This morning after going outside to do her business, Katya came inside
and jumped up on the chaise longue covered with a cotton throw in the master bedroom.
Valentina’s favorite place to nap is on our throw-covered sofa in the livingroom, but she has no
desire to jump up on the chaise. She lies down on the orthopedic dog bed right
next to the chaise, though, while Katya lies down on the chaise itself. Because
they are not allowed on our beds that are too high anyway, Tom or I usually sit
on the chaise and pet and talk to the pupsters in the morning. While petting
Katya, I discovered what first looked like a tiny skin tag on her shoulder. It bobbed
back and forth from its point of connection with her skin, and it appeared to
be soft, just like a skin tag would be. I showed it to Tom, and he was sure it
was a tick. The little tick had a soft little belly that was filling with
blood. Katya is definitely an outdoor
dog. She would rather go into the yard and explore, sniffing everything, and
rolling on the grass, so she is much more prone to getting a tick than
Valentina. At four years old, Valentina still loves to explore outdoors a bit, but
she also loves to stand or lie on one of the cushions on the terrace and peruse
her kingdom below. In Mexico, although we only own one house and its
surrounding lot, that “kingdom” appears to be huge as it includes an expansive view of the
lake, and all that lies below our terrace. She watches the white egrets fly
towards the lake's edge in the morning and back towards the mountain in the
evening. She can see the small fishing boats as they move along the water’s
surface all day. In the winter months she can see the white pelicans as they
cross the lake on their way to the other side, as well as the many-colored
songbirds as they perch in the trees, wearing their electric red, or neon
yellow, or pearlescent green feathered outfits. She can hear the burros braying,
the roosters crowing, dogs barking, various noises from the village below, and
the gardeners walking on their way to and from work in the morning and evening.
The usual suggestion for removing a tick includes readying the
following items:
- Gloves
- Tweezers
- Latex or rubber gloves
- Rubbing alcohol
- Antiseptic wipes
- Jar or container with
lid
Katya immediately figured out that something was awry, and began to get
fidgety. Tom sat with her on the chaise and tried to calm her down, while I
heated the ends of the tweezers on the stove. As soon as they were red hot, I
quickly walked to the bedroom and grabbed the little critter with the tweezers.
The tick backed out easily and quickly. Ticks can carry diseases that can be
transmitted to humans. My mistakes were: I didn’t wear gloves, and I didn’t
save the tick in a little jar of alcohol. I put it on a Kleenex and, following our inspection of it, quickly
flushed it down the toilet. I now understand it’s best to save the tick in
alcohol because if your pet starts demonstrating signs of an infection (lethargy,
swollen lymph glands, fever, loss of appetite, etc.) it is recommended to take
the dog to the vet as well as to show the tick to the vet. Articles recommend pulling the tick straight
back without twisting or turning the tick to avoid a part of the tick breaking
off. The articles I read did not suggest heating the end of the tweezers, but I
had heard and had used that method
before. When grasped with a hot pair of
tweezers, the tick usually will disengage from the skin just to get away from
the heat source. The tick came out very easily, and as far as I could tell, and
upon examination by Tom, the entire tick body had come out in the tweezers. He
was a little guy, but it was obvious he was no skin tag. The tweezers never
touched Katya’s skin. I rubbed the area with Neosporin to protect it from
infection, and I added a tablespoon of ionic colloidal silver to their two
water bowls, and also rubbed a colloidal silver gel on the tick puncture site
to help guard against infection. (A lot of articles recommend alcohol for
disinfecting the area.) If you are interested in buying the tweezers, Amazon
sells several. (You might do a search for jewelry-making tweezers, round end,
bead holding). Any craft store with beading supplies most likely has them, too.
There are also several tick removal tools on the market, available at pet
stores and on Amazon.
In my opinion, the goal is to remove the tick safely and painlessly.
Katya was tickless in a moment, and didn’t even notice that anything had been
done. As soon as the tick was grasped by the heated ends of the tweezer it released its grasp...and Katya was free! We will watch her for any signs of tick-born disease.
