Every once in a while I feel the need to offer you a veterinary topic free of all the pesky opinions that sometimes get in the way of what most of us share: a deep and abiding respect for the health of our pets. To that point, today's summertime topic dips into those depths as if to test its mettle.
We're talking ticks.
Nothing is more gross and disgusting to some of you than the need to remove fully engorged ticks from their nesting place amid your pet's fur. Removing little green gooseberries plumped up with pet blood doesn't exactly make my top-10 list of favorite pet-related activities, either. But these nasties have got to be outed, don't they?
Problem is, some of you worry that removing the tick will somehow cause more poblems than leaving it in. Instead of the DIY approach, then, you opt for the expensive, "gotta let the vet do it" version. And while I'll never turn you down should you feel the need to pay for my expert tick removal services, it's really not necessary – especially when you consider that removal with alacrity is the best way to handle any tick. No time like the present, right?
That's why I'm offering you this brief primer on tick removal so that you, too, can dispatch them with the skill and aplomb of any veterinary surgeon.
•The bug: A tick is technically an eight-legged arachnid and therefore more like a spider than an insect. It sucks blood after burying its mouthparts into the mammalian skin, at which point it can transmit diseases such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Q fever. Hence the need for ASAP removal.
•Tools: Do not go wild with strange, pre-extraction ablutions of the area or laying out an entire surgical kit as you prep for the deed (i.e., no alcohol, matches, hydrogen peroxide, lighter fluid, etc.). All you need is a simple set of tweezers or, if you're in the woods, a ready set of fingernails. (As I mentioned, quick removal is preferable to perfection in the removal process.)
•Grasp: Just pinch the creature just where its head enters the skin. That is, use your tweezer tips to grasp it just at the level of the skin. And pull.
•Never fear: Worried you left a bit of tick behind? Don't fret. Remember, it's always best to get the tick off, even at the risk of leaving some dreaded mouthparts behind. That's because a dead tick can't transmit disease. That's also why I use...
•Tick prevention products: Using one of the veterinary-only tick preventives makes ticks unlikely to transmit tick-borne diseases, even after they've attached to the skin and appear to have taken in a blood meal. It's also the case that tick removal tends to be facilitated by tick prevention products. The more sluggish, poisoned ticks seem sometimes to just slough off without much need for sophisticated extraction beyond the use of a fingernail.
•But what if ... OK, so you're still stuck on the whole "I've-left-some-tick-bits-behind" thing. And, yes, it's true that failure to fully remove tick parts can lead to a superficial skin infection. That's why I re-check the area later to make sure it doesn't look red or swollen.
If that's the case, or if I otherwise suspect some bits remain embedded, I will apply an Epsom salt soak to the area. That is, I employ a clean washcloth soaked in a warm Epsom salt solution (read the directions on the bag or box for exact proportions of salt to water). I'll then apply it to the area for five minutes a couple of times a day until it looks happy and healthy.
This approach allows any possible tick parts to come to the surface while relieving swelling and infection through the not-so-magical powers of Epsom salts and water. Only rarely have I resorted to a course of systemic antibiotics to treat skin infections secondary to tick bites.
So you know, some pets will always get red bumps at the site of a tick bite. This is not to say tick bites necessarily remain. More often, it means that an inflammatory (allergic) reaction has taken place. In fact, it happens to me every single time I get a tick bite (occupational hazard).
OK, so that's it. No longer do you need to fear tick removal. You, too, can get it done. But remember, if your pets are getting ticks on a regular basis, make sure you ask your veterinarian about the use of a tick prevention product, and do not neglect to test for locally endemic tick-borne diseases at least once a year.
By Patty Khuly,
Special for USA TODAY