# A tick? On a puppy that hasn't been outdoors? In an apartment cleaned daily?



## Viantha (Aug 12, 2014)

Hi everyone, 

So I had a panic attack today, in retrospect it makes me giggle! I came home and was cuddling Sammy and noticed a "growth" (as I called it in my panic mode) in between 2 of his toes. As far as I knew, ticks were black or brown - this one was more white-ish - almost like Sammy's skin colour (hence the flat panic!) I also noticed his 1 toe was red, like it had been bleeding. 

In the car we got, and raced over to the Vet - who simply took one look at it and pulled it out! He did slightly injure his one toe/foot from running around the house like a crazy dog this morning.

Here's my confusion - everywhere I have read, says puppies/dogs get ticks from being outdoors in long grass, wood areas etc, but Sammy hasn't had the pleasure of being exposed to this as yet - he isn't fully vaccinated so he's only been indoors. Our apartment is cleaned everyday, end to end - so how did he get a tick? Any ideas or enlightenment is most welcome


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## LuvMyAngels (May 24, 2009)

Ticks can be brought in on our clothes/shoes. In 5 1/2 years my dog has had 2 ticks, both were brought in by my children. Yeah, I know, usually you worry about pets bringing in bugs to the kids...here its what the kids drag in


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## Viantha (Aug 12, 2014)

aah okay! that could make sense! Especially seeing as he loves to play with our shoes if we leave it in reach! Thank you! Any way to avoid bringing them in? I am sure that asking a lot - living in New Delhi and with the crazy amount of strays around this may be difficult!


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

You can do a "tick check" on yourself (and any other humans) before coming into the hose. Just brush off your shoes and shoes and pant legs and look around your ankles mainly for any possible ticks. Keeping a little brush or broom handy can help. Ticks aren't necessarily connected just to their being a lot of stray dogs, they can be a problem in places with lots of deer, feral cats, and other small mammals like raccoon (which often live near people) 

Ticks that are attached for long enough to feed will turn white as their stomachs expand with the blood they are feeding on. It looks really quite gross and you want to be careful removing them not to get the tick blood on you. His toe may have been red because he was licking at the tick.

Since I am guessing with a warm climate and lots of strays that fleas may also be a problem, I'd suggest finding a good quality monthly flea/tick medicine. Most can be used on puppies 7 weeks and older. Some options are combined with heartworm medicine. In the US, heartworm medicine is prescription so it has to be bought at the vet's office or with a prescription online but flea/tick meds or collars are over-the-counter and found online and in most pet stores. You don't want to use just any cheap generic flea medicine though as some can have very bad side effects. 

In the US, reputable brands include Frontline Plus (flea and tick, no HW), K9 Advantix (flea and tick, no HW), Advantage Multi (HW and flea), Revolution (HW, flea and some ticks), and Sentinel (HW and flea only) or the tick collars Preventic (tick only) or Seresto (flea and tick)


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## Viantha (Aug 12, 2014)

Thanks Shell. We will start doing a full check before we enter from now on. There are sheep, cows, squirrels and dogs roaming around freely in the streets and markets in Delhi so I guess its going to be something we have to be very careful about. We using a flea/tick powder at the moment, called Notix but I have very little faith in it to be honest. I will go online now and see if I can get Revolution for Sammy. I am surprised it managed to be on him long enough to turn white because it wasn't there last night when I brushed him!

Thank you for the suggestions, direction and advise!


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

overnight is about long enough for the tick to get enough blood to be engorged, especially where the blood vessels are close to the skin like between toes or on the ears (common places to find them are on ears, under armpits, groin and between toes)

I see that Advantix is available online in India and it covers ticks and fleas (this is what I use); Also "Advocate" which appears to be the same thing as Advantage Multi which covers Heartworm prevention and fleas. The US version is not labeled for ticks and since the Indian version has the same active ingredients, I don't know how effective it might be for ticks.


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## Viantha (Aug 12, 2014)

Thank you for all the help! I was struggling to find Revolution, so will go order the Advantix now  much appreciated!


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