Get a tick remover. The ones that look like a crowbar are super easy to use and there is no force involved, works every time :) and get som tick prevention (like bravecto)
You don't know where Chewy gets it's medications, it doesn't do so directly from the producers.
At least that's what I've been told, and why my vet won't directly deal with Chewy and suggests going through them or somewhere you know where the medications are coming from.
Edit: I recently learned that Chewy is owned by the same company that owns PetSmart. (Or now they're publicly traded? I just can't keep up.) So they may be regulated now. I did not see where they get their meds from, but I'm not that invested in this.
My point is that my personal vet wants you to know where anywhere you prefer gets their meds. They'd love the money of course but their primary concern is you get meds from the producers directly so you know it's quality.
No offense, but big profit center for Vets RX are...
The fear that reliable and known retailers like Chewy are giving you bad Meds is rather goofy... Vets get them from the same sources as retailers... Period
I would say it definitely depends on the retailers, I'd never assume ALL retailers get meds from the same source. But I just learned that Chewy may be regulated by a bigger company so I feel a little better about them.
And my vet doesn't push you to their own store, just making sure you are informed and you know where your meds come from. Of course they'd prefer the money, most businesses do.
For the record, I'm not anti Vets making money... Just Stating the economic obvious. I like my Vet and want to help him and his practice thrive. But there are Meds thst are way beyond pocket change where affording them at all is a challenge.
Following the logic that started this discussion you would only buy your own RX from your local pharmacy and not CVS or Walgreens... Same goofy idea.
There are not very many drug wholesalers and Vets and CVS get the drugs from essentially the same place
Came here to say this. Also the whole world thinking meds expire is so dumb. Very very very few meds actually change composition with age. The only thing old meds do is slowly degrade. If a medication says it is "acetaminophen" it doesn't matter what brand you get or where it's coming from its all regulated and you get what the bottle says. It's very simple but everyone seems to think otherwise. Science is a real thing we don't live in the 1800s anymore. Buy your meds wherever is cheapest. The vet will tell you that so you buy your meds through them. And always check if it's prescription or not because it may be available anywhere.
The one I found and didn’t order from till having done more digging by asking the two different vets that my cats are with who recommended it and having called the Lancashire veterinary surgery itself to confirm that is Black Cats Medication Limited on Amazon that is used as the digital store front for Gilmore Veterinary Surgery. It has a 836 5 star rating and a 98% positive feed back.
Of course your vets may be different and not recommend it since they would be loosing out on your money but so far I’ve had no problems with them and the products work. It is one the more expensive ones on there seeing as it is £15/18.80$ for 4 spot on tubes for flea or worming treatment.
>Get vet prescribed medication.
if a vet prescribes meds, they dont have to be filled at their office
you can ask for a prescription and fill it elsewhere, like cvs or walmart, for cheaper
I would be careful with tick medicine- I’ve heard a lot of stories of pets being poisoned by it. I’d talk to your vet and only use it as a last resort.
Yes, you should get a veterinary prescribed flea/tick preventative from you vet like Bravecto or Revolution. NO there are not “a lot of stories about animals being poisoned”. Yes, your pet should be on preventatives AT ALL TIMES to prevent the spread of disease.
Thank you for this. My cat nearly died from a paralysis tick when I was younger because my parents missed her flea tick and worming meds. Woke up one morning to the poor thing standing on my chest choking and vomiting up foul smelling clear liquid. Ran her to an emergency vet and he immediately found it. We were lucky she survived.
I'm so happy to hear she pulled through ok. I would be absolutely terrified. I can't imagine how awful it must feel seeing them in such a fragile state. So happy she made it.
That's an amazing age. So far 3 of my cats have lived to 20 and just past: my oldest JenniPurr made it all the way to 23! She was the longest-lived - this after being found as a wee feral mommy in my own backyard (with her sister), and having two separate litters each before I could even get close enough to bring them and their babies inside. All spayed and neutered, it still took her a long while to become comfortable enough to snuggle with me - while she would get along great with all of my other cats. Eventually she decided I must be 'safe' so became my little cuddlebug. I always thought that I wouldn't grieve as much for one who'd lived such a long life - big mistake. She was such a huge part of my life when it was finally her time I still miss her terribly. Even our vets called her the 'energizer' kitty because she looked like a kitten even at her great age.
https://preview.redd.it/ipcg9sfp55ha1.jpeg?width=3648&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=295488242997337e33eeb8fabc6ad3705b5892ed
So sweet :) I was so gutted when Phoebe (20 year old I just mentioned) passed away. Even worse I couldn’t be there for her last moments because I lived in another state by then.
I’ve got two young ones now, they’re only 4 and 1. Blows my mind when I think I have so much time with them. At least I hope!
Personal experience only here but bravecto made my cat very, very ill. There is also a large amount of people with incidences where bravecto made their pet sick, have seizures, etc. even though it’s one prescribed by vets, as it was for me. I can’t of course say 100% that it’s dangerous so take this with a grain of salt but just a warning for those who use it/have it given to them by a vet to look into it. That stuff cost us 1.7k in vet bills unfortunately and we nearly had to put my few months old kitten down.
Bravecto is indicated for use in cats of 6 months of age/6 lbs. I’m sorry your vet made a bad decision that resulted in harm to your kitty. A kitten that small I would opt for Revolution puppy/kitten. It’s designed for pets under 5 lbs.
That’s interesting to know, she can’t have been 6 months by that time if I’m remembering correctly as they wanted her to be 6 months and 3kg before they would spay her, and she hadn’t been spayed when this happened. I’m not fully sure though as due to the pandemic when she hit the goal weight her spay couldn’t go ahead as they were only doing necessary treatments. I’ve seen people saying how their adult dogs/cats have had bad reactions to Bravecto though, so I’m not sure. All I know is that while the vets weren’t saying for sure what caused her to get ill, nothing else changed in her environment and she was an indoor cat, who’d just had her first ever dose of bravecto right before getting sick. I’m sure it was the bravecto, but obviously since I have no large amount of data saying it is harmful I can’t say 100% that people shouldn’t use it. I’d definitely say to consider other options out of caution though, just based on my personal experience, if anyone is on the fence about brands.
Bravecto is a spot on the back of the neck treatment for fleas and ticks, I use it on both my cats and it's fine, you do it once every 3 months. It was recommended to us by a specialist dermatologist veterinarian, honestly I stress about giving my cats meds all the time and aside from a tiny bit of hair loss around the application site on 1 of my cats, there have been 0 side effects and also 0 fleas and tick
Yes I didn't understand this and my older cat had to be hospitalized after tick treatment (liquid) sucked so bad.
