Tick Prevention Courtesy of BADA-UK
Preventing ticks from biting your pet is the best defence against tick-borne disease. Although there
are a number of tick-control products available, some may take a few days to kill any attached ticks. In addition, ticks may
still attach to treated animals. Regardless of the type of product used, any ticks (even when dead) should be removed safely
with fine-pointed tweezers or a tick-removal tool (available from BADA-UK) as soon as they are discovered.
Correct Tick Removal
How a tick is removed is extremely
important. Incorrect removal can result in:
- The tick's mouth parts being left behind
in the skin.
- Compression of the tick's abdomen.
- Puncture
of the tick's body.
- Injury and stress to the tick.
These
in turn can result in localised infection from foreign bodies and the introduction of infective organisms from the tick's
stomach contents and saliva.
Leaving behind the tick's mouth parts can result
in septic abscesses which, in severe cases, can lead to septicaemia.
Compressing the tick's
abdomen can cause its stomach contents to be squeezed back into the blood stream of its host.
Puncturing the body of the tick can spill its stomach contents, which may contain infective organisms.
Causing injury or stress to the tick can result in it regurgitating the blood meal that it has ingested. This may
contain infective organisms and result in the host contracting a serious infection/s.
Stress
to the tick can result from applying solutions such as alcohol, aftershave, oils / butter, paraffin or petroleum jelly. It
can also result from applying a freezing agent or burning the tick with a cigarette, lighter, or match head.
These methods might be successful in getting a tick to release its grip, but they can also significantly increase
the chances of disease transmission.
There are only two safe ways to remove an attached tick:
- With Fine-tipped Tweezers
- With a Tick-removal Tool
Grooming
When grooming your pet, make
sure that you search thoroughly for any attached ticks as they can be very tiny (less than 1mm), even when fully engorged.
Brush against, as well as with, the hair-growth to see any ticks that are close to the skin.
Check around and inside the ears, around the eyes, on the chin and around the muzzle,
as well as between pads and toes.
Grooming Horses & Ponies
Ticks will not only latch on to a horse's legs, as it walks through
vegetation, but they will also latch on to the head as it grazes. From there they will look for a spot that is secure and
where they are unlikely to be dislodged.
Grooming horses and ponies can be a good time to check for ticks.
Pay particular attention to areas such as under the mane, around the poll, on and inside the ears, and around the nostrils
and the muzzle. Check the legs thoroughly, particularly around the fetlocks and chestnuts. The breast, abdomen and flanks
should also be well examined, as well as the buttocks and the dock of the tail.
