[Minnieski]

Yesterday my dh took the pups to the dog park where they ran and ran. It was great until we were getting ready for bed and I noticed a weird lump on Minnie's head when I went to pet her. I lifted back the fur and THERE WAS A HUGE WHITE TICK! EWEWEWEWE! We removed it with tweezers and drowned it in a cup of alcohol, but unfortunately a small piece of a pincher is still stuck in there. The more we tried to get it the worse it got because she started to swell up around the bite, and we gave up after 20 minutes because we were afraid of making it worse. Do I need to take her to a vet today? I've been in the woods my whole life and thankfully never had a tick, but now I don't know what to do. HELP!

 

[Wolfiesmom]

You could call the vet and ask. I never noticed if any of the tick got left behind when I took them off. I usually put peroxide on the area of the tick bite after I remove the tick.

 

[LisaT]

No tests will pick up anything for weeks. I don't think the vet will do anything to get the remaining piece out, though it never hurts to ask.

Large and white sounds like it was engorged and had been feeding for awhile. If you're in a hotspot for tick disease, I would consider a prophylactic dose of doxy. I would mark this on the calendar, and also kmark, say 2 months and 4 months from now, to remind yourself to evaluate whether or not you are seeing any weird and unexplained symptoms or changes.