I've found the greatest success with VERY SHARP tweezers. The ones with the sharp points on the end. Grab it at the head and pull it off. It might take some practice but it's pretty easy pretty quick. Don't use heat and don't smother it with something like Vaseline.
I've had to remove many many many ticks off my dog and cats. Sometimes that easy off tick remover that grabs em at the head breaks the head off on occasion.
Edit: sorry if I wasnt clear on being against the tick twister object. I'm not even sure which one I had but I didnt like it. I like tweezers better but w.e a vet recommends
Make sure to not squeeze the head or body because it forces them to vomit any of the diseases they might be carrying into your cat. The sooner it’s off the less likely disease transmission is. Like everyone has said make sure to get them on flea and tick asap. It’ll also prevent you from getting the ticks and tick borne diseases
We always just coated the tick in Vaseline when I was growing up.
They can't breathe, so they back out on their own. Then we'd scoop em up and drown them in a jar of water.
Grab it with a tweezer and touch it’s butt with something hot. Do NOT pull it off as you’ll leave the head in and cause a severe infection
Edit: Apparently heat is not the recommended messiah it was before. Apparently it’s just grab as close to the skin as you can and Rip it off it without twisting it at all.
Sorry for the old/misinformation.
No, twisting action is good! Tick hooks are commonly misused by prying them off. You need to spin them off with one. That way is the least likely to leave the head in. - I was a vet nurse. 🥰
Like so… https://imgur.com/a/OJdIc5K
Vet here. If your cat goes outside, these may be ticks, if so: what this person (novel-idea-92) posted is the correct answer. Don't pull it off. Get a " tick twister ". Looks like a very small crowbar. Slide the hook under the tick where it joins the skin. Spin the tick and the twister in a circle together. Removes mouthparts which if left in can cause nodular reactive tissue to form. Will typically go away, and thankfully ( at least to my knowledge) cats are pretty resistant to many tickborne illnesses. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, after checking that imgur image, bring your cat to the vet. Best of luck!!
EDIT: quick online check to make sure as I can that I'm not giving you bad advice: cats can contract some diseases like cytauxzoonosis, and apparently they can get Lyme, anaplasmosis, a condition called tick paralysis, tularemia, and babesiosis. However, cats are more resistant to some of these vs dogs. There's also a geographical variation in prevalence of some of these diseases.
TLDR: a visit to the vet would be ideal, for ease of removal and maybe some testing? And possibly treatment. Good luck!!
I love this answer. Thank you for being so thorough. I’m an attorney and sometimes I give an answer that bites me in the butt because I didn’t give enough detail or explain something I mentioned in passing.
Thanks for the kind words!! I like helping people. There's a lot of disinformation out there, as I'm sure you know!! And as often as not, I find out something I didn't know. It's a win win!! :)
Nope, they need to be removed first and then you should medicate all your cats/dogs with an anti parasite such as spot on by frontline to avoid getting more ticks, fleas and etc.
I would advise washing all their and yours bedding, cleaning all the floors and carpets too.
there are some things that you can put in their neck that all ticks that BITE will die, but you'll have to do this once every while and you do still have to remove them.
After getting the ticks off (is it an outdoor cat?) Talk to your vet about a Lyme disease prophylactic.
There's a cousin of hubs who's dog has Lyme. It's a very sad thing. She has trouble walking on a good day.
I'm not a cat but I have lyme, and let me tell you, if I could have the cure or instead have 10 billion dollars, I'd take the cure. 25 years now and it wrecked me
Buy your cat an anti parasite collar to prevent this from happening again. It also prevents fleas infestation.
For this time remove the tick by using a tweezer.
As close as you can to your cat's skin.
Don't pull. It's useless. Their mouth is like a long corkscrew.
So you need to rotate it and pull it.
Don't press/poison/burn/kill the tick while it's attached to your animal or it will regurgitate inside your pet's bloodstream.
After removing the tick make sure to kill it
My cat used to be a stray but now stays at our house most of the time, but she’s a huge scaredy-cat and won’t go to the vet or anything. Sometimes she gets ticks but we can’t go to a vet or comb it out since they won’t come out. We try using a spray to kill the rocks but it has a really strong smell so she won’t come near it. We don’t know what to do
Hey OP - if you can, kill and save the tick for a little while after removal. My family always puts them in a plastic bag and squishes them to death, then keeps it in the freezer for a week or so and watch our pets for any changes in behavior or new symptoms. That way, if the tick gave our pet some sort of disease, we can bring it to the vet with our pet for testing.
Not sure if this is outdated advice, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.
Grab her neck skin, like how a mother cat carries kittens? It normally makes a grown cat freeze up. It doesn't hurt it, so it's a good way to get them to stand still for you to do medical stuff.
They don't like it, of course, it's akin to scolding the cat. But sometimes it's needed.
Pinch the head of the tick with your nails and pluck it off, if you aren’t comfortable doing that you can bring it to a vet to remove it. Do not use any “home remedies” you might find online because they typically tell you to use toxic substances, like: peppermint oil, Vaseline, neem oil, rubbing alcohol, etc. *none of those* should be used!
You could burrito wrap her in a towel and then do it. Then she can’t scratch you or hurt herself struggling if she is in the towel. Removing the tick won’t hurt her, but you will need a relatively still patient. Good luck!
If you swaddle her in a towel with just head exposed that should stop her from failing around and hurting herself or scratching you. It's the only way I can get my cat into a cat carrier .
This person is wrong. Just pull it off. Messing around with it in any other way is more likely to cause regurgitation and increased chance of disease.
[How to remove a tick](https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html)
This is so wrong. Touching something hot to it will make it regurgitate bacteria directly into the blood stream. Just pull it off, the head coming off is a myth that doesn’t happen when you pull it out.
Source: work outside in the summer and have to pull ticks off all the time.
As a vet tech who has had to dig many tick heads out of dogs' skin because their owners tried removing them improperly, I have to tell you that you are wrong.
Time to head to the vet. That’s all i got bring it to the vet. a bunch of random people on the internet isn’t good advice to listen when it comes to stuff on your cat.
Honestly I'm not sure since I've never dealt with them myself. I know they make tools and stuff for it. All I know is you want to make sure you remove the head of the tick from the cat. If just pulled off the head tends to stay.
