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Finny just got a blood sucker tick on him under his chin ( ew, it was disgusting!) and when we pulled it off, a little drop of blood dripped off...that was 4 days ago, and the day after the bite, we rubbed it with rubbing alcohol. It has now swelled up a little and he yelps and cries when ever we try to touch it! I don't what to make of it. Should we call the vet? or will it just go away? :confused:
I don't know much about ticks, but if that was my dog I would take it to the Vet right away to make sure. I thought I read where if you remove the body sometimes the head is still in there. Please have your Vet check your pup ASAP. There are people on here who know what to do better than I do, but when in doubt have it looked at.
Jackie
Take him to the vet, if you pulled it out its possible the head is still in there and getting infected. You have to be EXTREMELY carefully pulling out ticks, their heads get embedded. Let us know what you find out.
After you pulled the tick off was it complete? Did you see the head? It is possible it is still in there? Did you save the tick to show to the vet?
What kind of tick was it? Was it decent size or very small? Not to alarm you but if it was very small it could of been a deer tick. This is the kind that carries Lyme disease. Sometimes they are so small you need to use a microscope to see if you got it all. Bigger ticks are usually less dangerous but still can make the spot pretty irratated. I always use alcohol immediately after removing the tick and keep and eye on it for days. It is normal to have some irratation afterward but not pain.
Since there is pain I would take the pup to the vet since the head is probably still in there.
d. dancer is correct...there are different kinds of ticks...any time you see inflammation,oozing,pain in that area...you are probably looking at some sort of infection...please go to vet immediately...do not pass go...do not collect 200.00 the deli dog
Yes, as everyone else said, the head of the tick may still be embedded. Generally, if it is a dark brown/black color, it may be a deer tick, which often carry serious diseases. A light brown, leathery looking tick is typically a dog tick, which are not known as disease carriers.
Boo had a dog tick on her back last Novemeber. We filled a shot glass with rubbing alcohol, and held that over the tick until it drowned. Then, we were able to gently remove the head and body using tweezers. Pulling or cutting a tick off often causes the head to break off, and blood to spill. Also, as long as the head remains embedded in the dog, it can cause innflammation, plus it can continue to spread diseases throughout the dog's system.
Here is a picture of deer ticks and the American brown Dog Tick. The ruler is 1/16th of an inch per line and the ticks are sitting on a postage stamp! The four on the right are deer tick. The two smallest are the nymphs which generally amount to over 75% of all cases of lyme disease. They are so small that you may not even know it is on you. The two larger ones on the left are Dog ticks and don't spread disease
http://www.lymenet.org/pictures/image2.jpg
This gives us an idea of what we are talking about. The dog ticks are much bigger and easier to diagnose. The nymph (baby) deer ticks seem to spread the most disease but only in MAY, JUNE, and JULY. Adult deer ticks bite most in Fall.
Caution..... If you don't know what kind of tick it is, take it somewhere where they can diagnose it. I was biten by a deer tick last summer and thankfully it was caught early in the disease from the rash that developed and the antibiotic (21 days of it) cleared it completely up. I realize some people are not this lucky and end up with serious health problems.
[ October 29, 2001: Message edited by: Dixieland Dancer ]
Ahhh that picture gives me goosebumps!!!!!
I hope that Fin is okay!
Iv'e had limes disease before, and I know what deer ticks look like. It wasn't a deer tick, thier just called Blood Sucker Ticks, they had a light grey, slimey body, with little black legs! Ugh!
My dog seems to attract ticks so I've gotten quite skilled at pulling the entire tick out with tweezers. Has your dog gotten the Lymes vaccination? That won't do much for you but will make the dog safe.
Thanks Dixieland for the tick pictures. I knew the deer ticks were small but that is really tiny!