Dog owners are constantly faced with the problem of ticks and know how to deal with them. But those who have a four-legged friend for the first time may not always notice the sucking parasite in time, and a tick bite for a dog can be fatal. Therefore, those who have a puppy should know everything about ticks.
How to find a tick on a dog?
Ticks become especially active from April to July and from September to November. In extreme heat, they are less active, and in frost they are also absent. But you can pick up this parasite at any time of the year, when the thermometer rises above zero.
After each walk, you must carefully examine the dog's coat. Moreover, this must be done not once, but with some interval. If the animal has a thick dark coat, then it is difficult to find a tick in it. Brushing against the fur with a thick comb may help.
Once on a dog, a tick may not stick to it for several hours, but look for a suitable place. During the movement, you can notice it. Ticks choose places with the thinnest skin for biting. Therefore, most often they dig into the base of the skull, ears, paws, abdomen.
The mite is up to 0.5 cm in size, it has 8 legs, a small head, and a shield on its back. The color of the tick is usually brown or black. Juveniles may be light brown. Having caught a tick, it must be destroyed.
A tick that has already sucked looks like a bloated pea of gray, dirty yellow or pink.
What to do if a tick has sucked?
The scary thing is not that the tick sucks the dog's blood, but that it is the carrier of many dangerous infectious diseases and can infect the dog. But not every tick is contagious, and even an infected parasite will not necessarily reward an animal with disease. The less time he spends on the animal, the less chance of infection. Therefore, the tick must be removed immediately after it is found.
If it is possible to immediately deliver the dog to the veterinary clinic, then specialists will take care of everything.
But you yourself can pull out the parasite. The main thing is to do it calmly and without panic. No need to try to reach it with your hands, pull it. You can tear off the torso, and the head remains under the skin, and an inflammatory process occurs. You need to remove the tick with tweezers or a special device for removing ticks - a tick twister. The tick must be fixed, but not crushed and pulled out by turning clockwise or counterclockwise. The bite must be cauterized with iodine.
After removing the tick, the dog must be observed. The parasite could infect the animal with piroplasmosis, the symptoms of which may appear on the 10th day, or even later. It is advisable to measure the temperature of the dog daily during this period. If it rises above 39, you need to see the veterinarian, be sure to say that the dog was bitten by a tick.
How to protect your dog from ticks?
Unfortunately, there is no 100% protection against this parasite. But you still need to handle the animal regularly. Better if it is comprehensive protection. For example, drops on the withers once a month, spray on the coat once a week and a special collar that has a protective function for 6 months. It is desirable that these remedies be based on different active ingredients.
Remember that no matter how expensive a remedy is on a dog, it may not stop the tick. Therefore, it is mandatory to inspect your pet's coat after each walk!
