# A tick on the outside cat



## ThreeCatzGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

Ms.Cali came for dinner and I noticed that she had a tick on her head...right by her eye. I feel bad that I cant do anything about it because she is very skittish and wont come near me. 


I want to help her...but I cant.


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

Does she have any topical flea treatment on? I put Revolution on Arwen. It is very expensive, but I do not see ticks on her, even through the summer. Frontline usually works great on ticks too, or even the Pet Armor, which is supposed to be the generic form of frontline. 

I have to be sneaky to put it on Arwen. I offer her some yummy treat, different from her regular food. I used to put it on her when she was eating her food, but I stopped, I didn't want her to associate her mealtimes with something unpleasant. When I give her the snack, it's in a different place than I feed her. So while she is tagging some bits of raw steak, or something really yummy, I will squeeze the entire tube on. I only have one shot, because she will run, so I make sure I get it all. I'm not sure if your kitty will let you pet her, but if she will, what I do is start petting her, and then I sort of ruffle up the fur on the back of her neck right between her shoulder blades, so that it's not down flat, that way it can get into the fur. She HATES the stuff, but since I've been putting it on her, she doesn't seem to have any ear mites at all anymore, and I don't see fleas or ticks. I have to use it every 30 days when it's warm....which is half the year here in FL, but during the cold months, I rarely put it on, maybe just once. 

That is what I do anyway. I think if Arwen had a tick, I don't know if she'd let me get it off of her either. Poor little Cali.


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## dt8thd (Jan 7, 2013)

My cats are indoor only, so I've never had to deal with ticks on them, and I've never trapped any feral colony cats with ticks (and I've trapped a lot of 'em), even in ravines and wooded areas with the exception of 2 stray cats I trapped more than a year apart--in my own yard. :roll: So, obviously ticks are an issue in my neighbourhood, although apparently not so much everywhere else in the city.

Do the ticks in your area carry Lyme disease? If so, timely tick removal is important, as the risk of transmission of Lyme disease from an infected tick increases significantly if the tick has been attached for more than 24 hours; the risk increases further if the tick stays attached for more than 48 hours. That said, I know what it's like trying to administer medical aid to a fearful, under-socialized cat, so I see where you're coming from. Most ticks do not carry Lyme disease, and chances are that Cali will be no worse for wear, but Lyme _is_ a possibility. 

The other health-related issue I might be concerned about with a tick bite is an allergic reaction. Itching and redness at the site of the bite is normal to some degree, but some cats can react quite badly to tick bites. Galileo, my eldest, is very allergic to mites and ticks (common household mites, like Dust Mites and Storage Mites are arachnids, as are ticks--mites and ticks are in fact closely related, as they belong to the same taxon). We happen to know that Galileo is very allergic to both because he's had allergy testing done, but generally, cats that are allergic to mites are very likely to also be allergic to tick bites; which, if Callie does have allergies, might be a reason to persist in trying to remove the tick.

Beyond that, I would be concerned about leaving the tick because it could very well decide to detach itself and hop off while in your home. Ugh! :? 

I have a 'Tick Key', which is a really inexpensive little tool that fits on a keychain and is specifically designed for removing ticks quickly and properly so that no blood is regurgitated back into the bite wound while removing the tick, which increases the risk of infection. It's the best method I've found for removing ticks from unhappy cats because it's quick and far less fiddly and tedious than other methods--most of which really only work if you've got a docile housecat that's content to let you pick at him with tweezers, or a whole team of cat wranglers. A vet would also be able to remove ticks in most cases, but that may not be a practical solution for Callie, considering the stress a vet visit would likely cause her.


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