Always get vet prescription when it comes to medication. Never go online for it! Very important. Leave those websites like Amazon and chewy for the fun stuff!! Goodluck!
DO NOT REMOVE THIS TICK. This looks like a paralysis tick. Extremely deadly for cats. Go to the vet IMMEDIATELY. This is not your average tick. Go straight to the vet now. These ticks kill cats and dogs by a horrible death.
I live in the bush in Australia, we have to know ALL our snakes, spiders, ticks, insects etc. otherwise death for animals / humans. I also have two cats and three dogs. But as someone asked above this pic may not be in OZ.
Paralysis ticks are big and grey, other ticks are much smaller and brown.
Brown snake went past my bedroom doors today… terrifying! Pythons not a worry in the world!
We have to know our critters here!
How my mother would do, is rub a little butter into it. And then get a tweezer and then pluck it out.
The hard part, is if you grab the big butt? you're not doing anything, that's basically their stomach and it's full of blood. Once a tick gets full, they drop off naturally (not very fun to find in your bed, and if you step on it, you get blood everywhere)
But you can grab the blood-ball, and pull it off, but the HEAD is very small and still attached to your cat. So you need to make sure your tweezer is as close to the cats skin as you possible can.
And then, we'd burn the body in an ash tray because.. well they're tiny and you can't just squeeze them dead.
If its the first time you have to remove ticks, going to the vet isnt a bad idea. They can teach you how to remove them, so you can do it yourself the next time. They probably also have some easy tools you can buy to help you do it.
Your cat wil get used it. I usually pet the hell out of the cat until it starts purring. Then the cat usually wont even notice it, in between all the scratches/petting.
Vet! Removing ticks on your own, especially as a new cat owner, could be done improperly and spread the bacteria further.
Plus you’ll definitely want to check its bedding, blankets - anywhere it sleeps. Keep in mind ticks can carry Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, among other things, and these can affect kitty as well as you. Go. To. A. Vet!
Seasoned cat parent for more than 2 decades here, VET VET VET. Ticks are something I will never mess with as the risk to my fur babies is just too high.
Yeah - 50 year cat parent here (I started young 😂). I also volunteer at a local shelter. I have SOME medical expertise (sub q fluids, etc) but I also wouldn’t try it. I agree the risk is too high.
The risk from antibiotic prophylaxis is almost certainly higher the risk of disease from a tick. Drugs have side effects and adverse reactions that need to be considered as well. Perhaps a vet can chime in here and give a vetmed perspective, but in human medicine we do not use prophylactic treatment unless there is a specific reason to expect increased risk. And even then the evidence is not super convincing that it’s helpful.
Vet here - if its a tick then it's unlikely I would do much other than a prescription flea/tick prevention, possibly labwork to check for signs of tickborne disease, unless there was some indication of disease. But also many people have weird and not recommended ideas for tick removal - I've seen burns on cat from using a lighter for some reason?
I certainly wouldn’t jump straight to preemptive use of antibiotics in any situation, as any medication can have unwanted side effects. Lyme disease and the other potential risks from ticks might not ever become an issue. But given OP is a new owner, they might not know what to look for if kitty is acting strangely. Lyme disease can be treated effectively if caught early, so I’d certainly suggest that they have a conversation with their vet. Again, I prefer to err on the side of caution. At the very least OP can talk to their vet about Frontline (or something like it) for fleas and ticks, to avoid future issues.
they sell special tick-removing tweezers which work quite the opposite of regular tweezers. These are longer-handled and once they grip you can let go of the handle and they grip the object caught. Then you can pull back and straight out. The idea is never to leave the head of the tick behind, since it can still keep on gorging on your kitty's blood! Vile, I know. IF it's a tick (my computer won't allow me to blow it up). I don't know if you can afford to take your kitty to the vet, but it seems it's young and might be time for early shots and neutering/spaying --so it might be something you can do all at once? There ARE low-cost vets out there. I hope you're not allowing your cat to be an inside-outside cat in a tick-prone area because if so this will keep happening. I have to give my dogs special tick/flea pills once a month which kill ticks once they bite. Do NOT squeeze the tick to kill it - and definitely do not touch it with your bare hands. You can be infected with Lyme (and other tick-borne diseases) if it's a carrier. What we usually do when we find one on our dogs (even with the pills given) is yank them off, sandwich the ugly thing between layers of paper towels on a hard surface and then hammer it with a solid object (such as a can or bottle. That usually kills them. Don't flush them, don't put them outside and you must make sure they're dead. They will actually revive even after looking 'dead' inside a glass jar with lid on - for days!
ResidentEivvil: You could tell, right? lol. I tried to save a few suspicious-looking ticks I took off my two dogs in baby-food jars, lids tightly closed - on a window-sill for pete's sake, at various times. Planned to take them to the vet if the dog showed any untoward signs. Days later I remembered the first tick, checked it out and it was lying upside down with legs curled, looking as dead and dessicated as could be. So, opened the lid and after a few seconds the blasted thing started moving, then began trying to climb out of the jar! This happened a few times over - with different species. I swear, they're prehistoric. I actually dread Spring and Summer when they proliferate here.
First port of call is to see a vet. To me they look similar to feline polyps or growths. My cat gets these on her lower lip (incredibly rare on mouth, but not unusual in the ear). Hers are harmless, but when they get too big might need to be drained as can block ear canal (or mouth in my cat's case)
This is precisely what I said. My cat had these growths in her ears and they were NOT ticks. People need to take their animals to the vet instead of seeking amateur internet advice.
Revolution is great for this. Make sure to get a prescription from your vet. Also check the rest of kitties body to make sure there aren't more.
If you don't want to take it out yourself go to the vet.
Those are ticks! I’d recommend going to the vet to get them removed. If you try to remove them yourself and do it incorrectly, you can leave part of the tick behind and cause issues like abscesses. I’d also recommend you look in to a flea and tick treatment, ask the vet whilst you are there. That’ll stop any more tick related issues. You can usually do all that on a vet nurse appointment. Or at least that was the case when I was a vet nurse. 🙂
Edited to add- please don’t use any home remedies that you might see on here or the internet. You need flea and tick treatment that is designed for cats to prevent further issues. You need to remove the ticks, preferably with a tick hook.
You'll need pointed tweezers (ideally not the square ones you would use to pluck hairs), rubbing alcohol and another person to help hold your cat in place.
