Tick ​​bite in cats: is it dangerous? what to do

Cat ticks are creepy, spider-like, egg-shaped, blood-sucking parasites. Ticks have six to eight legs (depending on their life stage). Some types of cat ticks can be very difficult to spot, due to their size, which can range from around 1mm to 1cm in length, which can cause a tick bite to go unnoticed on a cat.

What do you need to know about a tick bite on a cat?

Ticks don’t fly or jump, but they climb or fall from grass or trees onto your cat’s fur or skin outdoors or can be brought home on our clothes or shoes. More than 800 tick species have been identified worldwide, although only a dozen are associated with significant and dangerous disease in cats.

A tick bite on a cat is not as dangerous as on a dog, but just like on a dog, ticks can transmit several infectious diseases to cats.

• Ticks bite cats to feed on their blood. After feeding, ticks are large enough to be seen and felt as a small bump on your pet’s skin.
• If your cat goes outside, veterinarians recommend running your hands over your cat’s fur and body every evening when he comes to dinner to check for small lumps or bumps.
• Ticks in cats tend to attach to areas around the cat’s head, neck, ears and feet.
• Combing also helps remove ticks not yet absorbed from the cat’s fur.

How to remove a tick on a cat?

If a tick has bitten your cat, it is important to remove it as soon as possible. The best way to remove ticks is to remove them from the cat with a special hook, which you can purchase at veterinary clinics and pharmacies. Also, if you do not have a special hook at hand for removing ticks from the cat’s skin, you can do it with thin angled tweezers. The goal is that the pulled tick does not tear off and that the mouth does not remain at the site of the bite and that the possible infection does not spread.

1. When removing a bitten tick from the skin of a cat, it is very important to grasp it as close to the animal’s skin as possible (as close as possible to the tick’s mouth) and not pinch it. Spread the cat’s fur, then grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible.
2. Very gently pull upwards with slow, steady motions. You need to be careful not to crush the tick’s body or get its head stuck inside your cat.
3. If the tick does not come off when moved, rotate it clockwise several times until the tick is released.
4. Squeezing the tick’s body can push blood back into your pet, increasing the risk of infection, be careful!

Tick-borne diseases in cats

The best-known tick-borne disease is Lyme diseasea bacterial infection that, if treatment is delayed, can lead to serious joint damage, heart and kidney complications, neurological failure or dysfunction. It is very important to note that cats 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, bartonellosis is quite common. When a tick bites a cat, bartonellosis is caused by a bacterial parasite that enters the cat’s blood along with the tick’s saliva. This parasite invades the cat’s red blood cells and promotes the development of a severe, life-threatening anemia, with symptoms such as pale gums, lethargy, loss of appetite and rapid breathing.

In addition to the above-mentioned insidious diseases that are transmitted to cats through tick bites, other rare tick-borne disorders such as ehrlichiosis and babesiosis can occur. Both of these diseases can cause fever, anemia, lethargy, loss of appetite, or weight loss.

Tick ​​protection for cats

There are many preventative measures against ticks 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.

Drops against ticks for cats

One of the most convenient and effective products is a preventive measure against fleas and ticks for cats there are drops to be applied locally on the skin of the neck. Most often, all protective drops work up to 4 weeks. It is very important to consider their composition when choosing protective drops. 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 ingested tick, protect dogs and cats from the ticks themselves and from the diseases they carry. Begemote veterinarians remind that when choosing protective drops, it is very important to remember that the active ingredients of the drops enter the animal’s bloodstream through the sebaceous glands of the skin, so you should not wash your dog and cat with shampoo 72 hours before and after instillation.

Consult your vet before choosing the best ectoparasite drops for your cat. Modern veterinary medicine even has several solutions to protect your cats not only from ticks, but also from digestive tract parasites.

Anti-tick tablets for cats

Tick ​​tablets for cats are generally effective for about 1 month, like the drops. Cat tick pills can be used to treat or prevent ectoparasites, but many cat owners face the problem of administering them to their cats.

It is important that your cat never uses flea and tick products designed for dogs, as they can be toxic and cause various neurological seizures and internal organ damage in your cat.

Why go to a veterinary clinic?

The doctor at the Begemoto Veterinary Clinic will provide specific recommendations on how to protect your cat from external and internal parasites. Veterinarians remind that if there is any suspicion or concern regarding the health of the animal due to the mentioned diseases, it is necessary to contact the veterinary clinic as soon as possible.

In the Begemoto veterinary clinic, all patients are carefully examined, all necessary tests are performed and targeted treatment is prescribed. A tick bite is not a pleasant thing for a cat, so let’s take care of pets together and remember that prevention is better and healthier than cure.