How to take a tick off your pet

This article explains how to take a tick off your pet. It takes approximately 48 hours for an attached tick to transmit an infection to its host so it’s important to promptly and properly remove these parasites.

If you find a tick on your pet, don’t panic! Follow these quick and easy steps to safely remove the pest. If you don’t feel comfortable to proceed, take an appointment with our technician to have the tick removed.

What you need:

• Pair of gloves
• Commercial tick remover (available at our clinic) (fig.1)
• Antiseptic
• Isopropyl alcohol

Step-by-step:

• Wear gloves while removing the tick to avoid contact with you skin.
• Gently press the remover against your pet’s skin near the tick.
• Slide the notch of the remover under the tick (fig.2)

• Continue sliding the remover until the tick is caught in the small end of the notch and is pull free (the tick will remain in the bowl of the remover).
• Drop the tick into a small container that contains isopropyl alcohol which will quickly kill the tick and mark the date on the container. The tick may need to be identify or test in the future.
• If you removed the tick from your dog, contact us 6 weeks after tick exposure, to take an appointment with a technician to have your dog screen for exposure to parasites transmitted by ticks such as the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi that can cause the Lyme disease. The test used, SNAP 4DX from Idexx Laboratories, can detect 3 infections by tick in one blood sample in less than 10 minutes.
• Clean your pet’s skin with an antiseptic and make sure to clean your tick remover with isopropyl alcohol. Wash your hands, too!
• Keep an eye on the area where the tick was. If the skin remains irritated or seems infected, call us for an appointment with one of our veterinarian.