Summer is coming in Australia and the warnings are that the ticks season this year will be a terrible one for dogs. Please watch your pet and keep them out of long grass when walking thim in the East coast of Australia or other regions where the deadly paralysis tick is found. Summer isn't the best of times to allow a dog free runs in the grass as there is a risk from snakes and grass seed as well. Dog are safer on short watered lawns and paved areas and pathways without long grassy overhangs.
If you need to remove a tick, here is the latest advice on how to do it:
Ticks do attach themselves to grass and wait for a host to walk past so they can drop on to them and ‘burrow in’ to attach. Hasty removal can sometimes leave their head in place. There is no chance that the head, devoid of body, will continue to burrow into your pet. It will scab over and fall off in its own good time. Secondly, there is no right or wrong way to remove a tick. Simply use a ‘tick twister’ or a pair of tweezers and lift. You can rotate instead of lifting if this makes you feel more comfortable, but it is not going to reduce your chances of leaving the head in place, nor is it going to increase or decrease the amount of toxin injected into your pet.
It is horrible, finding a tick on your pet. Indigo got one when we were in north western Australia and although it wasn't a paralysis tick and might not have affected a larger dog or one with some built up immunity it made Indigo ill, the effects taking about 10 days to start then another 10 days to wear off.
If you need to remove a tick, here is the latest advice on how to do it:
Ticks do attach themselves to grass and wait for a host to walk past so they can drop on to them and ‘burrow in’ to attach. Hasty removal can sometimes leave their head in place. There is no chance that the head, devoid of body, will continue to burrow into your pet. It will scab over and fall off in its own good time. Secondly, there is no right or wrong way to remove a tick. Simply use a ‘tick twister’ or a pair of tweezers and lift. You can rotate instead of lifting if this makes you feel more comfortable, but it is not going to reduce your chances of leaving the head in place, nor is it going to increase or decrease the amount of toxin injected into your pet.
It is horrible, finding a tick on your pet. Indigo got one when we were in north western Australia and although it wasn't a paralysis tick and might not have affected a larger dog or one with some built up immunity it made Indigo ill, the effects taking about 10 days to start then another 10 days to wear off.
RSS Feed
