Help, my horse has got ticks!

Jinete12

Jinete12

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I've never had to deal with ticks on my horses before. Is there anything licensed to prevent them like Frontline in dogs and cats?

If not, can anyone recommend anything effective to either prevent them or kill them once they've taken hold?

Thanks in advance :)
 
Smother them in vaseline, or something else greasy, making an airtight seal, and the should drop off in a day or so, apparently toothpaste works too.
 
put your thumb & finger over the tick close to the horses skin - like tweezers lifting out a thorn - if you have fingernails, it's an advantage, then twist the tic anti clockwise & pull at the same time. That will remove the blighter. Kill them by any means possible - fire or crushing are my 2 favourite methods. Wash your hands & use some anti bacterial stuff. . . . .Yes. you are right. Frontline isn't licensed for horses. . . . .but it works !
 
Thanks for your replies. I might see if I can give Frontline a go. The trouble with just twisting them out is that they're all over his face and he's really not having any of it so I'm struggling to get a good enough grip on them to hoik them out. Poor boy has already got a big swelling where I didn't manage to get one out properly :(
 
Don't smother them in anything, just remove them,. putting vaseline, whisky, frontline on etc will cause the tick to vomit, this increases the risk of contracting lymes xx
 
Go to your Vets and get the little plastic tool that we sell for tick removal, never used one but it should work. Nasty little things arent they!
 
Thanks Izzwizz, I've got one of those, but it's not easy to get it near my horse's face let alone slotted on to the tick! He's very sensitve about them unfortunately!
 
Then I would ring your vet for advice, as you say your horse has a lump where a tick has been. Your horse may need sedating and have the vet remove them for you and check that theres no infection lurking. Better to be safe than sorry.
 
Its amazing how so many people still arent educated about ticks and tick removal. (thats not a dig by the way, it just amazes me that even my friends in their 20s/30s still have no clue)

Pinch, twist and flick.

One of the terriers had over 200 on her a couple of weeks ago... caught in one day!!!!!!!
 
Please be careful and wear gloves when you are removing ticks. You could end up being ill yourself.

You can remove them by massaging them in an anti clockwise direction. They seem to feel odd and fall off with this method and don't leave bits of them in the animal. I agree that getting a vet to sedate the horse and advise you seems like the best way forward.

Good luck
 
ThePinkPony said:
Its amazing how so many people still arent educated about ticks and tick removal. (thats not a dig by the way, it just amazes me that even my friends in their 20s/30s still have no clue)

Pinch, twist and flick.

One of the terriers had over 200 on her a couple of weeks ago... caught in one day!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

If you pinch the tick, you are likely to squeeze the stomach contents back into the horse, dog, yourself. This increases the risk of catching Lyme disease. The best way to remove them is with a O'Tom tick remover, or similar, takes all of a few seconds and the head is removed as well. Failing that, grasp the tick with a pair of fine tipped tweezers at the base and twist.
 
(sorry I pressed reply to early and can't edit as on phone)
....it contains deltmethrin which is pretty lethal stuff but it's the only thing that works. We have a real problem with ticks up here, the horses get hundreds of them as does the dog. Not seen a case of lymes disease yet, touch wood!
 
my vet sold me frontline spray for dogs. It helps a lot apply it weekly. My horse doesn't like me removing ticks manually and is not that keen on my wiping her face with frontline but it is easier than manual removal.
 
Lyme disease is not the only nasty that ticks in the UK carry. It is also not always true that the tick needs to have been in situe for it to transmit Lyme disease. I know of someone who has contracted it after having had a tick for less than 24 hours.

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/ticks.htm

The following site has information relating to tick born disease. It's worth noting that Tick born Encephalitis is also spreading across central europe, having previously been confined to Scandanavia and parts of Germany. It is only a matter of time before it makes it's way here.

So, the best way to deal with ticks is by swift manual removal. Frontline will act as a deterent, but any ticks embeded should be removed in the recommended way.

I hate hate hate them!!! Argggg
 
Can't say I'm a fan... I've found one on myself before... UURRRRGGGHHHH!!!

I agree though, swift removal is deffo the key. After the length of time the OP's horse has had them, and given he doesn't like them being pulled, I'd deffo just slather on vaseline and get rid!

And in future, keep a tube of sedalin and a tick picking hook in a box for any further infestations!
 
my horse had a tick two weeks ago, first time i'd ever seen one! i was horrified! YO dealt with it for me :D burn the tick with a cigarette (obviously it doesn't touch the horse) wait for the tick to shrink which then means its stopped taking from the blood supply, then you can get your fingernails right to the top of it by the horses skin (as if squeezing a splinter out), making sure you leave no legs behind, and pull it out as it will have let go of its hold. you have to make sure its ready to come out and has let go otherwise could risk leaving the head under the horses skin
 
This is odd, I found one on my horse last night, the first time I have found one (ever) on a horse of mine. When I first saw her, she had two of them on her, but was sharing a field with sheep - so I assume this is where they came from. We have no other livestock near us.

A horrible tick story... my sister goes on holiday to the scottish highlands, her brother-in-law, found a tick on the end of his willy ! he got his mother to remove it for him.
 
YouOnlyLiveOnce said:
my horse had a tick two weeks ago, first time i'd ever seen one! i was horrified! YO dealt with it for me :D burn the tick with a cigarette (obviously it doesn't touch the horse) wait for the tick to shrink which then means its stopped taking from the blood supply, then you can get your fingernails right to the top of it by the horses skin (as if squeezing a splinter out), making sure you leave no legs behind, and pull it out as it will have let go of its hold. you have to make sure its ready to come out and has let go otherwise could risk leaving the head under the horses skin
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That is probably the worse way possible to deal with a tick. For starters, burning it will most likely encourage it to regurgitate it's dinner, complete with any nasties, and pulling it out in that manner is most likely to leave the mouthparts embedded in the horse.
 
Yep, I had to remove one from my dog the other week, out intact in 10 seconds. I also spend a lot of time in the hills and never go without my tick removers!!
 
YouOnlyLiveOnce said:
my horse had a tick two weeks ago, first time i'd ever seen one! i was horrified! YO dealt with it for me :D burn the tick with a cigarette (obviously it doesn't touch the horse) wait for the tick to shrink which then means its stopped taking from the blood supply, then you can get your fingernails right to the top of it by the horses skin (as if squeezing a splinter out), making sure you leave no legs behind, and pull it out as it will have let go of its hold. you have to make sure its ready to come out and has let go otherwise could risk leaving the head under the horses skin
Click to expand...

Bad, bad medicine. You should not unduly harm or stress the tick as that will induce regurgitation, which can have a plethora of negative effects. After removing feel free to burn the thing to death as they are inherently vile :D
 
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