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Dog Tick Question
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 173387" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>Info from a former student of entomology and parasitology (and former farm girl):</p><p></p><p>For future reference - get the tick out ASAP. Do not bother putting anything on it. Instead, grip it as low as you can get, forceps against the skin. DO NOT SQUEEZE THE TICK'S ABDOMEN.</p><p></p><p>Grip as low as you can get, and pull.</p><p></p><p>If you break the tick and leave the head in - don't worry. It is best to not do that, but at least you got the rest of it and the head will eventually come out. You can also burrow in again after the head, anyway.</p><p></p><p>But generally, unless you're really ham-fisted, you will get the whole thing, head and all.</p><p></p><p>If you put something on the tick, you might just annoy it enough to make it salivate more. And it's the saliva that does the damage.</p><p></p><p>Ticks are not insects, they are arachnids, like spiders. Insect spray works best on insects. It does not work so well on arachnids unless it has been specially formulated. Arachnids have a breathing system similar to insects, PLUS a second respiratory system which gives them an advantage when it comes to coping with insecticides.</p><p></p><p>When a tick attaches, it begins to pump out saliva so it can keep feeding. Its saliva contains anticoagulant, to keep the blood flowing freely. It also is neurotoxic, which is what can make animals sick, or even kill them. </p><p></p><p>The rate at which an animal becomes sick depends on how big the animal is, how big the tick is, sometimes what kind of tick it is, whether it has buddies sharing the meal and HOW LONG IT HAS BEEN FEEDING. </p><p></p><p>Dabbing insecticide on the tick and waiting for it to drop off, is NOT a good idea. WHile you wait, the annoyed tick is pumping out even more neurotoxin, is maybe still hanging on despite the stuff you put on it, and more time is passing.</p><p></p><p>Symptoms of tick poisoning tend to begin in the back legs first as an unsteadiness, or a wobble. Then the weakness progresses to the front legs. Sometimes you can h ear it in the animals 'voice' before the paralysis is noticeable. A dog's bark can sound a bit hoarse, like it's got laryngitis. A cat's miaow can also sound a bit raspy. It's like they've had a night out on the tiles.</p><p></p><p>By the time the back legs are affected, if you haven't found the tick your animal is in big trouble. Get to the vet. If you HAVE found the tick, the animal should start to improve over the next day or so. There may be further worsening over the next few hours, because there is a delay in removing the tick, and peak of neurotoxin (another reason to remove the tick ASAP). If the animal is definitely worse next day, there is either another tick or your animal is vulnerable. Get to the vet for tick antivenin.</p><p></p><p>Exceptions to the usual pattern of paralysis - if the tick has embedded near a major blood vessel and/or near the neck, paralysis can be much faster and can also hit front and back at the same time. The hoarse voice is also an early symptom in tis situation.</p><p></p><p>I grew up in a high-tick area. We raised sheep and often lost lambs, especially. Occasionally we'd lose an adult sheep. To ONE tick. Trying to find a tick on a sheep is not easy, with all that fleece.</p><p></p><p>We often got ticks on the dogs and cats, too. We only ever lost one dog, although we had quite a few that got sick. I did see friends who lost pets to ticks. What with the sheep, and the dogs, I saw a lot of tick paralysis.</p><p></p><p>The methods for dealing with ticks have changed a great deal over the years. You used to have to put some sort of solvent on them (kerosene or turpentine), wait about half an hour, then remove it with forceps. There was also a lot of fuss made about dangers of leaving the head in place, but now it's been announced (our first aid books, latest editions) that it's not the problem it was once thought. The head usually comes out as part of a scab, in a day or so.</p><p></p><p>Ticks of the same breed are different sizes at different stages of their life cycle. What we call grass ticks are the hatchlings of Ixodes holocyclus (you have Ixodes species in the US, too). These are the nymphs and have only six legs. They are smaller than a pinhead.</p><p>With each blood feed they drop off, moult, grow and feed again. Each time they're bigger. The last stage are big, sometimes as big as your fingernail. When they're engorged they're even bigger. These are the ones we call bush ticks, scrub ticks, cattle ticks or shellbacks, in Australia. These are the biggest killers. Smaller nymphs can kill too, or make you sick, but the shellbacks are the more dangerous ones. </p><p></p><p>Burning a tick one it's off - at least it makes sure it won't get anyone else, nor lay eggs.</p><p></p><p>difficult child 3 picked up a load of ticks at school when he was 8 years old. They were grass ticks, but he had about 200, mostly form the groin and up. All through his scalp, too. I had to give him a crewcut to find them all. Then a few days later, he came home with another big load of them - another hundred or so. Again, from school. Other kids were getting ticks too. The school got gardeners in to mow everything back, prune a lot of trees, remove weeds and for a while, banned the kids from playing in the bushland.</p><p></p><p>A year or so later, difficult child 3 got a single tick near his eye. It was only there for about half an hour, but in that time his eye had swollen almost shut.