tick removal

[geronimotwo]

i've been finding a tick on our dog, every week or so.  tweezers almost always leave the head behind.  is there a better way to remove ticks?

[charby]

I have something similar and it works good.

http://www.petfooddirect.com/product/2730/Ticked-Off-Tick-Remover-Tool-for-Pets?extcid=PLA&gclid=CL2Qyc3XvroCFYZaMgod9ykA3w

[Hawkmoon]

Supposedly coating the tick with Vaseline causes the tick to back out and seek air -- but I think it takes awhile, and then you have to clean the Vaseline off the pooch.

[MechAg94]

Alcohol does the job as I understand.  We had outside hound dogs when I was kid.  I never used tweezers. 

[RoadKingLarry]

Det cord.



I just get ahold of them and pull them off by hand. Same as I do for the ones that get on me. Our lab's coat is so thick we can't even see the tiny ones. When the tiny ones get on me I end up hooking them with a fingernail to get them off.

[Ben]

Alcohol does the job as I understand.  We had outside hound dogs when I was kid.  I never used tweezers. 

What alcohol do hound dogs prefer?

[bedlamite]

Tick Twister works excellent, but don't twist it out, just pull straight.

One thing the CDC is actually good for:

How to remove a tick

    Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin's surface as possible.
    Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don't twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.
    After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.

Avoid folklore remedies such as "painting" the tick with nail polish or petroleum jelly, or using heat to make the tick detach from the skin. Your goal is to remove the tick as quickly as possible--not waiting for it to detach.

[Jocassee]

when I got them on me as a kid, dad would heat up the tip of a needle and poke them with it and that worked pretty well.

[Regolith]

The problem with non-mechanical methods is that the tick will often vomit back into your blood stream before backing out. If it's infected with something like Lyme disease, this is a good way to get it transmitted into you.

[Tallpine]

I just get ahold of them and pull them off by hand. Same as I do for the ones that get on me. Our lab's coat is so thick we can't even see the tiny ones. When the tiny ones get on me I end up hooking them with a fingernail to get them off.

Yeah, and we have to pull them off the horses too, especially in certain places.

[geronimotwo]

Det cord.



I just get ahold of them and pull them off by hand. Same as I do for the ones that get on me. Our lab's coat is so thick we can't even see the tiny ones. When the tiny ones get on me I end up hooking them with a fingernail to get them off.

that's our problem as well.  chloe's fur is long and thick, making discovery difficult until they are latched on pretty well and bloated.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Someone told me to use tweezers once.

I ended up with a bloody, squashed, decapitated tick.



I use my nails and just pop the suckers off. It's faster and work fine if you do it right.

I spend a lot of time yanking ticks off dogs. I'll get a cap full of rubbing alcohol and just pop 'em off and stick them in the cap. It's not uncommen for me to end up with 15 or 20 ticks off one dog.

[zxcvbob]

smear the tick with Vick's VapoRub first and give a little while (don't remember how long it takes) then pull it loose.

[geronimotwo]

I have something similar and it works good.

http://www.petfooddirect.com/product/2730/Ticked-Off-Tick-Remover-Tool-for-Pets?extcid=PLA&gclid=CL2Qyc3XvroCFYZaMgod9ykA3w

wow, there's a few different brands out there.  i wonder which type work the best.

Someone told me to use tweezers once.

I ended up with a bloody, squashed, decapitated tick.



I use my nails and just pop the suckers off. It's faster and work fine if you do it right.

I spend a lot of time yanking ticks off dogs. I'll get a cap full of rubbing alcohol and just pop 'em off and stick them in the cap. It's not uncommen for me to end up with 15 or 20 ticks off one dog.

and what is the proper nail length for tick tick removal, pray tell?

[dm1333]

http://www.amazon.com/Coghlans-insect-repellent-Tick-Tweezers/dp/B00194F08S


These work pretty well.  you clamp them on close to the skin and rotate the barrel counter clockwise and it unscrews the tick.

[Perd Hapley]

i've been finding a tick on our dog, every week or so.  tweezers almost always leave the head behind.  is there a better way to remove ticks?

Use your fingers, instead. This has worked for me at least a hundred times.

[BlueStarLizzard]

wow, there's a few different brands out there.  i wonder which type work the best.

and what is the proper nail length for tick tick removal, pray tell?

Not that long.

I keep my nails just long enough to be functional (slip under a tab on a soda can or assembly lever on a 1911A1)
but they're not long by any stretch of the imagination.

You pinch as close to the skin and pop it off, you don't grab it by the body.

[230RN]

We used to light a match, let it burn for a second or two, then blow it out, and hold the hot tip to the tick.

[geronimotwo]

^^we've tried the hot match trick a few times, but it hasn't worked for us.     

Not that long.

I keep my nails just long enough to be functional (slip under a tab on a soda can or assembly lever on a 1911A1)
but they're not long by any stretch of the imagination.

You pinch as close to the skin and pop it off, you don't grab it by the body.

i had a gf once with nails that extended about an inch past her fingertips.   maybe i should give her a call?

[MechAg94]

You don't need long nails.  Some small amount of nail does help get the tick without pulling out too much of the dogs fur with it. 

When I got them on me as a kid and with the dogs, some bit of skin does come off with the tick, but not much and it almost always healed fast.  Tick bits itch anyway.  The dogs always seemed to appreciate it once the tick was gone and they saw/smelled what you pulled off.  Not sure about other people's dogs though.  :)

I used to get them biting me as a kid when we visited my grandparents.  After we moved out there, we rarely got bitten, but sometimes found them crawling on us.  My Mother said there were some home remedies out there that said eating local honey and or maybe other stuff would keep them off you.  It has been a while. 

[Sergeant Bob]

My Mother said there were some home remedies out there that said eating local honey and or maybe other stuff would keep them off you.  It has been a while. 

Don't know for sure if eating honey would repel them but, if it does, it could possibly be due to the Botulinum toxin contained in the honey. Just guessing here.

[Tallpine]

I removed all the ticks from my clock, and now it just goes "-tock, -tock, -tock, -tock, -tock ..."

 

[MechAg94]

Don't know for sure if eating honey would repel them but, if it does, it could possibly be due to the Botulinum toxin contained in the honey. Just guessing here.

I know there are some supposed benefits of eating local honey.  Maybe that isn't one of them.

[BlueStarLizzard]

You don't need long nails.  Some small amount of nail does help get the tick without pulling out too much of the dogs fur with it. 

When I got them on me as a kid and with the dogs, some bit of skin does come off with the tick, but not much and it almost always healed fast.  Tick bits itch anyway.  The dogs always seemed to appreciate it once the tick was gone and they saw/smelled what you pulled off.  Not sure about other people's dogs though.  :)

I used to get them biting me as a kid when we visited my grandparents.  After we moved out there, we rarely got bitten, but sometimes found them crawling on us.  My Mother said there were some home remedies out there that said eating local honey and or maybe other stuff would keep them off you.  It has been a while. 

This is it.

Can you meet the nail edge of your idex finger to the nail edge of the thumb without pressing to hard on anything in the middle?

You slide the nail edge along the skin, pinching the tick as close to the skin as possible and yank.

[Sergeant Bob]

I know there are some supposed benefits of eating local honey.  Maybe that isn't one of them.

The toxin is harmless to most people. The only ones it seems to affect are children under the age of one. My stepson and his wife (not knowing about the toxin and it's affects on babies) gave honey to their infant daughter and she spent a few weeks in the hospital with botulism. They had a heck of a time figuring out what it was and she was suffering from paralysis. She was on a ventilator for a while and we almost lost her.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulism#Signs_and_symptoms