I found a tick on my dog....what do i do?

Question

ok i found a tick on him today and i killed it and then flushed it down the toliet..lol but what should i do i put some stuff on him that keeps them off but is that enough? should i also take him to the vet??? could something be wrong with him now??

Answer 1

He should be ok..hopefully you got the head.  Yeah you can wash the area that the tick was at. Just to be safe.  Watch it..if you didn't get the head..it could get infectious..and spread into his blood stream.  If you notice redness, or itching, or soreness, take him in to the vet. Good luck!  

Answer 2

All the other posters had good ideas, and you did the right thing by pulling it off. You did what I used to do before I knew more about ticks, and my dogs were fine. Keep an eye on the spot where the tick was, to make sure it doesn't get infected or inflamed, and be aware that a tick bite can take a ridiculous amount of time to completely heal. If you live in a place where there are likely to be more ticks, see the vet about preventatives and so on. There is a wonderful gadget called a Tick Twister that makes removing them much easier.

Answer 3

ok, to make sure you got the whole thing, next time, just take a match and light it and blow it out and stick the end you just blew out right on the tick. It will burn it and ir will release the grip and take tweezers and take it and flush it. he is safe as long as he has his vaccines and get k9 advantage.

Answer 4

No, just pull it off and flush it down!  Your vet can't do anything about it at this point.  Is your dog vaccinated for Lyme Disease?  That's something they can catch from ticks and should be vaccinated for.  There are some other tick-borne diseases, but there are also lots of ticks out there which carry no disease, or are unable to transmit it to your dog if they do.  Don't worry about it unless you see some symptoms of something wrong with your dog.

Answer 5

the advantage/ k9 advantix in my opinion is the best.  it repels and kills:

fleas

ticks

mosquitos

biting flies

frontline kills these but does not repel.

i would also reccomend getting your dog the lyme vaccine if you live in a wooded area or if ticks are bad

Answer 6

How did you remove the tick?

Ticks bite down in your dog to feed. most people when they remove the tick fail to remove its head as well.. This is important, the head is what can cause disease.

The best thing to do next time is to put rubbing alcohol on it to get it to release its grip, then take tweezers and twist and pull teh tick out.

For future tick prevention, the vet can help you with this. They will have medication you can give your dog to get rid of ticks.

Right now there isn't anything you can do.. just clean the area with some mild soap and water

Answer 7

relax, he's fine. You did exactly what should be done! You might want to wash him with some special shampoo though, just to get the possible eggs off him.

Unless the area of the bite get's infected or something, you don't have to take him to the vet.

Answer 8

Did you remove its head? Always go to the vet to check him out! The vet will recommend something to keep ticks off

Answer 9

next time look to make sure the head is still attached to the tick when you pull it out. If not, it's still in the dog and can cause lyme disease. You can take him to the vet just to be sure. Normally you'd be fine, but since even you don't know i'd reccomend it.

Answer 10

well if you find another you need to remove it and put it in a container and take it to a vet with your dog that way the tick can be tested for disease and killed. I know they drown the tick in some kind of liquid.