</p><p></p><p>It's safe to remove a tick - safe for the person doing the removing, too. Just make sure you have a good pair of forceps, and don't drop the thing so it can go latch on to something else.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 173387, member: 1991"] Info from a former student of entomology and parasitology (and former farm girl): For future reference - get the tick out ASAP. Do not bother putting anything on it. Instead, grip it as low as you can get, forceps against the skin. DO NOT SQUEEZE THE TICK'S ABDOMEN. Grip as low as you can get, and pull. If you break the tick and leave the head in - don't worry. It is best to not do that, but at least you got the rest of it and the head will eventually come out. You can also burrow in again after the head, anyway. But generally, unless you're really ham-fisted, you will get the whole thing, head and all. If you put something on the tick, you might just annoy it enough to make it salivate more. And it's the saliva that does the damage. Ticks are not insects, they are arachnids, like spiders. Insect spray works best on insects. It does not work so well on arachnids unless it has been specially formulated. Arachnids have a breathing system similar to insects, PLUS a second respiratory system which gives them an advantage when it comes to coping with insecticides. When a tick attaches, it begins to pump out saliva so it can keep feeding. Its saliva contains anticoagulant, to keep the blood flowing freely. It also is neurotoxic, which is what can make animals sick, or even kill them. The rate at which an animal becomes sick depends on how big the animal is, how big the tick is, sometimes what kind of tick it is, whether it has buddies sharing the meal and HOW LONG IT HAS BEEN FEEDING. Dabbing insecticide on the tick and waiting for it to drop off, is NOT a good idea. WHile you wait, the annoyed tick is pumping out even more neurotoxin, is maybe still hanging on despite the stuff you put on it, and more time is passing. Symptoms of tick poisoning tend to begin in the back legs first as an unsteadiness, or a wobble. Then the weakness progresses to the front legs. Sometimes you can h ear it in the animals 'voice' before the paralysis is noticeable. A dog's bark can sound a bit hoarse, like it's got laryngitis. A cat's miaow can also sound a bit raspy. It's like they've had a night out on the tiles. By the time the back legs are affected, if you haven't found the tick your animal is in big trouble. Get to the vet. If you HAVE found the tick, the animal should start to improve over the next day or so. There may be further worsening over the next few hours, because there is a delay in removing the tick, and peak of neurotoxin (another reason to remove the tick ASAP). If the animal is definitely worse next day, there is either another tick or your animal is vulnerable. Get to the vet for tick antivenin. Exceptions to the usual pattern of paralysis - if the tick has embedded near a major blood vessel and/or near the neck, paralysis can be much faster and can also hit front and back at the same time. The hoarse voice is also an early symptom in tis situation. I grew up in a high-tick area. We raised sheep and often lost lambs, especially. Occasionally we'd lose an adult sheep. To ONE tick. Trying to find a tick on a sheep is not easy, with all that fleece. We often got ticks on the dogs and cats, too. We only ever lost one dog, although we had quite a few that got sick. I did see friends who lost pets to ticks. What with the sheep, and the dogs, I saw a lot of tick paralysis. The methods for dealing with ticks have changed a great deal over the years. You used to have to put some sort of solvent on them (kerosene or turpentine), wait about half an hour, then remove it with forceps. There was also a lot of fuss made about dangers of leaving the head in place, but now it's been announced (our first aid books, latest editions) that it's not the problem it was once thought. The head usually comes out as part of a scab, in a day or so. Ticks of the same breed are different sizes at different stages of their life cycle. What we call grass ticks are the hatchlings of Ixodes holocyclus (you have Ixodes species in the US, too). These are the nymphs and have only six legs. They are smaller than a pinhead. With each blood feed they drop off, moult, grow and feed again. Each time they're bigger. The last stage are big, sometimes as big as your fingernail. When they're engorged they're even bigger. These are the ones we call bush ticks, scrub ticks, cattle ticks or shellbacks, in Australia. These are the biggest killers. Smaller nymphs can kill too, or make you sick, but the shellbacks are the more dangerous ones. Burning a tick one it's off - at least it makes sure it won't get anyone else, nor lay eggs. difficult child 3 picked up a load of ticks at school when he was 8 years old. They were grass ticks, but he had about 200, mostly form the groin and up. All through his scalp, too. I had to give him a crewcut to find them all. Then a few days later, he came home with another big load of them - another hundred or so. Again, from school. Other kids were getting ticks too. The school got gardeners in to mow everything back, prune a lot of trees, remove weeds and for a while, banned the kids from playing in the bushland. A year or so later, difficult child 3 got a single tick near his eye. It was only there for about half an hour, but in that time his eye had swollen almost shut. It's safe to remove a tick - safe for the person doing the removing, too. Just make sure you have a good pair of forceps, and don't drop the thing so it can go latch on to something else. Marg [/QUOTE]
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