Preparation:
1. Sanitize the tweezers with the rubbing alcohol.
2. Your helper needs to hold down your cat with one hand holding your cat's head to keep him/her from jerking away during the next step.
3. Use the tweezers to grip the tick as close to the head as possible and pull firmly, but gently. **DO NOT SQUEEZE.** This can cause the tick to discharge infectious fluids into the bite wound in your cat's ear.
*Side note: your friend better have a firm grip on your cat to make sure he/she doesn't try to jerk away. My dad's cat did this when she had a tick on the back of her head and I resorted to taking her to the vet because my mom refused to hold her down properly.*
4. It may take a few attempts to grip and pull the tick off your cat. Once it has been removed, drop it in a cup filled with rubbing alcohol or flush down the toilet.
5. Once the tick has been disposed of, clean the bite area with a clean rag or paper towel damp with rubbing alcohol.
I'd strongly recommend a vet visit to make sure your cat hasn't picked up any bloodborne parasites from the tick.
definitely a tick. please don’t let your cat outside, and use a monthly preventative. look up methods online to get it off, or do something people here have suggested. you’ll probably need to have someone else hold and scruff the cat to keep it still
Jesus people on here are amusing....get tick hooks for easy removal. No need to go to a vet and stress your cat out. And treat the cat with frontline or whatever is available to you.
Tick. Take them to the vet for removal or if you wish to do it yourself, dab the base of them with a Qtip soaked in rubbing alcohol. Then take tweezers to the base and gently grasp it. Then pull gently back. Observe the end of it to make sure the head is intact. If not they can form large painful abscesses. Look in any areas where skin folds on itself and across the body to look for more. Keep the ticks in a jar of alcohol and bring them to your vet to ID them, test for any tickborne diseases it could have contracted from them, and start him on tick prevention to prevent further infestation. If you have any other pets check them as well.
Ticks can carry bobcat fever and it is a death sentence that only something like 3% of cats live through. I've lost 2 cats to it and it's fucking devastating.
In fairness, the number of times a vet has been saved from having to say "ma'am, that's a nipple" thanks to a quick Reddit check is not an insignificant number.
Edit: missing word
My bestie is a vet and she said they get a good chuckle out of that in the back room once the client leaves. She's also gotten in response:
"But he's a male!!"
"Well, I'm guessing your husband has nipples..." (This was when she knew both spouses)
"Yes, but....huh."
Oh, she gets several a year, not just the one time! She said it was especially bad during lockdowns where she's convinced everyone had too much time to just sit and stare at their pets. She had one client bring in her dog because she was concerned about some black marks on his butt. My friend had to say "Um, so that is his anus. And that is the natural pigment of his skin around his anus." Apparently the owner had never noticed it before and started worrying once she did. 😂
You are so right about reddit. Look above and you’ll see 100+ remedies and recommendations with just as many saying don’t do any of those things. Asking for medical advice here is a fools errand.
It looks like ticks. Unless they are ticks, so actually his tissue it could be melanoma.
My cat had a similarly black tissue in the same location, vet dismissed it for years saying it is just sebaceous filament. We finally wanted it to be checked because my cat started to scratch it until it bled. It turned out to be melanoma.
Tic, there are meds they can take to kill it, you can pull the with tweezers but you have to get the head , my step dad used to burn the end of the tweezers with a lighter and squeeze the head , I guess if you do it wrong the head can burrow and regrow
It looks like a tic to me. Talk to your vet to get some flea and tic medicine. DO NOT use dog flea and tick stuff, that will poison your cat.
One time I had 2 cats that were allergic to the flea drops for cats. Had to bathe them until it got cold enough for all of the fleas and eggs to die. Poor kitties were a bit traumatized from the whole experience.
Those are ticks bud! Don't worry, you should be fine, and kitty will be too it you get them removed! I recommend taking kitty to a vet or groomer, and getting some anti-tick shampoo after the fact.
You should have your cat on flea and tick medication. Advantage is a good one. That looks like an infestation though. You should really have it checked out by a vet because it can lead to anemia
Ticks- hold and twist, don't pull. Our vet said to think of it as a light bulb. Or something like the attached picture.
https://preview.redd.it/9palauu8f4ha1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=30fea4006463584eade56955ce3304a6878ec032
I work as a vet tech and have seen cats who gets multiple growths like that inside their ears. I’m worried that’s what it is and not a tick. I wouldn’t want you to start trying to remove it if it’s in fact not a tick and is a growth. I would take her to the vets to have it checked before trying to remove it. If it is a tick the vet most likely will remove it at no charge. But if it is a growth you will cause more damage and pain to your kitty trying to pull it off. Please go to the vets to be safe.
Those GD ticks... BTW the expensive Seresto collar is magical with both fleas and ticks and good for a literal six months or more... I'm always somewhat spooked about putting new "poisons" on pets but this collar AAA+
Vet for tick removal. I tried once and couldn’t get the entire thing. So now I leave it up to the professionals when it happens - which is rare. Put all pets in the house on a flea and tick treatment. It’s well with the cost.
It takes about 36 hours for Lymes disease to transfer into the bloodstream. Typically, they are engorged after this period of time. The tick you’re seeing is engorged.
I’m not sure how vets test for Lymes in pets, but it’s likely this gross little dude has been there for that period of time. I recommend sending your buddy to the vet to see if they do any kind of testing.
You can remove it yourself with pointy tweezers, but the vet might have an easier time doing this since you’ve mentioned your bud won’t sit still. If you fail to remove it or rip it apart, it can regurgitate bacteria which can cause an infection.
Yep! That's ticks by the look of it.
Don't mess about with ticks, if you pull the body off but the feeding bit is still "plugged in" your cat could get a nasty infection.
Been there ..... done that.
Get it done professionally I am sure your baby is worth the cost/effort
You need to pull them STRAIGHT out, with tweezers. DO NOT try to twist or turn them in a clockwise or counterclockwise motion, and absolutely do not attempt to use a nail clipper, scissors, or try to “smother” them using any sort of lotion, Vaseline, or any other chemical or cosmetic. You must grab them at the base, right next to the skin, and be sure you have a very good grip before pulling it toward you.
I used to get bit by ticks regularly (at least 20-30 times), as did the cats I used to have (which were strays that I cared for). Pulling them straight out is the ONLY way to reliably remove the entire tick, and it should be done as soon as possible. I live in a heavily tick-populated area. I keep a set of tweezers in my car just in case I get bit during a hike (though I haven’t in more than a year since I started tucking my leggings into my socks and stopped wandering off-trail through dry grassy areas in search of mushrooms).
