Many dogs are victims of different types of bites. Some bites are from spiders and some are from ticks that burrow into their skins. But whatever type of bite your dog gets, knowing how to treat it will help your dog to feel more comfortable. Below we list two types of bites that your dog can get and what you can do to treat them.
Ticks:
Perhaps you are the type of person who loves to be out and about with your dog. Because of this, it is more than likely that your dog will pick up ticks somewhere and get bitten by them. If this happens, the ticks will burrow themselves into your dog’s skin and you will have to remove them. It will take some of your time and you will have to exercise patience with your dog when removing them. The following will help you to know how to go about it.
- Wear latex gloves to avoid direct contact with your dog’s skin and the tick or ticks. Without the gloves, you could have direct contact with your dog’s skin or the tick or ticks and contract a disease
- Feel all over your dog’s body to see if there are more ticks that you will need to remove. A tick will feel like a small pea under the skin. Also feel for lumps around the ears, head and neck
- Once you have located the ticks, ask someone to occupy your dog’s attention while you remove them because he could put up some resistance
- Grab the tick with tweezers and gently pull it out. Be careful not to break the tick’s body away from the head leaving the head lodged in your dog’s body. Should this happen, your dog’s skin could become inflamed and develop an infection
- Once you have pulled out the ticks, get rid of them by burning them or squishing them into tissue and flushing them down the toilet. Do not smash them with your foot or your bare hands. The important thing is to get rid of the ticks without contracting any disease
- Rub some antiseptic ointment on the bite or bites. Once you have finished treating your dog, even though you wore gloves, make sure that you wash your hands thoroughly
Bees:
You may not know it, but dogs and bees have an uncommon curious relationship. The reason is that dogs and puppies like to snap at bees and most of the time eat them. The bees on the other hand fire back at them stinging their tongues, ears and heads.
If your dog gets stung and does not appear to have a reaction from the stings, you may not have anything to worry about. However, even though your dog may not suffer any swelling from the sting, it could be painful and he could still suffer a momentary swelling. If this should happen and your dog appears to be in pain or has a reaction, it could be that the bee left a stinger and you will need to remove it as soon as possible.
To remove the stinger using a pair of tweezers and grip the stinger gently pulling it out. Once the stinger has been removed, make a paste of baking soda and water and apply it to the affected area. Also, use an ice pack to reduce the swelling and the pain.
However, if the stinger is in your dog’s mouth, you will have to use your better judgment as to whether you want to try and remove it.