Two things about parasites in India that most advice gets wrong.
The first is that the tick you can see is a small fraction of the problem. The second is that almost every traditional tick-removal method increases the chance your dog gets sick.
Removing a tick properly
The method:
- Fine-tipped tweezers or a tick hook. A tick hook costs very little and works better than anything else
- Grip as close to the skin as possible, at the mouthparts, not the body
- Pull steadily straight out. No twisting, no jerking, no sudden yanks
- Clean the site with antiseptic
- Note the date and the location on the body. If your dog becomes unwell in the following weeks, that date is genuinely useful clinical information
What not to do, and why it matters:
Spirit, petrol, kerosene, nail polish, Vaseline, and the burning matchstick, all widely used, all counterproductive.
They work on the theory that an irritated tick will back out on its own. What an irritated tick actually does is regurgitate into the bite wound, which is exactly the route by which pathogens are transmitted. You have taken a bite that might have been harmless and made it considerably more likely to transmit disease.
If the head stays in: it is not the emergency it feels like. Clean the area and leave it. It will work its way out like a splinter. Digging around after it does more tissue damage than the fragment does.
Why fleas keep coming back
Here is the number that explains every failed flea treatment: roughly 95% of a flea population is not on your dog.
The adults you can see are a small share. The rest exists as eggs, larvae and pupae, in bedding, in cracks between floor tiles, in soil, in the corner of the sofa, in the car. Eggs fall off the dog and develop wherever they land.
So treating only the dog kills the visible 5% and leaves the reservoir. New adults emerge, and three weeks later you conclude the product did not work.
Treating properly means all three:
- Every animal in the house, not just the affected one. A single untreated dog or cat re-seeds continuously
- The environment. Wash all bedding on the hottest cycle it will take. Vacuum thoroughly, including cracks, edges and under furniture, and dispose of the contents outside. Repeat weekly for a month
- Persistence. Pupae are resistant and can survive for months waiting for the vibration and warmth that signal a host. Expect to keep at it for two to three months, not two weeks
Ticks, tick fever, and what prevention actually does
This is the misunderstanding that costs dogs the most.
Tablets and spot-ons, the isoxazolines and their relatives, kill ticks that attach and feed. They are effective at preventing infestation.
They do not create a shield. The tick bites first, then ingests the chemical, then dies. The pathogens that cause tick fever are transmitted during that bite.
What prevention genuinely does: it stops the tick from staying and multiplying, and it dramatically reduces the total number of bites your dog takes over a season. A dog taking a handful of bites has an immune system with a fighting chance; a dog carrying dozens of ticks feeding continuously does not.
So prevention lowers risk substantially without eliminating it. That is a useful, honest thing to understand rather than a reason to skip it.
Timing it for Indian conditions
Tick activity is driven by warmth and humidity, which means it is strongly seasonal and strongly local.
The period that matters most is the run-up to and through the monsoon. Coverage timed to arrive before humidity climbs does more than the same product applied on an arbitrary monthly schedule through a dry winter.
Factors that raise your dog's exposure:
- Cattle passing through your area, a major tick reservoir
- Long grass and scrub on the walking route
- A dog that roams or free-ranges
- Other dogs, including street dogs, sharing the same spaces
- Heavy monsoon humidity
Factors that lower it: an urban flat, short walks on paved routes, no other animals.
A dog in the first category needs a different regime from one in the second, and the "monthly, year-round, forever" advice serves neither particularly well. Work out your own dog's exposure and discuss the interval with your vet on that basis.
Safety, and one thing that kills cats
Never use a canine flea product on a cat. Permethrin, common in dog spot-ons, is highly toxic to cats and kills them. This is not a caution about reduced efficacy. It is fatal.
In a household with both, keep the treated dog separated from cats until the application is completely dry, and read every label before it touches any animal.
Also:
- No human products on dogs
- Weigh your dog, these are dosed by weight and a guess in either direction is a problem
- Check for existing skin damage before applying a spot-on to broken skin
- Puppies, pregnant and nursing dogs have their own restrictions, check the label
Checking your dog
Daily during tick season, and it takes two minutes with practice.
Run your hands over the whole body and pay particular attention to where ticks prefer: inside and around the ears, under the collar, in the armpits, between the toes, around the eyes and lips, and under the tail. Ticks pick thin skin with good blood supply and shelter.
For fleas, part the fur at the base of the tail and look for flea dirt, small dark specks. Put some on damp white tissue: if it smears reddish-brown, that is digested blood, and you have fleas whether or not you have seen one.
The bottom line
Pull ticks straight out with tweezers or a hook, and never apply spirit, kerosene or a flame, those methods make transmission more likely, not less.
For fleas, treat every animal and the environment for two to three months, because the dog is the small part of the problem.
And understand what tick prevention buys you: far fewer bites, not zero risk. That is worth having, and it is not the same as a guarantee.
For the fuller argument about timing prevention around monsoon rather than by monthly habit, see tick fever prevention.