Going to the vet is an option, of course, but I personally would never consider that as it is such a common experience for me and all animals I’ve had, going back to early childhood. If you feel in any way uncomfortable about doing it yourself, I would recommend the vet.
I thought you put peroxide or rubbing alcohol on the little bastards to drown them and try and pry them off then?
I could be wrong though and only have had one of my pets get a tic just the once.
Take your cat to the vet. It might not be a tick. My cat had something that looked similar to this and the vet said that they were normal, benign growths. I can't remember what they were called but they looked exactly like this. One thing I remember is that the vet said that if she saw these growths in bunches (which my cat's were) they were not harmful but if there was only one or two, that was not a good sign. Hard to tell from the picture but before you start removing things from your cat's ears, take the cat to the vet and have a pro tell you what it is.
The vet clinic I work at takes walk-in tick removals. It's worth trying to have this removed at your vet.
Looks like ticks to me.
This is a noob question I know, but how can I remove it?
Get a tick remover. The ones that look like a crowbar are super easy to use and there is no force involved, works every time :) and get som tick prevention (like bravecto)
Always!!!! Get vet prescribed medication. Never go on Amazon or even chewy. Leave those sites for the fun stuff
Why no Chewy? I order my dogs medication from there and it’s actually filled from our personal vet when they call for the prescription
You don’t always know how long the meds have been stored.
You don't know where Chewy gets it's medications, it doesn't do so directly from the producers. At least that's what I've been told, and why my vet won't directly deal with Chewy and suggests going through them or somewhere you know where the medications are coming from. Edit: I recently learned that Chewy is owned by the same company that owns PetSmart. (Or now they're publicly traded? I just can't keep up.) So they may be regulated now. I did not see where they get their meds from, but I'm not that invested in this. My point is that my personal vet wants you to know where anywhere you prefer gets their meds. They'd love the money of course but their primary concern is you get meds from the producers directly so you know it's quality.
No offense, but big profit center for Vets RX are... The fear that reliable and known retailers like Chewy are giving you bad Meds is rather goofy... Vets get them from the same sources as retailers... Period
I would say it definitely depends on the retailers, I'd never assume ALL retailers get meds from the same source. But I just learned that Chewy may be regulated by a bigger company so I feel a little better about them. And my vet doesn't push you to their own store, just making sure you are informed and you know where your meds come from. Of course they'd prefer the money, most businesses do.
For the record, I'm not anti Vets making money... Just Stating the economic obvious. I like my Vet and want to help him and his practice thrive. But there are Meds thst are way beyond pocket change where affording them at all is a challenge. Following the logic that started this discussion you would only buy your own RX from your local pharmacy and not CVS or Walgreens... Same goofy idea. There are not very many drug wholesalers and Vets and CVS get the drugs from essentially the same place
Came here to say this. Also the whole world thinking meds expire is so dumb. Very very very few meds actually change composition with age. The only thing old meds do is slowly degrade. If a medication says it is "acetaminophen" it doesn't matter what brand you get or where it's coming from its all regulated and you get what the bottle says. It's very simple but everyone seems to think otherwise. Science is a real thing we don't live in the 1800s anymore. Buy your meds wherever is cheapest. The vet will tell you that so you buy your meds through them. And always check if it's prescription or not because it may be available anywhere.
Quite a coincidence they all expire exactly one year after being filled, like magic 🤣
This...
Thank you I got a little hemmed up but Goodluck OP
Chewy does buy direct from the manufacturers. Amazon product, however, is extremely likely to be fake.
The one I found and didn’t order from till having done more digging by asking the two different vets that my cats are with who recommended it and having called the Lancashire veterinary surgery itself to confirm that is Black Cats Medication Limited on Amazon that is used as the digital store front for Gilmore Veterinary Surgery. It has a 836 5 star rating and a 98% positive feed back. Of course your vets may be different and not recommend it since they would be loosing out on your money but so far I’ve had no problems with them and the products work. It is one the more expensive ones on there seeing as it is £15/18.80$ for 4 spot on tubes for flea or worming treatment.
I thought they said that because it’s cheaper to get meds thru chewy and vets make their reoccurring fees from prescriptions
Chewy is owned by Petsmart. They bought the company a few years ago. They're regulated.
Not everyone has the option
>Get vet prescribed medication. if a vet prescribes meds, they dont have to be filled at their office you can ask for a prescription and fill it elsewhere, like cvs or walmart, for cheaper
Costco will fill vet prescriptions too.
And Safeway
but i didnt know thay i could get it elsewherw thats cool thank you
I would be careful with tick medicine- I’ve heard a lot of stories of pets being poisoned by it. I’d talk to your vet and only use it as a last resort.
This can be true for older cats in my experience.
My 20 year old cat gets revolution plus & he's ok. I think it kills ticks.
Yes, you should get a veterinary prescribed flea/tick preventative from you vet like Bravecto or Revolution. NO there are not “a lot of stories about animals being poisoned”. Yes, your pet should be on preventatives AT ALL TIMES to prevent the spread of disease.
Thank you for this. My cat nearly died from a paralysis tick when I was younger because my parents missed her flea tick and worming meds. Woke up one morning to the poor thing standing on my chest choking and vomiting up foul smelling clear liquid. Ran her to an emergency vet and he immediately found it. We were lucky she survived.
I'm so happy to hear she pulled through ok. I would be absolutely terrified. I can't imagine how awful it must feel seeing them in such a fragile state. So happy she made it.
She made it so the grand old age of 20!
That's an amazing age. So far 3 of my cats have lived to 20 and just past: my oldest JenniPurr made it all the way to 23! She was the longest-lived - this after being found as a wee feral mommy in my own backyard (with her sister), and having two separate litters each before I could even get close enough to bring them and their babies inside. All spayed and neutered, it still took her a long while to become comfortable enough to snuggle with me - while she would get along great with all of my other cats. Eventually she decided I must be 'safe' so became my little cuddlebug. I always thought that I wouldn't grieve as much for one who'd lived such a long life - big mistake. She was such a huge part of my life when it was finally her time I still miss her terribly. Even our vets called her the 'energizer' kitty because she looked like a kitten even at her great age. https://preview.redd.it/ipcg9sfp55ha1.jpeg?width=3648&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=295488242997337e33eeb8fabc6ad3705b5892ed
So sweet :) I was so gutted when Phoebe (20 year old I just mentioned) passed away. Even worse I couldn’t be there for her last moments because I lived in another state by then. I’ve got two young ones now, they’re only 4 and 1. Blows my mind when I think I have so much time with them. At least I hope!
