How to deal with a tick?

[Pacific]

This is my first dog. Never had to deal with a tick before, never even seen a tick before. Tick removed as per googled instructions and I think we got it all out but there is a large red but soft lump, about the diameter of a 5p on dog's ear. He is a tiny dog with very long hair so I have no idea how long the tick was there before we found it. Have put antiseptic on the lump.

Any advice? What should I watch out for?

Thanks

[Pacific]

Hi. Posted this late last night. Bumping for any morning doggy people.

[Lizcat]

The easiest and safest way to deal with a tick is to smoother it in vaseline it will suffocate, die and fall off quite quickly. Investing in a product like advantix or seresto that will repel ticks and prevent them from attaching in the first place is a good idea.
Finally several human antiseptics are actually irritant to dogs and therefore should be avoided as they can make the problem worse rather than better.

[fuckbucket]

There is a fantastic widget you can get to remove ticks, it's like a tiny bent plastic fork, wait here I'm going to google for it (I need to get a new one anyway).

[fuckbucket]

www.tickremoval.co.uk/tickremovalshop.html

And get some Frontline too. Wonderful stuff.

[Lizcat]

Frontline allows the ticks to attach and kills them within 48 hours if you do not wish to see ticks on your pet you need to use one of the products above. With the rise in lyme disease and the increased risk of leishmonasis, erilichia and borrelia entering the Uk due to changes in the PET travel scheme current advice has to be to prevent attachment as all of these are tick born diseases.

[fuckbucket]

The place where the tick was will be sore and itchy for a day or two even if you got the head out, but it will heal. Beastly disgusting things. They start so tiny you can hardly see them, especially in a long dark coated dog - no bigger than a money spider. They lurk on the ends of long grass etc, waiting for some mammal to brush against them, then walk around looking for some nice soft thin skin. On humans they often walk up (I think they may have some instinct that tells them to go up) until they hit the soft skin at the back of your knees. Jungle Formula does seem to keep them off on me.
Worth familiarising yourself with the early symptoms of Lyme's disease so you know what to look for.

[Pacific]

Thank you everyone.

Will get one of these fork thingies and some frontline...got a pets at home nearby.

The lump seems to be healing already. I used alcohol hand rub as an antiseptic. Will that be ok? It didn't seem to cause any irritation.

Off to google lymes disease.

Thank you

[SnoopyKnine]

Reread Lizcats post - frontline will NOT stop ticks attaching and Lyme disease could already have infected your dog.

Advantix or seresto will stop the ticks from attaching to your dog so a much better option.

[Loveleopardprint]

Don't know if u have a cat but I was warned that advantix is poisonous to cats.

[Lizcat]

Advantix is poisonous to cats only a problem if your cat either sleeps with or grooms your dog. Seresato is safe for cats so if you have cats and dogs that sleep together or mutual groom this is the best option.
Thank you snoopy for emphasising my point everything is suggesting that this year will be worse than last year for ticks and that yet again cases of Lyme disease will rise and so will the fatalities.

[ohbugrit]

Please don't ever smother a tick. This increases the risk of vector-borne infection dramatically.

this link explains why

[feesh]

Lizcat, are Advantix and Seresato safe to use if I'm pregnant? It takes a dual effort of Advantix plus a Preventic collar to beat off the Middle East's persistent ticks, but I have stopped using both since I found out I was preggers as I was worried about pesticide contact. Now our dog has ticks on an almost daily basis and I don't know what to do :(

[Lizcat]

I used all these products whilst pregnant just wore gloves, due to my job I did very thorough research and wearing disposable gloves and then washing your hands properly (WHO method) is sufficient protection from all, but chlamydia in sheep. Both of them are approved for use in pregnant and lactating dogs. Preventic is not so nice containing OPs (can not get approved in UK due to this), but Seresto is the replacement for preventic.

[fuckbucket]

Didn't know Advantix actually prevented ticks attaching, rather than just killing them if they did attach, so thanks Lizcat! Will be recommending to my clients rather than Frontline, we do a lot of our dogwalking in woodland with deer so very ticky round here.

[Lizcat]

Seresato also prevents attachment and last 8months making a very good buy.

[Pacific]

I am terrified now in case I have inadvertently done some harm to my poor little dog!

Will get the preventative stuff immediately. What symptoms should I watch out for if the dog becomes ill ? And how soon do symptoms appear?

Thanks