PETE WEDDERBURN Animal Doctor
infectious tick saliva may be accidentally squirted into the animal. Care needs to be taken not to pull too suddenly, and not to pull sideways. The risk is that the tick’s head will break off, being left in the animal’s body and causing a painful abscess.
To avoid the head breaking off, my favourite way to remove ticks is the second say: using a proprietary tick removing device called the O’Tom tick remover. If you visit the company website at www. otom.com, you can see a short video demonstrating its use. It’s a small, precision engineered, plastic hook-like device that has a wedge-like slit. The v-shaped slit is slid over the tick, then the device is twisted between your index finger and thumb. This gently loosens the tight connection between the tick and the animal’s body, and it falls off.
There are several advantages to the O’Tom tick remover. First, it doesn’t leave the tick’s head buried in the skin. Second, the device does not squeeze the tick’s abdomen during removal: this removes the risk of accidentally injecting infected blood into the animal during the process. Third, the O’Tom can remove ticks of any size, from the tiniest pinhead sized one to the biggest, grape sized tick. And finally, it can be used to remove ticks in people, as well as in animals. As we move towards the summer tick season, any household that has witnessed ticks on people or animals should have an O’Tom tick remover in their first aid cupboard. You can buy them from a range of outlets, including online and vet clinics.
Simple removal of individual ticks can be the easiest answer if they are only seen occasionally. If, however, as we head into the summer, your dog regularly attracts high number of ticks, it’s worth talking to your vet about the latest methods of preventing ticks completely. There are many methods, including sprays, spot-on drops and special medicated collars. The latest generation of tick preventive products are long lasting oral tablets: these just need to be given once a month, or once every three months, depending on the formulation. If you have a pet that regularly excercises in a tick infested area, these new methods are ideal: as is often the case, prevention is so much easier than cure: trying to pull off endless ticks, day after day, is not anyone’s idea of fun.
Don’t ignore ticks: they may look harmless but they can carry harmful infections.