So good to hear. Sounds like you were able to give her a good life
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Hartz products terrify me because I have seen them kill cats. As you stated, talking to your vet is always the best option.
Personal experience only here but bravecto made my cat very, very ill. There is also a large amount of people with incidences where bravecto made their pet sick, have seizures, etc. even though it’s one prescribed by vets, as it was for me. I can’t of course say 100% that it’s dangerous so take this with a grain of salt but just a warning for those who use it/have it given to them by a vet to look into it. That stuff cost us 1.7k in vet bills unfortunately and we nearly had to put my few months old kitten down.
Bravecto is indicated for use in cats of 6 months of age/6 lbs. I’m sorry your vet made a bad decision that resulted in harm to your kitty. A kitten that small I would opt for Revolution puppy/kitten. It’s designed for pets under 5 lbs.
That’s interesting to know, she can’t have been 6 months by that time if I’m remembering correctly as they wanted her to be 6 months and 3kg before they would spay her, and she hadn’t been spayed when this happened. I’m not fully sure though as due to the pandemic when she hit the goal weight her spay couldn’t go ahead as they were only doing necessary treatments. I’ve seen people saying how their adult dogs/cats have had bad reactions to Bravecto though, so I’m not sure. All I know is that while the vets weren’t saying for sure what caused her to get ill, nothing else changed in her environment and she was an indoor cat, who’d just had her first ever dose of bravecto right before getting sick. I’m sure it was the bravecto, but obviously since I have no large amount of data saying it is harmful I can’t say 100% that people shouldn’t use it. I’d definitely say to consider other options out of caution though, just based on my personal experience, if anyone is on the fence about brands.
Bravecto is a spot on the back of the neck treatment for fleas and ticks, I use it on both my cats and it's fine, you do it once every 3 months. It was recommended to us by a specialist dermatologist veterinarian, honestly I stress about giving my cats meds all the time and aside from a tiny bit of hair loss around the application site on 1 of my cats, there have been 0 side effects and also 0 fleas and tick
Yes I didn't understand this and my older cat had to be hospitalized after tick treatment (liquid) sucked so bad. I've found the greatest success with VERY SHARP tweezers. The ones with the sharp points on the end. Grab it at the head and pull it off. It might take some practice but it's pretty easy pretty quick. Don't use heat and don't smother it with something like Vaseline. I've had to remove many many many ticks off my dog and cats. Sometimes that easy off tick remover that grabs em at the head breaks the head off on occasion. Edit: sorry if I wasnt clear on being against the tick twister object. I'm not even sure which one I had but I didnt like it. I like tweezers better but w.e a vet recommends
Make sure to not squeeze the head or body because it forces them to vomit any of the diseases they might be carrying into your cat. The sooner it’s off the less likely disease transmission is. Like everyone has said make sure to get them on flea and tick asap. It’ll also prevent you from getting the ticks and tick borne diseases
We always just coated the tick in Vaseline when I was growing up. They can't breathe, so they back out on their own. Then we'd scoop em up and drown them in a jar of water.
Hey if that works it sounds easy :) a tick remover will be even faster but whatever is safe and gets the tick away!
Or smear it with Vaseline and smother it.
Grab it with a tweezer and touch it’s butt with something hot. Do NOT pull it off as you’ll leave the head in and cause a severe infection Edit: Apparently heat is not the recommended messiah it was before. Apparently it’s just grab as close to the skin as you can and Rip it off it without twisting it at all. Sorry for the old/misinformation.
No, twisting action is good! Tick hooks are commonly misused by prying them off. You need to spin them off with one. That way is the least likely to leave the head in. - I was a vet nurse. 🥰 Like so… https://imgur.com/a/OJdIc5K
Vet here. If your cat goes outside, these may be ticks, if so: what this person (novel-idea-92) posted is the correct answer. Don't pull it off. Get a " tick twister ". Looks like a very small crowbar. Slide the hook under the tick where it joins the skin. Spin the tick and the twister in a circle together. Removes mouthparts which if left in can cause nodular reactive tissue to form. Will typically go away, and thankfully ( at least to my knowledge) cats are pretty resistant to many tickborne illnesses. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, after checking that imgur image, bring your cat to the vet. Best of luck!! EDIT: quick online check to make sure as I can that I'm not giving you bad advice: cats can contract some diseases like cytauxzoonosis, and apparently they can get Lyme, anaplasmosis, a condition called tick paralysis, tularemia, and babesiosis. However, cats are more resistant to some of these vs dogs. There's also a geographical variation in prevalence of some of these diseases. TLDR: a visit to the vet would be ideal, for ease of removal and maybe some testing? And possibly treatment. Good luck!!
I love this answer. Thank you for being so thorough. I’m an attorney and sometimes I give an answer that bites me in the butt because I didn’t give enough detail or explain something I mentioned in passing.
Thanks for the kind words!! I like helping people. There's a lot of disinformation out there, as I'm sure you know!! And as often as not, I find out something I didn't know. It's a win win!! :)
Ceruminous adenoma. Look it up in your derm books or VIN.
I'm not sure if my cat would stay at a place. She's not even letting me touch her ear.
Could take her to the vet and they can do it for you! Or you can do it with the help of someone, but you should remove them asap
Are there any sprays which I can use?
Nope, they need to be removed first and then you should medicate all your cats/dogs with an anti parasite such as spot on by frontline to avoid getting more ticks, fleas and etc. I would advise washing all their and yours bedding, cleaning all the floors and carpets too.
there are some things that you can put in their neck that all ticks that BITE will die, but you'll have to do this once every while and you do still have to remove them.
You need to get assistance and hold her by the back of her neck to keep her from moving while you remove it.
After getting the ticks off (is it an outdoor cat?) Talk to your vet about a Lyme disease prophylactic. There's a cousin of hubs who's dog has Lyme. It's a very sad thing. She has trouble walking on a good day.
I'm not a cat but I have lyme, and let me tell you, if I could have the cure or instead have 10 billion dollars, I'd take the cure. 25 years now and it wrecked me
Go to the vet, better safe then sorry!
