Dog with a tick...
Discussion
Hi all,
First time posting in here, but after some advice.
About 3pm this afternoon, was about to take my mums King Charles Cav out for a walk, getting ready to go and in garden he suddenly starts yelping and limping with one paw.
We take him back inside, thinking he's sprained or pulled a muscle, but once inside he's totally lost his appetite for treats and is generally ears down, tail between leg, sat in a corner of the room for over an hour. Very odd behaviour.
Anyway, we give him the evening, thinking if he's still in a bad way morning, we'll take him to the vets or get an emergency appointment. About half an hour ago, he moved from one side of the room, limping with one paw up (the same one) and goes into the hallway. I followed him out and checked over his leg. I found what I thought was a mat, but rolled him over and found a blue tick attached to his leg about 2 inches from his paw. Using a technique of spinning the tick body I got it out, including the nose part. There was no bleeding or anything and I disposed of the tick.
Question is, he's still not 100%, obviously seems a bit happier, walking around with his paw down, but still not having treats or anything. Shall I leave him for the night and see how he is in the morning, or should I suspect something worse?
Thanks in advance. The reason I'm more worried than normal is my Mum is on holiday and I'm looking after him, so I'm just worried if I should do something now or just leave him to recover?
First time posting in here, but after some advice.
About 3pm this afternoon, was about to take my mums King Charles Cav out for a walk, getting ready to go and in garden he suddenly starts yelping and limping with one paw.
We take him back inside, thinking he's sprained or pulled a muscle, but once inside he's totally lost his appetite for treats and is generally ears down, tail between leg, sat in a corner of the room for over an hour. Very odd behaviour.
Anyway, we give him the evening, thinking if he's still in a bad way morning, we'll take him to the vets or get an emergency appointment. About half an hour ago, he moved from one side of the room, limping with one paw up (the same one) and goes into the hallway. I followed him out and checked over his leg. I found what I thought was a mat, but rolled him over and found a blue tick attached to his leg about 2 inches from his paw. Using a technique of spinning the tick body I got it out, including the nose part. There was no bleeding or anything and I disposed of the tick.
Question is, he's still not 100%, obviously seems a bit happier, walking around with his paw down, but still not having treats or anything. Shall I leave him for the night and see how he is in the morning, or should I suspect something worse?
Thanks in advance. The reason I'm more worried than normal is my Mum is on holiday and I'm looking after him, so I'm just worried if I should do something now or just leave him to recover?
Hi, my lab gets these from running in the heather, once they are out all is usually ok.
My standard with the dog is if she is still drinking her water then I will wait 24 hours and she how she is. Labs eat all kinds of things, so her being off food or a bit subdued happens every few weeks.
I wouldn't! Rush into the vets, but wait and see in the morning.
My standard with the dog is if she is still drinking her water then I will wait 24 hours and she how she is. Labs eat all kinds of things, so her being off food or a bit subdued happens every few weeks.
I wouldn't! Rush into the vets, but wait and see in the morning.
Foofighter said:
Hi all,
Using a technique of spinning the tick body I got it out, including the nose part. There was no bleeding or anything and I disposed of the tick.
I think this technique is usually frowned upon as it often leads to he head coming off in the dog. Using a technique of spinning the tick body I got it out, including the nose part. There was no bleeding or anything and I disposed of the tick.
I had one on my dog last year. I pinned the dog down while the OH pulled it out slowly with some tweezers. It left a pretty big hole behind.
Dog was fine after removal though.
Give it a day and see if dog improves.
Everyone with a dog should invest in a tick twister. Dead easy to use.
My dog's forever getting ticks as we're in the Scottish Highlands a lot. She's never exhibited any of the symptoms you're describing though, in fact if I didn't have a good rummage through her fur I'd not even know she'd picked up a tick.
I've never seen a blue tick though!
My dog's forever getting ticks as we're in the Scottish Highlands a lot. She's never exhibited any of the symptoms you're describing though, in fact if I didn't have a good rummage through her fur I'd not even know she'd picked up a tick.
I've never seen a blue tick though!
