Tick problem – 8wk old German Shepherd?
May.24, 2011 in
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I was out romping with my pup this weekend and when I brought her back in I checked her over for ticks and found one lodged and very engorged on her bottom. I removed the tick, but now her bottom is slightly swollen and she complains when she has to defecate.
Is there anything I can do to help the swelling so that it is not as painful for her?
She is only 8 weeks and not old enough for flea & tick treatments yet. The breeder we got her from as well as the vet I have used for ages have advised against it until she is a little bit older. She is current on all her shots and goes for her 9 weeks in a week.
Thanks for the advice and help – as well as the concern!
May 24th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
When growing up on a farm, we often would use “Vicks” or a vapor type of rub for something like this. It might be an old remedy and seem to be a bit outdated. However, it worked every time for us.
i got a dog
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May 25th, 2011 at 4:34 am
take her to the vet please! we’ve just had a microbiology class, about what microbas ticks carry, and you don’t want your doggy to die! Get her checked out!
i got a dog
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May 25th, 2011 at 10:33 am
klimb has it right. The remedy might be old but as they say an oldie but a goodie. The menthol reduces swelling and eases pain. Try to get some frontlineplus at your vet or online at petmeds.com. This will alleviate the problem in the future. Good luck
i got a dog
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May 25th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
I don’t think I would put something like Vicks on it, old timers tell you to put vasaline on the TICk but not the wound. Vicks would clog up the wound and not let it heal! I would put ice on it as long as you can hold her still to put it there (or just a really cold rag would help too) Hopefully she was vacinated for limes disease and if she isn’t, you need to ASAP! A tick bite with a red ring around it COULD be a sign of lime’s disease which is uncurable but treatable.
20+ years experience with dogs and other animals. Plus I live on a farm.
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May 25th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
If you want to just treat the pain then by all means try Vicks. HOWEVER ticks are known to carry limes and many other diseases, and it would be BEST if you took your dog in to have some blood work done. At that point the vet will be able to treat the sore as well.
20+ years experience with dogs and other animals. Plus I live on a farm.
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May 26th, 2011 at 3:36 am
She is not too young for Frontline or Frontline Plus. I have also used Revolution products on 8 week olds…
If the site where the tic was is swollen then when you took the tic off of her the head of the tic probably remained at the bite site. If this is the case then the head of the tic needs to be removed so the irritation will stop. The tics head is a foreign body to the dog and this is why there is much swelling and redness.
And any product, such as Vicks or Vaseline, will work to get the tic to “back out” because it suffocates the tic. These products will not hurt you dog. I regularly feed Vaseline to my cats as a hairball remedy….they love the stuff and they have their very own bottle of Vaseline that they lick when they need it for hairballs…
You can also use flea and tic powder on the tic to get it to back out on its own so the head will not be ripped off by you pulling the tics off of your dog.
Take her to the vet and get her checked, ASAP!
20+ years experience with dogs and other animals. Plus I live on a farm.
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May 26th, 2011 at 10:33 am
You did not say where you live or what kind of tick you found on her. There is usually not a painful swelling in the area of the bite unless you did not get all of it out. They may leave a little bump but that is not usually painful and it goes away in about a few weeks or less. If she is in pain get her to the vet. It may be indicative of a problem.
As far as flea and tick control for an 8 week old pup, I don’t know what your vet and breeder are talking about. Many flea and tick controls come in doses for pups.
Revolution makes a dose just for kittens and pups under 5 lbs(Your pup may be too big).
Frontline plus has 1 to 22 lbs
Advantix for dogs under 9 lbs and so on…
You can use any of these and they are safe. I have used them on hundreds of pups even smaller then your 8 week old shepherd. Just don’t use anything you get at the grocery or discount stores(IE:Hartz, Sargent’s, etc THEY CAN BE DANGEROUS)
Check out the following links:
http://www.canadavet.com/Flea_Ticks.html
http://www.1800petmeds.com/all.asp?LV=10&P=L&AFFID=GG&ID=18960699
http://www.petshed.com/products/category6.asp?campaigncode=google&gclid=CLu48L7b14QCFRf5Pgod7XLaWQ
20+ years experience with dogs and other animals. Plus I live on a farm.
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