Ticks

PoGee

Apologies in advance about this post if you're eating while reading this.
I have indoor/outdoor cats that often sleep on my bed. Around 16 days ago, I noticed 2 jet black marks on my skin, at the back of my knee. I couldn't work out what they were, even with my reading specs so used tweezers to pull them out. On closer inspection, they looked like little legs. I wondered if it was a tick but I couldn't see nor feel a tick head/body within my skin. As the 'legs' were in an awkward position, I have no idea how long they were there. GP gave antibiotics to be on the safe side. My question is - can a tick crawl around in your body? I'm probably imagining things but the leg doesn't feel right. Any advice would be appreciated.

GhibliFan

Can't say I've ever heard of a Tick crawling round inside a person.  They could have been really tiny ticks and looked like mostly legs.  I wouldn't recommend just pulling ticks off with normal tweezers though.  You can get plastic tick pullers from a vet or outdoor type shop and use with a twisting motion, so they release their bite.  

Otherwise, you can pull off the body and leave the head inside if you're not careful, which can get infected.  If a ticks been attached a while, it can feel a bit funny afterwards. Can be a little sore or red at the attachment site. Keep an eye on it, just in case it gets very red or infected looking.  

PoGee

Thanks GhibliFan. Do you know if the head (if it's still in the leg...probably is...) would die by itself and how long it would take to die? It was at the edge of a very old 1cm in diameter dermofibroma mark, so I didn't know if it was the mark changing colour or something else, such as tick legs. On closer inspection once pulled off, they were definitely little black legs. It's very slightly inflammed where I pulled them off so will keep an eye on it.

GhibliFan

Hi, I don't really know how long it would take to die, never thought about it. I've heard of people applying thick vaseline over the tick to suffocate it or even alcohol on a cotton wool ball. I don't know if that works, though.  

Spoonie_Turtle

The other thing you need to be aware of from tick bites is Lyme disease.  You'll have to do some reading but basically anything you might get from a tick bite needs to be treated as soon as possible - after the initial acute period it becomes virtually impossible to fully treat and people can become severely ill.

Northern_Wanderer

If the tick gets removed and is still crawling, it's alive and that's the best outcome, you got it all out. Kill it, this can be difficult, and sterilise any equipment, the bite mark and wash your hands.

If it's not crawling, most likely the head/ mouth part is lodged in your skin and the tick will be dead when it's head is separated from it's body. It cannot crawl around inside your body but if I've had a tick I certainly get freaked out by skin crawling sensations and a bit of paranoia because I find them so disgusting.

Best to use a tick card or twister tool for removal for the best chance to get them out alive and not leave parts stuck in skin. Other methods risk increased transmission of infections as the tick gets stressed and release fluids into you. Live removal also reduces the chance of transmission of Lymes disease. Please keep an eye on the bite area for signs of change - bulls eye rash or black mark, and signs of fever which could be Lymes disease.

You may wish to consider a regular treatment of the cat to prevent flea's/ ticks.

Hopefully this will be a one off for you. They can be so small and tricky to remove, especially in certain locations!!! Horrible things with devil mouthparts!

twopenny

Similar happened to me but the tick was from sitting against a tree on the moors while reading and wearing a strappy top. I should have known better frankly but hey ho.

It was in my arm pit and I didn't get it all out. I used TeaTree lotion so antiseptic and spirit of some sort to kill and disinfect. I kept an eye on it and it eventually disappeared.

But no, they don't enter your body, just nibble deep enough for a vein to drink the blood, bloat and fall off.

First opening up of the pandemic I saw someone camping on the moor and were stark naked invoking the sun or some such and my first thought was ticks - so I'm not the daftest one of the bunch.

CapricornLass

The vet recommended using vaseline when one of our cats got a tick.  It has to be quite a thick coating, and the main problem is trying to stop the cat from licking itself clean, but yes, vaseline does work.  I think the theory is that it coats the ticks body and stops it from being able to breathe, and it just suffocates and falls off.

Northern_Wanderer

CapricornLass said:

The vet recommended using vaseline when one of our cats got a tick.  It has to be quite a thick coating, and the main problem is trying to stop the cat from licking itself clean, but yes, vaseline does work.  I think the theory is that it coats the ticks body and stops it from being able to breathe, and it just suffocates and falls off.

Best to remove ticks and kill them ASAP. This reduces risk of infections like Lymes. Also, don't suppose anyone wants a pregnant tick hatching hundreds of new tics in your house.