Poppy the Cockapoo!

[Ham]

I noticed her scratching at the general tick head area today so had a look - it was actually a new tick in a similar place.

Yesterday the landlord, Frank, had told me he had removed five ticks from himself (he'd been moving beehives into some grassland so got very ticky) and he had borrowed a tick tool from the neighbour, a little plastic thing with a hammer nail-lifting type shape on it.

So I took Poppy downstairs and asked to borrow that tool and see if I had more success. He held onto Poppy, I wielded the tool and MAGIC, the tick came out perfectly, it didn't hurt Poppy or worry her at all, or even pull out any of her fur.

So I shall be buying one of these tick gubbinses if I can find one in the local pet shop.

Sounds like it was an o'tom - easy on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OTOM-TICK-TWISTER-REMOVER-2-X-PACK-DOG-CAT-PEOPLE-HORSE-PET-/251140859454?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Kitchen_Steamers_Cookers_PP&hash=item3a7929663e (many other vendors)

[Auntie Helen]

It was similar to an O'Tom but a bit simpler and more plasticky.

The O'Tom looks a bit more upmarket so I'll order myself one in due course.

[Feline]

The good news is if you're using frontline or similar even though the ticks will attach before they die, they don't have chance to pass on tick borne diseases before they die so you shouldn't have any problems other than the local reaction to the inflammation

[Vince]

Can I use Frontline on Cubs?

Smithy: Akela? look, I found a tick on my private bits
Akela: No Smithy, I don't want to see it! Take care of it and take it home to your parents

[Feline]

Can I use Frontline on Cubs?

Smithy: Akela? look, I found a tick on my private bits
Akela: No Smithy, I don't want to see it! Take care of it and take it home to your parents

Lion cubs yes, human cubs it would be an off-label use. I have Frontlined my own kids (for headlice) 
You should take a pot of Vaseline with you and get them to cover the tick with it, it prevents the tick from breathing via the air holes and it will asphyxiated to death slowly.

[Vince]

You should take a pot of Vaseline with you and get them to cover the tick with it, it prevents the tick from breathing via the air holes and it will asphyxiated to death slowly.

Sorry, Feline, this is bad advice. Whilst the tick is asphyxiating, it will vomit back into the blood supply any blood already sucked together with any Lyme disease infection present.

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-ticks/tick-removal/

[Feline]

You should take a pot of Vaseline with you and get them to cover the tick with it, it prevents the tick from breathing via the air holes and it will asphyxiated to death slowly.

Sorry, Feline, this is bad advice. Whilst the tick is asphyxiating, it will vomit back into the blood supply any blood already sucked together with any Lyme disease infection present.

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-ticks/tick-removal/

No need to apologise to me, it's the parent of Smithy who is owed the apology 

Leaving it there to transmit the infection until they go home is very bad advice in my opinion. Certainly if that happened to my child you would be getting a very serious complaint. If you feel unable to deal with the tick yourself then you should surely be contacting the parents of the affected cub immediately so they can decide what best to do there and then.

Pulling a tick off leaving the head parts in is not ideal, but is definitely better than doing nothing. AH was absolutely right to do this with Poppy.

[Vince]

Naturally when this happened it wasn't as simple as my (attempted) humorous quotation and yes parents were consulted. The advice we got was that if the tick was small, then it was better to leave it be for 24 hours when the camp ended.

For a leader to do something about a tick in that location would be a seriously big no-no!

The biggest risk with a tick is doing anything that makes them vomit.

[Auntie Helen]

Poppy is feeling cool at a party

[Auntie Helen]

The groomer commented on Friday that Poppy had broken three toenails. Well today she jumped out of the car, sat down and chewed her foot for a bit and I found another nail on the ground. This seems odd - anyone know what might be going on?

[Auntie Helen]

Poppy has just been to the vets as she has Kennel Cough. Despite having the vaccination here last month and not having been in kennels - she caught it from Neck who is a dog that visits here sometimes. He was here Sunday and Monday; Lara (the daughter who lives here) said "Neck keeps being sick" but I noticed he was coughing up phlegm rather and did wonder about it. Anyway, the next day I bumped into Neck's owner and she said he had kennel cough so I've been keeping an eye on Poppy and sure enough this morning we had a small amount of coughing - not much, but I went straight to the vets (seeing as tomorrow is the weekend).

Whilst there she did a couple of proper coughs spitting up phlegm and he said yes, it is kennel cough, but very early. Despite the vaccination it's rife around here with lots of different strains so no big surprise.

She's on antibiotics now (unfortunately ones I am allergic to so I have to handle them with latex gloves) and I also got the vet to look at her claws that are breaking/being chewed off and he said not to worry about that.

Only 41 Euros for the consultation, antibiotic injection and a week of antibiotic tablets so I think that's a pretty good price. And I didn't need an appointment, it's just a drop-in surgery!