A few days ago (less than a week), I found a tick on the top of little Asmar's head. I pulled it off straight away with a pair of tweezers because I didn't have a proper tick tool. While removing it, I accidentally burst the tick. I then cleaned the area with some antiseptic, but I've noticed today that there's a lump where he was bitten. It doesn't seem to be oozing and there's a bit of a scab. He's eating and playing as normal, and he hasn't had any diarrhoea, though he did have an 'accident' in my bedroom yesterday. I'm not sure if that's related or if the little guy was just trying to get back at me for being away for the weekend. I'm going to call the vet tomorrow as I'm quite worried. Has anyone else dealt with this before? Thanks in advance!
Translated from French
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Hi there, so for animals—or at least for dogs, maybe cats too, I’m not sure—the disease caused by ticks is called piroplasmosis (sorry if I’ve spelt that wrong!).
My dog spends a lot of time outdoors and gets loads of ticks... we use the treatment we get from the vet, but it doesn’t always work. When she was younger, she caught it twice. The symptoms (which were really easy to spot straight away) were that she seemed very weak and had pretty much stopped eating... we took her straight to the vet and they managed to treat her :) Now, as soon as we’re in any doubt, we take her in. So, if you’re worried, it’s definitely best to pop to the vet ;)
Mind you, my aunt's dog is also outside all the time and has never caught it... so anyway, sorry for the little personal ramble! ^^
Yeah, Angeline and Sevv, better safe than sorry, so I think I’ll see the vet anyway. I’d rather panic over nothing (as per usual! 😁) than let it drag on.
Thanks so much for the advice, I’ll keep you all posted as soon as I’ve seen the vet tomorrow.
My previous dog had a lump like that too, except it got worse; she scratched at it and it actually made a hole with pus and blood, so we had to get her stitched up because it was a right mess. Mind you, your cat might not do that, but our little Nala did because the "healing" of the lump was itchy, as it always is, so she was scratching away at night... Anyway, I don't know much more about ticks than that, so there we go :) It might well be nothing though! :)
Yes @Sevv, I’ve read it. He hasn’t got any of those symptoms, apart from the lump which hasn’t gone down yet; the article did reassure me. At the time, I thought I’d left the tick's head in Asmar's skin, but after checking what they look like online, I think I got the whole thing out. I’m still a bit unsure, though! I couldn’t really tell if the head was left behind or not.
Yes, you really should get a proper tick tool, because quite often with standard tweezers the head stays in and can cause a pretty nasty infection... So, don't worry for now, but definitely pop into the vet tomorrow to check if it’s just a minor reaction or something else... I hope it’s nothing serious, anyway.
I didn't have anything else to hand and it's the first time I've had to deal with ticks, so I just had to make do with what I could find. Thanks, I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow as I'm really worried about this lump 😐
