The Tick Twister makes removing ticks from the skin of pets or people easy and safe. Ticks are hard to remove once embedded in the skin and the Tick Twister completely removes the entire tick head in the safest way and leaves no parts behind.

How does Tick Twister® work?

• The tick's body is not compressed while detaching it from the skin.
• Squeezing or crushing the body of the tick may force infective body fluids through the mouthparts and into the wound site.
• The tick is rotated instead of pulled.
• When ticks bite, they insert their long, central mouth-part (called the hypostome) into the skin. The hypostome is covered with sharp, backward-facing barbs (similar to a harpoon) which help keep the tick firmly attached while feeding. The twisting motion of the Tick Twister® removes the tick while keeping the tick's mouth-parts intact. Pulling on a tick with ordinary tweezers can leave the mouth-parts embedded in the skin.

IMPORTANT: Contrary to popular belief - DO NOT apply substances such as petroleum jelly, finger nail polish, finger nail polish remover, repellents, pesticides, or a lighted match to the tick while it is attached. These materials are either ineffective, or worse, might agitate the tick and cause it to force more infective fluid into the wound site.


TICKS & DISEASE Did you know ticks can transmit organisms that may cause diseases such as Lyme disease? Here are 5 good reasons to treat your dog with a product that REPELS and kills ticks.

 

1. Your dog’s comfort and happiness

Tick-borne diseases can cause dogs to suffer. Below are some of the signs they can cause; if your dog is experiencing any of these, it’s important to call your veterinarian right away.

• Fever

• Lethargy

• Loss of appetite

• Weight loss

• Enlarged lymph nodes

• Joint pain or difficulty walking

 

2. Your dog’s ongoing health

Some of these diseases can leave dogs with lasting health problems.

• While antibiotics can help with some infections, medication can’t always get rid of the infection completely. Some dogs can become sick all over again, even years later.

• Effects of some tick-borne disease infections can be lasting; for example, canine ehrlichiosis may cause blindness.

 

3. Your dog’s life

Tick-borne diseases may sometimes kill dogs.

• Canine Lyme disease, for example, can result in potentially fatal conditions including kidney failure.

• Other tick-borne diseases like Rocky Mountain spotted fever can also be fatal in dogs.

 

4. Ticks can come from other dogs

Ticks will move from one dog to another while actively feeding.¹

• That’s why, if you have more than one dog in your home, it’s important to make sure they are all treated with a product that REPELS and kills ticks — even dogs who don’t spend much time outside.

• If your dog doesn’t spend time in the woods or other tick-infested places, you still need to think about other dogs your pet might come into contact with. Do you take your dog to the dog park? What about neighborhood strays or other loose dogs venturing into your yard?
   

5. Cost and difficulty of treating a tick-borne disease

Your dog may need weeks or even months of treatment if infected with a tick-borne disease.

• Compared with treating a serious tick-borne infection, it may be more cost effective to help prevent exposure to tick-borne diseases by treating your dog with a product that repels and kills ticks.

 

How ticks can make your dog sick — and how to keep most of them from transmitting disease-causing organisms.

 

Organisms that cause tick-borne diseases are passed to a dog while the tick is feeding on the dog’s blood. When appropriate, annual vaccination for Lyme disease is important in case an infected tick attaches to and feeds on your dog. But vaccination does not prevent ticks from attaching. And for tick-borne diseases like ehrlichiosis, there are no vaccines. That’s why it is recommended to use a pest protection product that can prevent most ticks from attaching to your dog.
 

Killing ticks that are already feeding on your dog is only part of the battle. Repellency is important because it prevents most ticks from attaching and feeding in the first place. If a tick doesn’t attach, it can’t transmit disease-causing organisms.

As a dog owner, there are some basics you should know about the risks, prevention and removal of ticks. With proper knowledge, you can help protect your dog from the threat of ticks.
Ticks are parasitic arthropods that feed on the blood of their hosts. They are attracted to warmth and motion, often seeking out mammals – including dogs. Ticks tend to hide out in tall grass or plants in wooded areas waiting for prospective hosts. Once a host is found, the tick climbs on and attaches its mouthparts into the skin, beginning the blood meal. Once locked in place, the tick will not detach until its meal is complete. It may continue to feed for several hours to days, depending on the type of tick. On dogs, ticks often attach themselves in crevices and/or areas with little to no hair – typically in and around the ears, the areas where the insides of the legs meet the body, between the toes, and within skin folds. Most species of ticks go through four life stages - eggs, larvae, nymphs, and adults. All stages beyond eggs will attach to a host for a blood meal (and must do so on order to mature). Depending on species, the life span of a tick can be several months to years, and female adults can lay hundreds to thousands of eggs at a time.
Ticks seen in North America:

• Deer tick
• Brown dog tick
• Lone star tick
• American dog tick

The Dangers of Ticks Though they are known vectors of disease, not all ticks transmit disease – in fact, many ticks do not even carry diseases. However, the threat of disease is always present where ticks are concerned, and these risks should always be taken seriously. Most tick-borne diseases will take several hours to transmit to a host, so the sooner a tick is located and removed, the lower the risk of disease. The symptoms of most tick-borne diseases include fever and lethargy, though some can also cause weakness, lameness, joint swelling and/or anemia. Signs may take days, weeks or months to appear. Some ticks can cause a temporary condition called “tick paralysis,” which is manifested by a gradual onset of difficulty walking that may develop into paralysis. These signs typically begin to resolve after tick is removed. If you notice these or any other signs of illness in your dog, contact your veterinarian as soon as possible so that proper testing and necessary treatments can begin.
Most common tick-borne diseases:

• Lyme disease
• Ehrlichiosis
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• Anaplasmosis
• Babesiosis

Get Rid of Ticks with the Tick Twister
Invented and designed by a French veterinarian in the 1990's in two sizes, one for removing very small and small ticks and one for removing medium and large ticks. They are made of injected plastic (polyoxymethylene=POM). This polymer plastic was chosen because it is recyclable, can be incinerated without pollution (no chlorine fumes during combustion) and for its solidity and resistance to ether and most solvents. Tick Twister® can be disinfected with regular disinfectants (alcohol is one example) or they can be sterilized in an autoclave at 284 degrees F (140 degrees C).
Tick Twister® is unbreakable, hard-wearing and indefinitely reusable and carries a Life Time guarantee:
Caution: Although tick removal with Tick Twister® minimizes risks, it doesn't guarantee that you (or your pet) haven't been contaminated by tick-borne micro organisms: this contamination may have occurred before the removal.