Ticks can carry Lyme disease and cause many other problems. An infested dog can suffer from skin infection or tick fever, which can lead to difficulty breathing, fatigue and swollen glands. You can often remove and prevent ticks with household tools and products, eliminating the need for harsh chemicals. Talk to your veterinarian before using any homemade solution on your pet.
Things You'll Need
- Tweezers
- Cotton ball
- Liquid soap
- Rubbing alcohol
- Plastic container
Instructions
Use tweezers to grasp the tick's head as close to your dog's skin as you can. You may need someone to hold your dog down while you do this. Pull the tweezers straight up slowly and gently until the tick's head comes off. Do not twist the tweezers, as this may leave the tick's head on your dog's body. Squeezing too hard can crush the tick's body and spread disease.
Squirt liquid soap onto a cotton ball for an alternative way to remove ticks. Gently rub the soapy cotton ball over the tick for about 15 seconds. The tick will usually release the grip on your dog's skin and come out with the cotton ball.
Swab your dog's skin with rubbing alcohol to disinfect the area where the tick was attached.
Drown the tick in rubbing alcohol or flush it down the toilet to dispose of it. If you find several ticks on your dog, you may want to keep one or two in a small, sealed plastic container in case your dog displays signs of illness. The veterinarian can often check the dead ticks to see if they carried any diseases.