Cat ticks are spider-like, egg-shaped, blood-sucking parasites. Ticks have six to eight legs (depending on their life stage). Some species of cat ticks are very difficult to spot due to their size, which can range from around 1mm to 1cm in length, so a tick bite on a cat may go unnoticed.
What should you know about tick bites on cats?
Ticks don’t fly or jump, but they climb or fall from grass or trees onto your cat’s fur or skin outdoors, or they can be brought home on our clothes or shoes. There are more than 800 species of ticks in the world, although only about a dozen are associated with significant and dangerous disease in cats.
A tick bite is not as dangerous to cats as it is to dogs, but just like dogs, ticks can transmit various infectious diseases to cats.
- Ticks bite cats to feed on their blood. After feeding, ticks are large enough to be noticed and look like a small lump on your pet’s skin.
- If your cat goes outside, veterinarians recommend running your hands over your cat’s fur and body each evening when he returns for dinner to check for small lumps or bumps.
- Ticks on cats tend to attach to areas around the cat’s head, neck, ears and paws.
- Combing also helps remove ticks that have not yet attached themselves to the cat’s fur.
How to remove a tick from a cat?
If a tick has bitten your cat, it is important to remove it as soon as possible. The best way to remove a tick is to extract it from the cat’s skin with a special hook, which you can purchase at veterinary clinics and pharmacies. If you don’t have a special hook to remove ticks from your cat’s skin, you can also use fine-tipped tweezers. The goal is to ensure that the tick does not rupture and that its mouth does not remain at the site of the bite, which could spread the infection.
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- When removing a tick from your cat’s skin, it is very important to grab it as close to the pet’s skin as possible (as close to the tick’s mouth as possible) and not crush it. Spread your cat’s fur, then grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible.
- Pull up very gently, using slow, steady motions. Be careful not to compress the tick’s body and avoid getting its head stuck inside your cat.
- If the tick does not come out when pulled, turn it clockwise several times until it loosens.
- Squeezing the tick’s body can cause blood to back into your pet, increasing the risk of infection, so be careful!
Tick-borne diseases in cats
The best-known tick-borne disease is Lyme diseasea bacterial infection that, if left untreated, can cause severe joint damage, heart and kidney complications, and neurological failure or dysfunction. It is very important to note that cats infected with Lyme disease experience stiff and/or swollen joints, lethargy, decreased appetite and fever after a tick bite.
Among the most important and potentially fatal diseases is bartonellosis, which is quite common. When a tick bites a cat, a bacterial parasite that causes bartonellosis enters the cat’s bloodstream along with the tick’s saliva. This parasite invades the cat’s red blood cells and causes severe, life-threatening anemia, symptoms of which include pale gums, lethargy, loss of appetite, rapid breathing and panting.
In addition to the above-mentioned insidious diseases, which are transmitted to cats through tick bites, other rare tick-borne diseases such as ehrlichiosis and babesiosis can also occur. Both of these diseases can cause fever, anemia, drowsiness, loss of appetite, or weight loss.
Tick protection for cats
There are numerous preventive measures against ticks available on the market. They range from over-the-counter products such as powders and collars, which have limited effectiveness, to more potent products that can only be obtained from a veterinarian.
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Drops for cats against ticks
One of the most convenient and effective products is a preventive measure against fleas and ticks for cats in the form of drops to be applied locally to the skin of the neck. Most protective drops are effective for up to 4 weeks. When choosing protective drops, it is very important to check their composition. Herbal preparations do not protect against ticks and the diseases they carry!
Only drops selected based on the weight of the animal, whose active ingredients paralyze and kill the attached tick, protect dogs and cats from ticks and the diseases they carry. Begemotas veterinarians remind us that when choosing protective drops it is very important to remember that the active ingredients contained in the drops enter the animal’s bloodstream through the sebaceous glands of the skin, therefore dogs and cats should not be washed with shampoo 72 hours before and after application.
Before choosing the most suitable drops to protect your cat from ectoparasites, consult your veterinarian. Modern veterinary medicine offers several solutions for your cats to protect them not only from ticks, but also from gastrointestinal parasites.
Tablets for cats against ticks
Tablets for cats are generally effective for about 1 month, just like drops. Cat tablets can be used to treat ectoparasites or for prevention, but many cat owners have difficulty convincing their cats to take them.
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It is important that cats are never given flea and tick protective products intended for dogs, as these can be toxic and cause various neurological seizures and damage internal organs in cats.
Why should you visit a veterinary clinic?
A veterinarian at the Begemotas Veterinary Clinic will provide specific recommendations on how to protect your cat from external and internal parasites. Veterinarians remind us that if you have any suspicions or concerns about your pet’s health related to the above-mentioned diseases, you should contact a veterinary clinic as soon as possible.
In the Begemotas veterinary clinic all patients are carefully examined, all necessary tests are performed and the appropriate treatment is prescribed. A tick bite is not a pleasant experience for a cat, so let’s take care of our pets together and remember that prevention is better and healthier than cure.
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