Doughnut's unwelcome guest (O'Tom Tick Remover)

Member Name: rolletrog

Product:	O'Tom Tick Remover
Date:	27/08/08 (293 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheapish, reusable, painless

Disadvantages: None

~~*~~*~~ O'Tom Tick Remover ~~*~~*~~

On the 8th day of the 8th month of the 8th year, Doughnut (the greatest Chocolate Lab that has ever lived) acquired her first Tick, whom I shall call Derek. It was a momentous occasion for us all but Clinton's let us down as there was no "Congratulations on your First Parasite" cards to be found. Having had Labradors before and lived in the country for god knows how long, meant that we were well prepared for the unwelcome visitor that was Derek.

Prior to Derek's arrival we had been using the 'twist the bugger and hope for the best' method or, if we could be bothered, there was some kind of tick spray lurking in the depths of the garage but that was far to much effort to use. Thus, when my mother and her learned friend were discussing the joys of dogs over their monthly 'Ladies who Lunch' and they happened upon the topic of ticks, my mother's ears pricked up somewhat considerably. The clever lady announced she'd purchased a tick remover from the vets for a pound, at which point mother flung down her half of the brie and grape baguette that they were sharing (why are mothers such cheap skates) and ran out the door, arms flailing in search of the remarkable aforementioned invention. Obviously, the latter part of this story is completely fictional but I love the idea of my mother running up the high-street in her purple cagoule looking for a magical tick remover while her friend sits open-mouthed still clutching the other half of the baguette.

Anyway, in the real world, mother did a very sensible thing and went on tinternet to find the remover - turned out the vets wanted £6 (when you share a baguette a month, you begrudge paying that amount for a piece of plastic). Thus she ordered one for her two hairy beasts and one for her beloved grandchild, Doughnut. They were £3.50 each from "Pawsability" plus £1.50 postage which meant a grand saving consequently enabling mother to buy her own baguette that month.

For those of you who have lives, feel free to skim these headings:

~~*~~ Ticks aka Derek ~~*~~

Dereks are an external parasite that belong to the order acari which have 8 legs and a non-segmented body. There are approximately 800 species ranging from 1mm to 5 cm in size though this depends on whether Derek is fed or not (only the size of the abdomen changes and their legs and head remain the same ) - the little buggers can ingest 200 - 600 times their own unfed body weight.

Dereks live in grass, undergrowth and bushes and either drop or clamber onto the host which is find by heat. They then attach themselves to the poor Doughnut shaped victim by inserting the mouth-part into the thin-skinned area, then they secrete a special substance which weakens the blood-capillaries so that Derek can have his fill once they break.

~~*~~ Evicting Derek ~~*~~

Why bother evicting an animal that will merely drop off once it's full? Well, for a start, just because Derek's had enough to drink doesn't mean he dies - he'll wander round your carpet waiting til he's hungry again and then reattach himself to the next unsuspecting victim (providing he's not been eradicated by your size 9s in the process). Secondly, as with most animals, he likes to continue the species and will mate to produce thousands of the little darlings. Notably, before anyone else comments, male Dereks don't need to eat to survive, however, the female Dereks need to be engorged to lay so technically, Derekina will be the one lying in wait for her next tea.

Even though one full Derek won't deprive your creature of so much blood that it'll die, the problem arises as more and more infest your friend so before it gets to that stage, Derek needs to be evicted. Derek not only takes, he's a giver too - he carries a number of serious diseases that can be transferred to the host: most notably are babesiosis, ehrlichiosis and Lyme's Disease in your dog, haemobartonellosis in cats and loads of weirdly named diseases in people so have no qualms in eradicating Derek and his pals.

~~*~~ The O'Tom Tick Remover ~~*~~

Within the packet which is clear and merely has one of those cardboard bits stapled to the top with O'Tom Hook Tick Twister written in green on it (I'd have preferred a case or pouch to keep them in so that when you root through the drawer on discovery of a tick, you don't accidentally empty the packet and lose them down the side of the drawer) there are 2 different sized 'hooks' - one for smaller and less engorged ticks and one for the fatties that you really should have noticed attached to your dog's head before it got to that size.

For those of you who have previously used the 'twist the bugger' method, you'll know that trying to get hold of the smaller ones is virtually impossible. The reason you should twist and not merely get out the tweezers and pull with all your mite (see what I did there?) is that the head can detach from the body and remain lodged in your pet leaving a prime opportunity for infection. By using a twisting motion, the 'spikes' that would dig in if pulled, are actually folded during rotation allowing Derek to be removed whole. Also, by using tweezers, you're squeezing the body of Derek and encouraging the back-flow of his saliva into your friend thus increasing the likelihood of infection and transmission of diseases. According the O'Tom website, many chemical substances used to remove ticks actually increase back-flow of saliva too but I don't know if that's true.

The design of O'Tom Tick Twister thing is like a two-pronged fork with the head bent at a 90 degree angle. The smaller of the two twisters is designed for ticks up to 0.15mm wide and the bigger is 0.40mm with the fork length being perfect for getting into the awkward areas that Dereks love to hide in (ears and armpits are particularly tasty apparently).

~~*~~ Use It ~~*~~

1. Locate Derek - you'll probably have found him whilst stroking your little pig but in trying to get a good look to see what you've just recoiled from, lost him and in the meantime your dog is now incredibly excited by your interest and is playing silly buggers.
2. Relocate Derek.
3. Locate O'Tom Tick Twister from bottom of drawer.
4. Relocate Derek.
5. Holding the handle between finger and thumb, place the fork end on your dogs skin so that when you slide the contraption, Derek is trapped between the two prongs.
6. Turn the twister anticlockwise slowly and miracles of miracles, Derek will release his teeth.
7. Shout "Got you, you evil parasite. No more shall you suck the blood of my precious canine"
8. Try and find Derek in your mum's expensive, multi-coloured shag pile as during your excitement you forget that he's not attached to the twister - he was still alive and merely sitting on it.
9. Find him and drown him in triumph (or if you love the critters feel free to place him outside and wish him luck on his way).

Really, it's that simple. The great thing was that once Doughnut had got over the shock of everyone poking her in disgust, she went back to sleep so whilst she was snoring away dreaming of Arnie, the attractive german shepherd cross at the park that she's got her eye on, I merely performed the in-house operation and she was none-the-wiser.

This product is clever, easy to use and fairly cheap compared to many other sprays or the vet bills that could be incurred. The nice people at Otom declare that they are "unbreakable, hard-wearing and indefinitely-reusable" and should you manage to break it (or your Labrador decides to eat it) they claim they will replace it free of charge.

If you're particularly interested in researching Derek habits and want to see an informative video, then head to www.otom.com which will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about Ticks in plain simple Caroline language.
The company are based in France but should you wish to write and thank them for their invention then post your letter to:
H3D
ZA Sous la Combe
01590 LAVANCIA
FRANCE
Or call them for an informative chat on: +(33)4 74 75 86 72
Or, even better, tell them all about your Derek via email: info@otom.com.

Thanks for reading!

Caroline & Doughnut (both currently tick free).

Summary: Buy one cos it's cheaper than a vet