Advice on skin tag type lump

[Samandcharlie]

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Hi, could someone please advise me on this? I noticed it yesterday (24/5) evening. The bottom image was taken then while he was trying to sleep. His eye is perfectly fine. The top image was taken today 25/5. It is not bothering him at all. You cannot see it face on only when looking to the side. He won't let us actually take a look only when he is distracted or we sneakily get a look. He hates going to the vets but not looking like we can avoid it lol 3 yr old border collie.

 

[JoanneF]

Could it be a tick?

 

[Samandcharlie]

Could it be a tick?

Thank you for your response. Just did a Google search and some images it could quite possibly be. How would I know? He does have flea and tick treatment on subscription but not sure.

 

[JoanneF]

Really just from online images, unless it gets to the stage that it falls off by itself. If he has treatment against ticks, that will likely kill it and in theory it should fall off then. I prefer to remove them, using a tick tool, but if you aren't confident that it actually is a tick don't try that!

Don't be tempted to put vaseline or surgical alcohol on it, these can stress the tick and that causes it to regurgitate the blood it has sucked, and it's that that can introduce diseases into the bloodstream.

 

[JudyN]

It looks like a tick to me. If you can manage to see it really up close (maybe when he's sleeping, using a torch), you might be able to see a few legs right where it meets his skin. If so, it should be easy to remove with a tick twister... if of course you can distract him with treats.

Looking to the future, I would also consider working on getting him used to being 'examined' - pair a casual touch on his face with a treat, and when he's happy with that, make it more of an 'examine' (e.g. parting his fur). Then, say you want him to accept tick twisters, show him the tool and give him the treat, rinse and repeat till he gets happy when he sees the tool. Then move it to the side of his head and treat, then hold it against his face, then work on different parts of his body...

I did something similar for my very reactive stress-head dog for ear drops. I started after some rather traumatic attempts to treat an ear infection and it was surprising how soon he was happy to have ear drops (I trained him using water and olive oil). The key is never to move on until he's 100% happy with the stage you're at.