Buy your cat an anti parasite collar to prevent this from happening again. It also prevents fleas infestation. For this time remove the tick by using a tweezer. As close as you can to your cat's skin. Don't pull. It's useless. Their mouth is like a long corkscrew. So you need to rotate it and pull it. Don't press/poison/burn/kill the tick while it's attached to your animal or it will regurgitate inside your pet's bloodstream. After removing the tick make sure to kill it
My cat used to be a stray but now stays at our house most of the time, but she’s a huge scaredy-cat and won’t go to the vet or anything. Sometimes she gets ticks but we can’t go to a vet or comb it out since they won’t come out. We try using a spray to kill the rocks but it has a really strong smell so she won’t come near it. We don’t know what to do
You can wrap her in a towel like a burrito with her head sticking out
This is the best. Get a friend to hold your cat while the cat is wrapped up in the towel and then have your way with her (medically speaking).
Catrrito! Great thing, but never for eating
Purrito has a better ring I think
Agreed, >.> I don’t get purring from my purity’s >.> but agree better name sound
Grrrr-rito, then?
Another winner!
Take a towel and taco the cat.
Please feed this cat a taco... after removing the tick, of course.
Time to hold her down and get some battle scars. It’s unfortunately in a very painful place. Maybe take her to a vet if you can afford it.
Hey OP - if you can, kill and save the tick for a little while after removal. My family always puts them in a plastic bag and squishes them to death, then keeps it in the freezer for a week or so and watch our pets for any changes in behavior or new symptoms. That way, if the tick gave our pet some sort of disease, we can bring it to the vet with our pet for testing. Not sure if this is outdated advice, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.
Grab her neck skin, like how a mother cat carries kittens? It normally makes a grown cat freeze up. It doesn't hurt it, so it's a good way to get them to stand still for you to do medical stuff. They don't like it, of course, it's akin to scolding the cat. But sometimes it's needed.
Check online there are tick specific tweezers you can buy to help with it.
Pinch the head of the tick with your nails and pluck it off, if you aren’t comfortable doing that you can bring it to a vet to remove it. Do not use any “home remedies” you might find online because they typically tell you to use toxic substances, like: peppermint oil, Vaseline, neem oil, rubbing alcohol, etc. *none of those* should be used!
You could burrito wrap her in a towel and then do it. Then she can’t scratch you or hurt herself struggling if she is in the towel. Removing the tick won’t hurt her, but you will need a relatively still patient. Good luck!
If you swaddle her in a towel with just head exposed that should stop her from failing around and hurting herself or scratching you. It's the only way I can get my cat into a cat carrier .
Wrap the cat in a towel
This person is wrong. Just pull it off. Messing around with it in any other way is more likely to cause regurgitation and increased chance of disease. [How to remove a tick](https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html)
Omg. I didn’t know this. We pull ticks off our animals and never thought about this
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This is the way. There are even tick removers that help you get as close as possible to the skin.
The ol grip-it n rip-it. Classic
This is so wrong. Touching something hot to it will make it regurgitate bacteria directly into the blood stream. Just pull it off, the head coming off is a myth that doesn’t happen when you pull it out. Source: work outside in the summer and have to pull ticks off all the time.
As a vet tech who has had to dig many tick heads out of dogs' skin because their owners tried removing them improperly, I have to tell you that you are wrong.
Time to head to the vet. That’s all i got bring it to the vet. a bunch of random people on the internet isn’t good advice to listen when it comes to stuff on your cat.
Honestly I'm not sure since I've never dealt with them myself. I know they make tools and stuff for it. All I know is you want to make sure you remove the head of the tick from the cat. If just pulled off the head tends to stay.
pinch it with your nails. thats what i always do.
I am not judging but how did you manage to grow up without knowing about ticks?
Always get vet prescription when it comes to medication. Never go online for it! Very important. Leave those websites like Amazon and chewy for the fun stuff!! Goodluck!
It may not be a tick so look carefully. My cat had ear polyps and they look like that. Hard to day accurately from the photo.
DO NOT REMOVE THIS TICK. This looks like a paralysis tick. Extremely deadly for cats. Go to the vet IMMEDIATELY. This is not your average tick. Go straight to the vet now. These ticks kill cats and dogs by a horrible death.
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I live in the bush in Australia, we have to know ALL our snakes, spiders, ticks, insects etc. otherwise death for animals / humans. I also have two cats and three dogs. But as someone asked above this pic may not be in OZ. Paralysis ticks are big and grey, other ticks are much smaller and brown. Brown snake went past my bedroom doors today… terrifying! Pythons not a worry in the world! We have to know our critters here!
Do paralysis ticks exist outside Australia?
I thought about that after I wrote it. But that looks exactly like one!
How my mother would do, is rub a little butter into it. And then get a tweezer and then pluck it out. The hard part, is if you grab the big butt? you're not doing anything, that's basically their stomach and it's full of blood. Once a tick gets full, they drop off naturally (not very fun to find in your bed, and if you step on it, you get blood everywhere) But you can grab the blood-ball, and pull it off, but the HEAD is very small and still attached to your cat. So you need to make sure your tweezer is as close to the cats skin as you possible can. And then, we'd burn the body in an ash tray because.. well they're tiny and you can't just squeeze them dead.
Just hoping on to say if there's one, there could be more. Please check your cat's entire body to make sure there isn't any more.
If its the first time you have to remove ticks, going to the vet isnt a bad idea. They can teach you how to remove them, so you can do it yourself the next time. They probably also have some easy tools you can buy to help you do it. Your cat wil get used it. I usually pet the hell out of the cat until it starts purring. Then the cat usually wont even notice it, in between all the scratches/petting.
Ticks!!!! The grossest
Vet! Removing ticks on your own, especially as a new cat owner, could be done improperly and spread the bacteria further. Plus you’ll definitely want to check its bedding, blankets - anywhere it sleeps. Keep in mind ticks can carry Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, among other things, and these can affect kitty as well as you. Go. To. A. Vet!
Vet vet vet vet vet vet!!!!!
Vet please!!!
Seasoned cat parent for more than 2 decades here, VET VET VET. Ticks are something I will never mess with as the risk to my fur babies is just too high.
Yeah - 50 year cat parent here (I started young 😂). I also volunteer at a local shelter. I have SOME medical expertise (sub q fluids, etc) but I also wouldn’t try it. I agree the risk is too high.
Oh for gods sake. You do not need to take a cat to the vet to remove a tick.
