tick

thismorning i woke up and saw a thing on my cats ear i am 90% sure its a tick can anyone tell me how to remove these pesky creatures or does it need a vet

One of my new lil' kittens had a tick. I read my cat care manual and it said to take it out with tweezers. It suggested something to shrink the tick if needed, but I can't remember what it was- I think rubbing alcohol. I just took the tweezers, grabed it as close as possible to where it was attached, and pulled. It was stuck in pretty good but came out completely. Make sure you dispose of it due to risk of disease to you - lyme disease is pretty common around here. I checked the location today, about a week later and it looks like it was healed. I did mention to the vet that it was there when I brought them in. She didn't seem overly concerned.

dont put anything on it, just pull it out with tweezers... if you put anything like rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover etc. on the tick it could cause the tick to regurgitate into the wound, possibly spreading disease.
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20020815/643.html

Please read this first

http://www.lisashea.com/petinfo/articles/cat_tick.html

You have to grab it with tweezers by the head, not the body or you will not remove the tick completely and will lead to infection. Take the tick with you to the vet to get treated after.

should i take it to the vet for any shots? after ive removed them.

If your cat is up to date with Frontline or similar which kills fleas and ticks, then you don't need to worry as the tick would be dead within 24 hours, before it can regurgitate disease into your kitty. But they are difficult to get off, alive or dead. Dushka got one once on her neck and I got it out with ordinary tweezers. You can get special tick tweezers from Petsmart, and I got some next time I was in civilisation - they look much easier to use.

Originally Posted by catwoman45

should i take it to the vet for any shots? after ive removed them.

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Not if the shots are up to date, just a flea and tick treatment, and to make sure that you got the whole tick out. Be sure to watch for signs of infection, just in case. Otherwise everything will be ok!

its all good now, i am keeping an eye on her, but she seems ok.