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738 Posts
Good morning all -
On Tuesday night my husband asked me if I'd seen the "bump" on Jasmine's head... he said he'd noticed it on Monday but forgot to tell me about it. I had no idea what it was (looked like a human mole - the kind you see usually on the neck area but skin colored, almost like a light brown color). Well the puppies had an appointment to get their 3rd shot series today (Thursday) so I called the vet and asked if I could bring them in a day earlier.
To make a long story short... it was a tick. I've never seen a tick before much less know how to remove one correctly so I asked the vet not to take her in the back to remove it but to show me how to do it myself in case I ever had to do it again.
Here is my question (sorry if this post is a little long) the vet removed the tick using forceps and my step-mother (she is from an area in Argentina where there is lots of farm land and is used to dealing w/ ticks on her dogs b/c they have lots of deer) said you should never used forceps/tweezers b/c the tick's "pinchers" for lack of a better word, will remain inside the dog and cause an infection. She recommended using a match or a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol to suffocate the tick and make it back out of the dog. Seems to me like these methods make sense but why would the vet just yank it out then?
Any advice would be appreciated... Poor Jasmine has a bald patch on her head where fur was ripped out in the process of removing the tick. Oh and Damien has an ear infection! Not a very good 2nd trip to the vet
Rebeka
On Tuesday night my husband asked me if I'd seen the "bump" on Jasmine's head... he said he'd noticed it on Monday but forgot to tell me about it. I had no idea what it was (looked like a human mole - the kind you see usually on the neck area but skin colored, almost like a light brown color). Well the puppies had an appointment to get their 3rd shot series today (Thursday) so I called the vet and asked if I could bring them in a day earlier.
To make a long story short... it was a tick. I've never seen a tick before much less know how to remove one correctly so I asked the vet not to take her in the back to remove it but to show me how to do it myself in case I ever had to do it again.
Here is my question (sorry if this post is a little long) the vet removed the tick using forceps and my step-mother (she is from an area in Argentina where there is lots of farm land and is used to dealing w/ ticks on her dogs b/c they have lots of deer) said you should never used forceps/tweezers b/c the tick's "pinchers" for lack of a better word, will remain inside the dog and cause an infection. She recommended using a match or a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol to suffocate the tick and make it back out of the dog. Seems to me like these methods make sense but why would the vet just yank it out then?
Any advice would be appreciated... Poor Jasmine has a bald patch on her head where fur was ripped out in the process of removing the tick. Oh and Damien has an ear infection! Not a very good 2nd trip to the vet
Rebeka