24 October 2022
Tick Removal Guide for Cats and Dogs
One of the most important responsibilities you have as a pet owner is to maintain your pet’s health, including keeping them fed and parasite free. There are a number of internal and external parasites that your pet can pick up, and you need to know how to prevent, treat, and in some cases, remove these parasites from your pet.
In this guide, we’re going to tell you everything you need to know about the pesky parasite known as a tick, and how to keep your pet free of them.
What are Ticks?
Much like fleas, ticks are an external parasite that latches onto your pet to feed off their blood. However, unlike fleas, ticks are much larger and easier to spot with the naked eye. When a tick is first attached to your pet, it will appear to have a small head and a shiny, flattened body, but once it begins to feed, it continues to grow until it drops off and moves on to the next stage of its life cycle.
When they are first attached to your pet, ticks may be hard to spot, much like a flea, but as they continue to feed on your pet, their flat bodies will grow and expand until they can be seen and felt. However, due to their pale colouring and round shape, ticks are often confused with lumps or skin tags and dismissed by the owners. Not only are ticks a nuisance, but they are also potentially dangerous and can pass diseases to humans, such as Lyme disease.
Where Do Ticks Live?
Ticks don’t have long legs or wings to help them reach a host. Instead, they are commonly found in woodland and grassland or anywhere with livestock, where they sit on leaves and extend their legs until they grasp onto the fur or skin of their new host. Then they can burrow into your pet’s fur, burying their heads into your pet’s skin to feed. Ticks can find their host by detecting breath and body odour or sensing your pet’s body heat, moisture or vibration from movement.
Ticks prefer milder weather and are much more common in summer, especially if your pet is spending more time outdoors. However, they are a year-round problem, and if you find a lump on your pet’s skin, don’t dismiss it as a tick based on the time of year. Unlike fleas, ticks only remain on your pet for a blood meal before dropping off to progress to the next stage of their lifecycle.
Ticks and Lyme Disease
Ticks, like most parasites, are known to carry many diseases that can be detrimental to your pet’s health, some of which can be passed on to humans. Even though ticks are only attached for a few days, this is still long enough to pass the disease into your pet’s bloodstream. One of these diseases is Lyme Disease, which humans can catch from tick bites, too.
Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection that often shows as a circular or oval rash around a tick bite that sometimes looks like a bullseye. This rash typically appears within 1-4 weeks of being bitten, but can take up to three months to show. Other symptoms can also follow the rash, including:
- High temperature, or feeling hot and shivery
- Headache
- Muscle and joint pain
- Tiredness and loss of energy
In some cases, the symptoms of Lyme Disease can continue to grow in severity over months or years, resulting in:
- Pain and swelling in joints
- Nerve problems, such as pain or numbness
- Heart problems
- Trouble with memory or concentration
Lyme Disease can be treated, and the sooner it is detected, the better. It's essential to see your GP if a tick has recently bitten you because while not every tick is a carrier of Lyme Disease, any tick could be.
How to Remove a Tick?
If you find a tick on your pet (or even yourself), it’s important that you know how to remove it correctly. Doing it wrong can result in the tick’s head breaking apart from the body and becoming trapped inside your pet, leading to infections. Also, you should remove a tick as soon as you’ve spotted it, as the sooner it’s removed, the less chance it has of spreading diseases.
The best way to remove a tick is by using a specific tick removal tool like this BUSTER Universal Tick Remover, as they’re specially designed to remove both the head and the body of the tick.
To use a tick remover, first, you have to note what size the tick is, which will depend on how long it’s been feeding or what life stage it is in. For more minor ticks or nymph ticks, use the smaller end of the tool, and use the larger end for adult or engorged ticks. Part your pet’s fur near the tick site and grasp the tick with the tool as close to the skin as possible without squeezing the body. This can cause the tick to regurgitate its contaminated stomach contents back into your pet and cause an infection. Slowly pull the tick directly upwards without squeezing or crushing it, and ensure the head stays attached. Once the tick is removed, dispose of it and clean the bite with a pet-safe antiseptic like this Antisept For Dogs And Cats, or soap and water.
If you are not confident in removing a tick from your pet, take them to your vet, who can remove it for you. It’s always better to ask someone else to do it properly to avoid any infections.
What NOT to do with a Tick
There are some urban myths about ticks and how to remove them, particularly home remedies for how to get them to fall off you or your pet without pulling them out, including:
- Burning the tick
- Smothering the tick with petroleum jelly
- Swabbing the area with liquid soap to remove the tick
Not only do these methods not work in removing ticks, but they can be harmful to your pet and also give the tick enough time to spread disease to your pet. This is why pulling the tick out with a specified tick tool is the best and easiest method for removal.
How to Protect Against Ticks
When it comes to ticks and other parasites on your pet, prevention is always the best course of action. This can be done with an effective tick prevention treatment like the FRONTLINE Plus® Flea & Tick Treatment, which, when applied routinely, gives your pet four weeks' worth of protection from external parasites like ticks and fleas.
Other ways to protect your pet from ticks are to be vigilant and check your pet’s coat for fleas and ticks regularly, especially after walking them outdoors in wood or grassland. If you find a tick on your pet, you can remove it early, or if your pet has been treated, the tick will die within 24 hours of attaching itself (depending on the preventative treatment used). Preventative treatments tend to kill a tick before they have been attached long enough to spread any diseases, so it’s advisable to use a preventative flea and tick treatment for dogs or cats.
When you become a pet owner, their safety is your responsibility, and ensuring they’re in top health should always be your priority. By implementing a routine health routine that includes a flea and tick treatment, you can keep your pet safe from external parasites and make sure they stay happy and healthy!
If you’re looking for an effective and easy-to-use flea and tick treatment for your cat or dog, browse our full range below. If you’re not sure what treatment would be best for your pet, contact us, and a member of our team will be happy to help.
This post is an opinion and should only be used as a guide. You should discuss any change to your pet’s care or lifestyle thoroughly with your vet before starting any program or treatment.
