If you’ve ever found a tick on your pet, you may have wondered what the best way to remove it is. Though unpleasant, removing a tick is not difficult to do. Ticks are small parasitic creatures that use harpoon-like barbs on their mouths to attach to and feed on a host. Ticks can range from being very small to the size of a human fingertip. They can be found in various environments like woods, beach grass, lawns, forests, and cities.

Excessive licking, biting, or head shaking may indicate a tick is on your pet. To detect ticks on your pets, search throughout the fur for bumps. Make sure to check areas such as under the tail, near the ears or head, and between toes.

Ticks can spread diseases to pets and humans, so it’s important to remove a tick as soon as possible. Tick-borne diseases can cause severe and long-lasting illnesses, sometimes resulting in fatalities. It is possible to contract multiple diseases from a single tick bite. Some common tick-borne illnesses include Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichiosis. Although less common, Powassan virus, babesiosis, and Heartland virus disease can also occur.

To remove a tick from your pet, it is important to use fine-point tweezers instead of household tweezers with large, blunt tips. Fine-point tweezers can remove the tick without tearing it, reducing the risk of spreading infections into the bite area. Gently part your pet’s fur and grip the tick as close to the skin as you can. Slowly and steadily pull straight upward, being careful to prevent the tick’s mouth parts from breaking off and remaining in the skin.

It’s not recommended to remove a tick using your fingers because it’s not effective and may push more infectious material into the skin. Instead, use tweezers or another tool to remove the tick and be sure to wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. Additionally, clean the bite site with soap and water and finally with rubbing alcohol. Disinfect the tweezers too. Keep an eye on the bite area for a few weeks. If you see a bulls-eye like rash or flu-like symptoms, take your pet to a full scale veterinary office.

Whether you have an indoor pet or a pet that enjoys the outdoors, we recommend that you protect them year-round with flea and tick medication. Bring your pet to VOTS for recommendations. Some over-the-counter options may be ineffective and a waste of money, or even harmful.

Bravecto is an excellent way to guard your pet from both fleas and ticks. Bravecto offers protection for 12 weeks- nearly 3 times longer than competitor brands. This long lasting protection means less doses are required, and less doses means pet owners are more likely to stick to the regimen and avoid accidental lapses of coverage!

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