Cav's are sensitive critters. He's probably feeling sorry for himself at the mo. His foot will be sore though. Give him tonight to settle if still limping, lethargic and off food it may be worth a vet ck even if just to provide some pain relief and anti inflammatory as I suspect his paw/pad may be a bit swollen as well. Fingers crossed he'll be fine by tom am.
Catz said:
I've never seen a blue tick though!
Possibly one that's gorged to the limit,and is about to drop . I'm from up north, and in my day ,it wasn't just dogs that got ticks. I've had a few on me as my part of the world was sheep country. My cure from old fashioned highland ways was to coat the ticks bodies with oil/grease ,but Bex tells me that it causes problems. Few years ago I spent some time in Africa, where there was a tick that carried a disease known as "tick fever". It depleted the red blood cells, making a large dog like a Rotie/GS cross an invalid in hours. Fortunately this problem don't occur,yet, in the UK. But whereas in this country you might get a few ticks on a dog ,in Africa you'd get a few hundred, and it meant at that time dipping the dog every week,and every day ,babies had to be checked for ticks. We found that the cure for any blood sucker was garlic.
Ticks just like dogs have different breds that live in different habitats. We have some silvery/blue ones here occasionally, plenty of red/orange ones and some greeny coloured ones.
As said above get a tick twister - pulling them out by hand, unless you are very quick and have done it before is risky as you are likely to detach the body from the head and leave the head in the dog. The biggest problem with ticks arises when they regurgitate the bloody they have sucked into the dog which is when Limes Diease can be passed on (amongst other unpleasants). Burning them with a cigarette or coating them in vaseline is supposed to work, but its more likely to end up causing the tick to regurgitate than pulling it out with a twister.
The moto is treat properly with Advocate or a good tick/flea treatment once a month at minimum if the dog is regularly exposed to long grass etc.
As has already been said above we have to spend time checking our Spaniels for them as without they wouldn't bat an eyelid to them!
As said above get a tick twister - pulling them out by hand, unless you are very quick and have done it before is risky as you are likely to detach the body from the head and leave the head in the dog. The biggest problem with ticks arises when they regurgitate the bloody they have sucked into the dog which is when Limes Diease can be passed on (amongst other unpleasants). Burning them with a cigarette or coating them in vaseline is supposed to work, but its more likely to end up causing the tick to regurgitate than pulling it out with a twister.
The moto is treat properly with Advocate or a good tick/flea treatment once a month at minimum if the dog is regularly exposed to long grass etc.
As has already been said above we have to spend time checking our Spaniels for them as without they wouldn't bat an eyelid to them!
TimCrighton said:
As said above get a tick twister
You can get the same effect without the twister, press your finger gently on the body of the tick that's sticking out, and move it around in circles constantly for around a minute - ticks don't seem to like this and usually back out themselves so no pulling and low risk.video and instructions on this link, works for me - http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-remove-a-ti...
yellowbentines said:
TimCrighton said:
As said above get a tick twister
You can get the same effect without the twister, press your finger gently on the body of the tick that's sticking out, and move it around in circles constantly for around a minute - ticks don't seem to like this and usually back out themselves so no pulling and low risk.video and instructions on this link, works for me - http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-remove-a-ti...
For a few quid just invest in a proper tick remover, far better.
bexVN said:
Would not recommend this, too much chance of squeezing the tick and so squeezing toxins into the bloodstream.
For a few quid just invest in a proper tick remover, far better.
Agreed. And if the head gets stuck if you rip the body apart, that's bad news too.For a few quid just invest in a proper tick remover, far better.
A tick remover is something that to my mind EVERY dog owner should have.
sw67 said:
I have started using a flea and tick collar on my lab - this is a new product by Beyer and seems to have no ill effects so far.
It lasts 8 months and i went for it as spot on has burnt my leather couch and oral flea treatment made him vomit
Do you know what chemicals are in it?It lasts 8 months and i went for it as spot on has burnt my leather couch and oral flea treatment made him vomit
Our spaniel gets ticks and as said by others has never displayed the symptoms that you describe. I thought that one of the issues with ticks is that they anaesthetise the area that they are in so that the host doesn't feel it?
I wonder whether the tick was just a co-incidence and the dog has a problem with its paw?
I wonder whether the tick was just a co-incidence and the dog has a problem with its paw?
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