With spring in the air, your furry friend will be keen to venture outdoors and enjoy some fun in the sun. But as the weather warms up, that’s when ticks are at their most active. These nasty parasites are often lurking in grassy areas and woodland, waiting to feed on passing dogs, cats and people. Cats are less likely to get ticks than dogs, but regular tick treatment is recommended for both pets to keep them at bay. Effective tick prevention for pets includes using topical treatments, oral tablets, or collars, and regularly checking your pet for ticks.
Always consult your vet when choosing the best and safest product for your pet.
It’s also important to know how to recognise these unpleasant insects, and if you do spot one on your dog or cat, it’s crucial that you remove them in the right way. We’ll explain how in this article.
Ticks can stay on dogs and cats for several days to a couple of weeks, depending on species and life stage, so it’s important to remove a tick as soon as you find it; the longer it feeds, the more likely it could be that your dog or cat becomes infected with a tick-borne disease. But it’s equally important that you remove them correctly.
How Not to Remove a Tick
Before we explain the correct method for removing a tick, it’s important to highlight some of the dangerous techniques you might be tempted to try, and why you shouldn’t.
Never try to remove a tick by:
- Pulling or scraping the tick off with just your hands
- Using blunt tweezers
- Twisting the tick
- Suffocating the tick using Vaseline, nail polish or similar
- Burning the tick
Using the above techniques is more likely to result in the tick’s mouth parts being left behind in your pet’s skin, which can result in infection. Lots of people opt for tweezers when attempting to remove a tick, but tweezers can cause you to compress the body of the tick, risking a back-flow of the tick’s saliva and gut contents. This can increase the chance of disease transmission.
Puncturing or irritating the body of a tick using any of the other methods above may also result in this regurgitation back into your pet’s blood stream. Or it could get onto your hands putting you at risk of infection too.
If you do use tweezers, ensure they are fine-pointed tweezers, not blunt. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible, avoiding the body, and pull steadily upwards – never jerk or twist.
It is also possible to use a fine thread like cotton or dental floss if necessary. This technique involves wrapping a loop of thread around the tick’s mouthparts as close to the skin as possible and pulling upwards and outwards. Again, make sure you do not twist.
How to Remove a Tick
While it is possible to use fine-point tweezers or fine thread to remove a tick, the safest and most effective method is to use a specialised tick remover tool.
O'Tom Tick Twister - Tick Removal Tool
This inexpensive hook-shaped device allows you to quickly and painlessly remove the tick in one piece, without compressing it. Because it exerts no pressure on the tick, it can be safely twisted. This is the same kind of tool that your vet would use if you took your cat or dog to them to get a tick removed. It’s also reusable and easily transportable.
How to Use a Tick Remover Tool
- A pack of O’Tom Tick Twisters contains two sizes – choose the most suitable size for the tick you’re trying to remove.
- Carefully push the opening of the tick remover tool into the tick from the side until it is securely cradled.
- Lift the tool gently and gradually while you turn it around two to three times until the tick detaches itself (Use smooth movements and don’t be too forceful as this makes it more likely that parts of the tick will remain embedded in the skin).
- Place the tick in a tissue and squash it, making sure no fluid touches your hands.
- Throw it away in a bin.
- Use a pet-friendly antiseptic wipe over the area that the tick was attached to to reduce the chances of infection, and wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.
Another method for removing ticks is to use a tick freezing spray. Beaphar Tick Away is an insecticide-free spray that freezes ticks in a matter of seconds, with the majority of ticks falling off automatically. It can be used on cats, dogs and people.
This inexpensive hook-shaped device allows you to quickly and painlessly remove the tick in one piece, without compressing it. Because it exerts no pressure on the tick, it can be safely twisted. This is the same kind of tool that your vet would use if you took your cat or dog to them to get a tick removed. It’s also reusable and easily transportable.
What if the Tick Isn’t Fully Removed?
Despite your best efforts, sometimes parts of the tick may remain embedded in the skin after you have tried to remove it. This is more likely if you haven’t used a tick remover tool.
If any part of the tick is left behind, there is a risk of infection and other complications, so it’s best to make an appointment to see your vet to prevent any problems arising.
Ticks and Lyme Disease
Lyme Disease is caused by a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi and it’s an infection that can affect dogs, humans and, less commonly, our cats too. Ticks can become carriers of this disease after feeding on the blood of infected wildlife, which act as a reservoir for this infection. Worryingly, the most common type of tick found on our pets (the sheep tick, Ixodes ricinus) is the main carrier of this disease. Humans should be wary too, as this tick can also attach to and infect us – so watch out!
Early symptoms of Lyme disease in people mimic the flu, and may include a high temperature, fatigue and headaches. Often people will also develop a red ‘bull’s-eye’ rash around the tick bite. This circular or oval-shaped rash usually appears within 1-4 weeks of being bitten by an infected tick, but it can take up to 4 months to appear.
In dogs however, Lyme disease doesn’t present itself in the same way and the early signs can be less easy to spot. Dog Lyme disease symptoms to look for include fatigue, loss of appetite, fever, swollen joints and sometimes lameness.
Lyme disease in cats is far less common than it is in dogs. Symptoms can include the same ones that dogs exhibit such as fever, lethargy and swollen joints, but they are usually much milder in cats and may not be displayed at all.
If your pet starts showing any symptoms similar to those above, get them checked over by your vet as soon as you can. You may not have noticed a tick on your pet, but this could be because it’s got all it needed from your pet and dropped off, so it’s still important to get them checked out if you’re in any doubt.
Wrapping Up
Discovering a tick on your cat or dog is never pleasant, and they can cause all sorts of problems, which is why it’s important to remove ticks as quickly as you can. Always use a tick remover tool if possible, which can be safely twisted as it exerts no pressure on the tick’s body.
If you don’t have the tools needed, it’s better to go to your vet than risk doing it wrong. Keep a close eye on your cat or dog in the days after you noticed the tick.
If your pet shows signs of being unwell, speak to your vet. Ticks can carry diseases like Lyme Disease and Babesiosis, which can be transmitted when a tick latches on and takes a meal.
To learn more about keeping your pet safe from all common parasites, read our Ultimate Guide to Fleas, Ticks & Worms for Pet Owners.
