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With so much rain around, the dreaded leech has emerged as a surprising foe for the furry family! But you won’t believe where this dog had a leech stuck 😳
But you most definitely will wince when you find out.
And here's how to remove any little sucker you might find on them...
No-one ever has a leech on their pet bingo card. Yes, despite all that fur, they can still find a place to attach. It's just unfortunate where that happens to be...
Yes, this long worm-like parasite loves the rain and so instead of finding them by creeks and rivers, you might also be (un)lucky enough to have an encounter away from that waterway. And since they’re attracted to heat and vibrations, dogs and adventurous cats are prime candidates.
Despite what you might have hoped, all that fur isn’t a fool-proof leech deterrent. In fact, they can still move across the body until they find a spot without hair and a good blood supply for them to suck onto.
That’s why ears, lips, bellies and even lower legs and the area between toes can be popular areas for leeches.
But for Wellington the Spoodle, he clearly had no plans of going mainstream when a leech hopped onto him during a weekend trip to NSW’s Southern Highlands. In a move that will have all males crossing their legs, a leech crawled up Wellington’s prepuce (yes that pouch around his ‘lipstick’) and lodged there to suck blood. Ouch.
Thanks to some salt and some gentle persuasion, the leech was eventually removed by a local vet much to Wellington’s relief as that face shows.
For leeches in less sensitive areas, you can dab them with vinegar or tea tree oil to convince them to detach. Thankfully there are no serious health effects from leeches latching on. Someone really needs to tell Wellington and give him a treat. Stat!
