from a dog
The best method we have to remove ticks is to use the special tweezers for them. Yes, it is a product designed to remove them in a more comfortable and more precise way. This type of utensil can have several finishes, both with a very fine point or a kind of hook. Because not all ticks are the same, they are very small in size to others that are much larger. But be careful, because in addition to the size of the insects, these clamps will also adapt to the time that the ticks have attached to the animal's skin. Because sometimes it is more difficult to remove them. For all this, we see how the finishes of the clamps can vary.
But of all of them, it is more frequent to speak of those tweezers that have two hooks and a kind of slit. Because they are the ones that will help us in our problem today. We must bring it very close to the dog's skin and slide it until we can grab the tick's head.
When we have it, we simply have to give a little twist and a pull upwards in order to separate it from the body of our pet.
How to remove a tick with tweezers
If you do not have the specific tweezers, it is true that the tweezers will also do the function we need. Especially those that end in a point. Now we are looking for the tick, separating the hair of the animal. It must be remembered that ticks have a fairly large body compared to the head and what we really must remove is this. Because sometimes if we don't do it right, we can split the body and make the head stay inside the skin of our dogs.
Now is the time place the forceps as close and close to the skin as possible, trying to hold the head of the parasite. When you have it, you will have to pull up but not back, as many people believe because it can break. You need this movement to have a certain pressure, since this way, it will be the tick that is released for fear of breaking. In this case, you don't need to turn the clamps, just pull them up firmly, as we have mentioned.
Home methods to remove ticks that do not work well
Olive oil
Olive oil is one of the home remedies or methods for many purposes. In this case there is also a lot of talk about him. Because if we put a few drops on the tick, it will suffocate and in response to that moment, it will show its head what we need to remove. You will be pouring droplets and waiting for you to get rid of it with the tweezers.
What happens is that although the tick is released, it will have done so by regurgitating substances that now pass into the animal's body, which can cause diseases and infections if the tick was infected.
Alcohol
It is used as a disinfectant of the area where the tick was. But beware, just a few drops of it so that our dog's skin remains free of infections. It is true that it is also used in combination with olive oil. Because this, as we have mentioned, will drown the tick and also, it will slide it better in order to remove it, while the alcohol will do the cleaning and care of our dog. But it may be a much longer job than expected.
Apply cold or heat
Another of the best known solutions is to remove ticks by applying both heat and cold. On the one hand, it is dangerous to bring a source of heat to the skin of our pet. Since any type of movement we could regret greater damages. But it is that for another, both extreme cold and heat will make the tick even more attached to the skin to avoid such sources. This makes us see it even more attached and can complicate our work.
Remove it with your fingers
How many times have you heard it or even seen it? Removing ticks from a dog with your fingers is another popular technique. Nothing could be further from the truth. Since in this case, the Touching them with your hands can cause them to bite us and as such pass us certain diseases, since the bite does not cause pain and we would not find out. In addition to the fact that we fall into the error that when removing it, the history of not holding the head is repeated and that it remains in the body of the animal. Therefore, no matter where you look, this procedure is not recommended.
Tips to prevent your dog from catching ticks
Collars or pipettes
As we well know, necklaces are perfect to avoid this type of problem. If there already is, it shortens it and if not, it prevents thanks to its action. But it is better to consult with a veterinarian to find the one that best suits your pet. You have to put the pipettes on their back, in the area where they cannot be licked and with this you will have more than a month of protection against ticks.
Check her hair every so often
It is for all dogs but especially for those with longer hair. Hence, every time you go out you can take it and check it, with a good hair brushing, for example. Of course, if when checking we find a tick, then we must remove it immediately. You already know that the sooner the better, for adherence but also to avoid later problems. Remember that the areas that you should watch the most are the ears, armpits or fingers and legs as well as the tail.
Avoid areas with heavy weeds or tall plants
It is true that we never know exactly where we are going to find these parasites. But we can avoid some more complicated areas and where they will be more comfortable, such as heavily weedy areas. It is not the same to walk through these places than through one with more manicured lawns. Although as we say, we can not always avoid them 100%.
Conclusion
As we have mentioned, removing ticks from a dog is not always an easy task, but we do have to do it as soon as possible. Because only in this way will we prevent them from feeding on your blood and from transmitting diseases that can be very serious in certain cases. It is much more common to contract them both in spring and summer thanks to the temperatures. In addition, they have 4 phases in their life cycle, until they become adult ticks, so they can cause problems in the short and long term.
So, it is best to check our dog every day, especially when it has been outdoors for a long time. A good brushing and controlling the key areas of your body such as the ears or feet is vital. Uses always with tweezers to remove ticks and never with your hands. Still, you should protect yourself with gloves to avoid their bite. We must always focus on removing his head, because it is the one that can cause all the damage we mentioned. Once removed, do not throw it away, because they are stronger than you think. The best thing is to put it in a container with alcohol and close it well, until we make sure that it has died. Now we know how to remove ticks from a dog and how to prevent them!