My poor dogs!

[Greatwhite]

So last summer, a Bot fly larvae managed to find its way into my Beagle's side.  Us city folk are not used to that sort of occurrence, and a maggot crawling out of her side was "shocking" to say the least.  She had to get the wound opened and cleaned out.

TODAY, I was petting my Lab and felt a bump on his side.  Looking at it, I had no idea what it was.  It looked like a long wart or skin tag.  Both dogs are getting older (Lab is 8 in July, Beagle will be 9)... Warts are common as dogs get older...  I looked closer at it, and saw something move where it was attached to his skin.  It looked like a little black leg.  Oh great...  I had my kiddo grab me a napkin, and I grabbed the thing and gave it a pull.  It was attached real well, but I got it off in 1 piece.

The "thing" was almost 1cm long!  Black legs, mean looking face...  Again - being a city guy, it was nothing I had ever seen before.  Google told me it was a "common tick".. The body was engorged, and very hard.  I had to smash it with a hammer to squish it.  ALL MY WEIGHT on it against the counter in the paper towel did NOTHING to it.

I always do the flea/tick meds starting in May - but I guess with the warm spring, I should have started sooner.   I'm now monitoring my dog for "bad symptoms" of lyme disease.  I think this thing was on him for 1hr tops...  I snapped a picture of it in case I have to run in to the vet in a hurry for some antibiotics.

[LittleX]

good catch and thank you for sharing.

[salvini55]

good to know they are out early! Im gonna get the heart worm / tick meds early this year

[Dakotamay]

For sure is a common tick. Our dog had one last year. I found it late at night. Googled how to remove a tick and found a procedure that a vet had posted on YouTube. It worked to remove the tick in one piece. You're very lucky that the way you pulled did in fact take the whole tick out. Usually the head will stay embedded. 

Here's what to do in case you ever see another one:

You literally have to spin the tick. Massage in a clockwise position spinning the tick and it will gradually work it's way out of the skin and let go. It usually takes about 3 minutes. doesn't leave a wound on the pet either since the tick let go naturally.  I don't know why it works. Only thing that makes sense to me is the tick becomes dizzy and disoriented. But, it works.

Good luck and hope you don't see any symptoms going forward.  We've been doing the Revolution since March this year.

[Greatwhite]

Fortunately, it wasn't completely embedded yet.  Watching it, while waiting for the paper towel to grab it with, I could see it was trying to burrow still.  There is no "hole" where it was, just a little raw spot with a bump like a mosquito bite.

I rubbed it with rubbing alcohol to clean out up as best I could...  Gonna swing by the vet tomorrow to get some flea/tick stuff to get them started now!