What
to do if a Tick Head is Left in the Skin of your Dog
No matter how carefully you remove
a tick it may be possible to leave part of all of the head behind-
especially when removing it from a squirming dog!
You can take the dog immediately to
a veterinarian to have the tick head removed-- which is what some
money-minded veterinarians might recommend-- but letting time take its
course may be the more prudent option for a healthy dog.
If you haven’t already, you should
clean the skin around the bite with rubbing alcohol to reduce the risk
of infection and continue to keep it clean. As it heals your dog’s body
should form a hard layer of skin around the bite. The hard lump is the
body's way of quarantining the foreign object (the tick's head). As
layers of skin die and regenerate, the lump will eventually just fall
off. This will occur after several weeks or months. If you want to
speed the healing process you can apply a bit of Vitamin E to the site
once a day.
If at any time the bite become
inflamed or appears to be infected you should consult your vet
immediately.
From a vet Q&A at:
http://www.vetinfo4dogs.com/dogpara.html:
"If a portion of the tick
is left in the skin it usually will not cause problems. Once in a while
an itchy bump develops at the site but I have not seen major infection
yet, at least not that I have recognized as being from a tick."
-Mike Richards, DVM
