Submitted by: ronking(2,468) Log in to become a member of ronking's Fan Club!
Ticks love blood. They are fairly easy to spot, once they've had their dinner. An ugly, distended, blood filled body, and a face even a mother tick would probably have trouble with. Attached to my beautiful cat? The stuff of nightmares.
Ticks are heat-seekers. They seek warm-blooded animals. Like a cat. That makes it difficult to keep your cat tick free.
Ticks use their powerful pincher-like mandibles to hitch a ride. They will burrow through the cat's hair, find a sparse area, and latch on. They will let go only in two cases: they have all of your cat’s blood they want or you find the parasite and remove it.
Tick Territory
Ticks are usually found in heavily wooded areas or places where the grass is tall. Since cats like to prowl, you will have to take precautions and be very diligent about inspecting your cat for these disgusting blood suckers. Because ticks carry diseases, it is vital to prevent them from attaching themselves to your cat or to quickly find and remove them.
Prevention
Fortunately, several preventatives and treatments are now available. Ask your veterinarian for an informed opinion of the best product for your cat and your cat's environment.
Many topical ointments and medications designed to kill fleas will also have an added ingredient to help fight ticks as well. Generally these are applied once a month on the cat’s skin. Apply to your cat’s back or shoulder blade area as near the skin as possible. Most of these topical tick medications can be obtained only from a vet. Over the counter remedies are available, but are usually not as effective.
Tick collars can also help in preventing a tick from attaching itself. Other preventives are: regular baths, tick dips and powders.
In the battle to stay tick free, it is very important to note that you should never use dog products on your feline. Different formulas are often used, plus the size discrepancy means that a tick treatment that works for a dog could potentially kill a cat.
Removal Of A Tick
If you do find a tick on your cat, the best way to remove it without hurting your cat is controversial. Over the centuries, many methods have been used, many of which work poorly or not at all. Once that tick locks on for a meal of blood, they are nearly impossible to get off without some type of physical force.
You might have heard that if you apply petroleum jelly onto the tick site, that it will suffocate and drop off. Not true! Using a drop of gasoline also does not kill the tick and may be harmful to the cat’s skin.
The best method is to get a tick removal tool or use a pair of tweezers and pull off the tick. Be sure to avoid touching the tick with your bare hands, because they are carriers of multiple diseases! Don’t worry if pieces of your cat’s skin also come off with the tick. That is normal. However, if a portion of the tick remains adhered to the skin, try and use your tweezers to pull off the piece left behind.
Using the above mentioned products before your cat is exposed to tick territory, you maximize the chance that your cat will be safe. When it comes to ticks, prevention is much better than removal. Above all, you want to keep your cat tick free.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
