What are ticks?
Ticks belong to the arachnids family. Spiders also belong to the same family, therefore, like spiders, ticks have eight legs. They have flat, oval bodies that swell when they eat. They feed on the blood of all kinds of animals, from birds to deer to humans.
Some ticks spread diseases which are harmful to their hosts.
This is a video of some of the ticks I removed from my dog. I placed them in a pail of water. They are one of the most revolting animals.
How to remove ticks?
I tried to remove these revolting creatures by myself. I used a little apple cider vinegar to rub on the tick. I find that rubbing a little of the vinegar makes it easier to remove the tick.
After I have rubbed some apple cider vinegar on the tick, I used a tick remover “fork”. The tick remover has a fork end which is used to twist the tick out.
Insert the fork end between the tick and the dog’s skin. Once, in this position, slowly twist the fork around to dislodge the awful tick.
After I removed about 50 plus ticks, I thought it was “mission accomplished”. I could not have been more wrong.
The following day, a whole lot of ticks appeared on my dog’s skin. It seems like a futile effort to remove these pesky parasites!
How to get rid of ticks (a more complete approach)
I decided to bring my dog to a pet groomer. Professional help was needed.
Note:
Not all pet groomers provide tick removal services. So, it is best to call first to check if they provide such services.
Some pet groomers charges to remove tick may vary according to the extend of the tick infestation. For my poor dog, I had to pay the most expensive package because of the huge number of ticks found on my dog!
The pet groomer shaved my dog entirely. They removed any tick which they can find. They also checked for hard to reach places like in the dog’s ears, “arm” pits and between its toes.
Pet groomers bathed the dog with dog shampoo and kept a look out for those awful pests.
Things which I had to take note of after the grooming session:
- Pillows or mattress which the dog uses, may need to be thrown away. Ticks can burrow deep into the fabric and stuffing of the pillow/mattress and it is really difficult to get rid of the ticks and their eggs.
- If the dog uses crate to sleep in, this need to be throughly washed. The crates should be washed with hot water and soap. Open up the crate and check every single nook and cranny. Ticks love to hide in tight corners!
- Apply some tick medication on the dog.
As the groomers will only remove ticks they can find, there will bound to have ticks still undiscovered! This is the caveat which the groomer mentioned that 1 grooming session may not be enough.
They were right. So, after about 3 months, I noticed some ticks. The numbers of ticks, were significantly lower. I sent my dog to the groomers again for a second round of grooming.
They performed the same procedures. The groomer’s charges was much lower this round as the infestation was less serious. They removed more ticks and back home, I applied the tick repellant as instructed.
So, after about 4 months, my dog was tick free! It was an ordeal which I never ever want to go through again. Thank goodness.
And as always, love your dog!
