🐶 How to SAFELY remove a tick 🐾

Hi Reader,

With the warmer weather upon us, it's time to talk about a not-so-fun topic: ticks.

Over the years I've read, heard, and seen so much bad advice on how to remove a tick 😩

With that in mind, I want to shed light on the most common misconceptions about tick removal and provide you with essential knowledge on how to safely handle these pesky parasites.

Let's dive in!

Misconception #1: "I can just pull the tick off with my fingers."

One of the biggest mistakes many pet owners make is attempting to remove ticks with their bare hands. Contrary to popular belief, pulling ticks off with your bare hands is a big no-no.

Ticks are not easily dislodged and can leave their mouthparts embedded in the skin.

They will also regurgitate saliva and stomach content back to the wound if you squash them, rapidly increasing the risk of infection. Tick's saliva and guts are where all those infectious pathogens reside.

On top of that you are exposing yourself to a potential health hazard. Don't touch ticks. Not before, during, or after removal. Just don't.

Misconception #2: "Smothering the tick with petroleum jelly or nail polish will make it detach."

The idea behind smothering the tick with petroleum jelly, oil, nail polish, hand cream, or some other substance is that it will detach, and you can then easily remove it. Well, sadly it usually doesn't work that way.

It's very hard to suffocate a tick. They have breathing holes at the end of their body (weird right?). They don’t breathe very often, only a few times an hour.

So these methods often just manage to agitate the tick, causing it to regurgitate its gut contents into the wound and, again, potentially increasing the risk of infection. Even if the tick pulls out, the risk of infection is too high.

Misconception #3: "Burning the tick with a match or cigarette"

Oh my... I don't remember where I heard this one for the first time, but obviously, some people do try it 😧

In theory, heat can make a tick release its grip, but burning a tick with a match or cigarette is downright dangerous.

Firstly, it will barf up its stomach contents into the wound, putting your pet at risk for infection.

Secondly, putting a fire source near your pet's flammable fur?! Please don't.

Misconception #4: "Just twist the thing off"

Ok, this is a common approach. Grasp the tick with tweezers and twist and twist until it's off. There are even recommendations for directions.

I've seen people swear that clockwise is the only right way to do it. And I've seen people argue that only counterclockwise is safe. Wonder if they were from Australia 🤔😃

Twisting a tick might tick it off (pun intended 😛). It could get upset and barf up its stomach contents into the wound. Again, increasing the risk of infection.

And there's a high probability that you'll twist its head off, leaving the mouthpiece embedded in the wound. Which brings me to the next point:

Misconception #5: "If the head stays embedded in the skin, the risk of a tick-borne disease is much higher"

Now, it's not easy to remove a tick whole. They often leave their mouthparts embedded in the skin.

However, this is not such a catastrophe as some people believe.

All tick-borne disease pathogens are in the tick's saliva and guts. Therefore you have to be very careful and try to remove the tick without upsetting it.

I can't believe I just wrote about an upset tick, but you get what I'm trying to say (hopefully) ☺️

So the mouthpiece is just a foreign object that got stuck in the skin. The immune system of dogs (cats, humans...) can deal with an embedded tick head in a few days.

However, sometimes the wound gets infected by other pathogens and your pup might need a little help dealing with it.

To make it absolutely clear: if the tick was infected, your pet can get infected before or during the removal via the tick's saliva and gut contents. In this case, the mouthpiece itself is insignificant.

When dealing with tick-borne diseases, time and the way you remove the tick matter the most.

Removing the tick safely (without spilling its gut contents into the wound) and as soon as possible are the most important factors for lowering the risk of infection.

So if the tick wasn't infected and the mouthpiece stays in the skin, either the body deals with it, or the wound gets infected by other pathogens 🤷‍♀️

Ok, now you know how NOT to remove a tick. So how SHOULD you do it?