We found a tick on Patch a couple of nights ago.
I'm vigilant in keeping his tick treatments up to date, especially as he has long hair and we go for our walk where there's plenty of bush and scrub for him to run through. Perfect tick hiding spots!
Thankfully it was only just attached so it made removing it fairly easy but I thought I'd give you a little tip I heard about years ago for removing ticks. I have no idea where I heard it but I've used it on Patch a couple of times and the kids and it works well every...single...time.
Just place a couple of squirts of liquid hand soap on a cotton pad, folded tissue, toilet paper, paper towel or whatever you have, and hold it over the tick for about a minute.
They HATE it and back out really quickly with their legs flapping about. All you have to do then is grab it with the tweezers and dispose of it and it's much less trauma for everyone involved (especially if you have a child who freaks out when they see tweezers).
Pretty gross I know but our boy is fine. I didn't sleep much that night as I let him sleep on his bed in my room so I could check on him and he kept coming to wake me up, wagging his tail. I think he was excited that he got to sleep in Mum's room!
As the tick wasn't far in I only had to hold the soap over it for about 30 seconds before it was fully out. One of the kids had one once that was tiny and quite embedded and I needed to have the soap on it for a little over a minute but that one backed out fully too.
It's school holidays here and we've got a few plans but are spreading things out a bit so as not to overwhelm at least one of my kids who isn't coping with certain things at the moment.
The kids and I did go on a short outing on Sunday but it ended up being a bit much so we came home and then I ended up being a bit of a wreck trying to work out how I can deal with it all. I'll get there though, I always do, and the crochet is certainly helping so I'll update you with that soon.
On another note, my Dad was taken to hospital with chest pains early this morning so please keep him in your thoughts. I'm off to do some more crochet to help keep my mind off things and am looking forward to hubby getting home tomorrow. A little help would be wonderful.
xx Susan
7 comments:
lovely catching up on your blog and your makes ;)
Such a gorrrrrgeous dog! yes those pesky ticks are nasty! especially with lyme disease too which had been a big talking point on the news a few months back. We live next to the moorlands and alot of sheep, cattle, dartmoor ponies roam free so lots of ticks about in the shrub land...always were trousers walking now even on hot days.
My cousin had one removed from her leg when she was a child...
anyway enjoy your beautiful now 'tick free' doggy hehe ;)
p.s best wishes to your father too x
That's a useful trick for getting ticks out. We have special tick removing tool for the job here in the UK it is like a tweezer but a little more gentle. It has two prongs rather like a fork which you put slide so that that prongs are either side of the tick and then you twist it around until the tick comes out. It has worked for me on many occasion. We have two sizes of the tool.
I am sorry to hear that your father is not well, I hope that he is getting the treatment he needs and is feeling well again soon.
I hope your dad is okay. I lost my sister to a heart attack a few months ago, I'm still crying about it. I'm glad you found the tick. With our black dog I don't know how we'd find one! Enjoy your crochet.. I'm doing similar. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
We have to be so vigilant with our pets as they are dependant on us for their well being. Ranger has a sensitive tummy and has to have a grain free diet, so we have to be so careful when we go for our walks that he doesn't pick up and eat people's discarded bits of food. He has a monthly all-in-one treatment on the back of his neck and quarterly worming tablets. I hope your dad is OK and will soon be out of hospital. My dad is elderly now and I do worry about him choosing to live on his own. Best, Jane x
Hi Susan, I am new to your blog and just love this information as I have two fur babies and we get lots of ticks in Florida. Thank you.
Ooh the ticks are horrible little things. Good tip for removing them thank you. Hope your dad is ok. x
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