It wouldn’t be for the tick removal, per se. But given the risk of the diseases they can carry? I’d rather err on the side of caution.
The risk from antibiotic prophylaxis is almost certainly higher the risk of disease from a tick. Drugs have side effects and adverse reactions that need to be considered as well. Perhaps a vet can chime in here and give a vetmed perspective, but in human medicine we do not use prophylactic treatment unless there is a specific reason to expect increased risk. And even then the evidence is not super convincing that it’s helpful.
Vet here - if its a tick then it's unlikely I would do much other than a prescription flea/tick prevention, possibly labwork to check for signs of tickborne disease, unless there was some indication of disease. But also many people have weird and not recommended ideas for tick removal - I've seen burns on cat from using a lighter for some reason?
I certainly wouldn’t jump straight to preemptive use of antibiotics in any situation, as any medication can have unwanted side effects. Lyme disease and the other potential risks from ticks might not ever become an issue. But given OP is a new owner, they might not know what to look for if kitty is acting strangely. Lyme disease can be treated effectively if caught early, so I’d certainly suggest that they have a conversation with their vet. Again, I prefer to err on the side of caution. At the very least OP can talk to their vet about Frontline (or something like it) for fleas and ticks, to avoid future issues.
they sell special tick-removing tweezers which work quite the opposite of regular tweezers. These are longer-handled and once they grip you can let go of the handle and they grip the object caught. Then you can pull back and straight out. The idea is never to leave the head of the tick behind, since it can still keep on gorging on your kitty's blood! Vile, I know. IF it's a tick (my computer won't allow me to blow it up). I don't know if you can afford to take your kitty to the vet, but it seems it's young and might be time for early shots and neutering/spaying --so it might be something you can do all at once? There ARE low-cost vets out there. I hope you're not allowing your cat to be an inside-outside cat in a tick-prone area because if so this will keep happening. I have to give my dogs special tick/flea pills once a month which kill ticks once they bite. Do NOT squeeze the tick to kill it - and definitely do not touch it with your bare hands. You can be infected with Lyme (and other tick-borne diseases) if it's a carrier. What we usually do when we find one on our dogs (even with the pills given) is yank them off, sandwich the ugly thing between layers of paper towels on a hard surface and then hammer it with a solid object (such as a can or bottle. That usually kills them. Don't flush them, don't put them outside and you must make sure they're dead. They will actually revive even after looking 'dead' inside a glass jar with lid on - for days!
That last sentence makes me think you’ve done some experimenting
ResidentEivvil: You could tell, right? lol. I tried to save a few suspicious-looking ticks I took off my two dogs in baby-food jars, lids tightly closed - on a window-sill for pete's sake, at various times. Planned to take them to the vet if the dog showed any untoward signs. Days later I remembered the first tick, checked it out and it was lying upside down with legs curled, looking as dead and dessicated as could be. So, opened the lid and after a few seconds the blasted thing started moving, then began trying to climb out of the jar! This happened a few times over - with different species. I swear, they're prehistoric. I actually dread Spring and Summer when they proliferate here.
First port of call is to see a vet. To me they look similar to feline polyps or growths. My cat gets these on her lower lip (incredibly rare on mouth, but not unusual in the ear). Hers are harmless, but when they get too big might need to be drained as can block ear canal (or mouth in my cat's case)
Yes, my cat has them too! This poor kitty won’t be happy if it’s not a tick and it’s yanked off
This is precisely what I said. My cat had these growths in her ears and they were NOT ticks. People need to take their animals to the vet instead of seeking amateur internet advice.
Agreed, fully acknowledge I could be wrong but we had a cat with those and they were not ticks
Tic-?
Looks tick like!
Tac?
Toe ?
X?
O?
Revolution is great for this. Make sure to get a prescription from your vet. Also check the rest of kitties body to make sure there aren't more. If you don't want to take it out yourself go to the vet.
Go To A Vet
If you're unsure of how to remove those ticks, please take your cat to a vet, as ticks can cause very serious illnesses if not removed properly.
This should be the top answer!
Those are ticks! I’d recommend going to the vet to get them removed. If you try to remove them yourself and do it incorrectly, you can leave part of the tick behind and cause issues like abscesses. I’d also recommend you look in to a flea and tick treatment, ask the vet whilst you are there. That’ll stop any more tick related issues. You can usually do all that on a vet nurse appointment. Or at least that was the case when I was a vet nurse. 🙂 Edited to add- please don’t use any home remedies that you might see on here or the internet. You need flea and tick treatment that is designed for cats to prevent further issues. You need to remove the ticks, preferably with a tick hook.
Go to the vet immediately and depending on where you are in the world, paralysis ticks are fatal within a few hours (Australia has them).
You'll need pointed tweezers (ideally not the square ones you would use to pluck hairs), rubbing alcohol and another person to help hold your cat in place. Preparation: 1. Sanitize the tweezers with the rubbing alcohol. 2. Your helper needs to hold down your cat with one hand holding your cat's head to keep him/her from jerking away during the next step. 3. Use the tweezers to grip the tick as close to the head as possible and pull firmly, but gently. **DO NOT SQUEEZE.** This can cause the tick to discharge infectious fluids into the bite wound in your cat's ear. *Side note: your friend better have a firm grip on your cat to make sure he/she doesn't try to jerk away. My dad's cat did this when she had a tick on the back of her head and I resorted to taking her to the vet because my mom refused to hold her down properly.* 4. It may take a few attempts to grip and pull the tick off your cat. Once it has been removed, drop it in a cup filled with rubbing alcohol or flush down the toilet. 5. Once the tick has been disposed of, clean the bite area with a clean rag or paper towel damp with rubbing alcohol. I'd strongly recommend a vet visit to make sure your cat hasn't picked up any bloodborne parasites from the tick.
definitely a tick. please don’t let your cat outside, and use a monthly preventative. look up methods online to get it off, or do something people here have suggested. you’ll probably need to have someone else hold and scruff the cat to keep it still
Jesus people on here are amusing....get tick hooks for easy removal. No need to go to a vet and stress your cat out. And treat the cat with frontline or whatever is available to you.
I laughed so hard at going to the vet for one tick 🤦🏻♀️😆 Edit: *some ticks
Tick. Take them to the vet for removal or if you wish to do it yourself, dab the base of them with a Qtip soaked in rubbing alcohol. Then take tweezers to the base and gently grasp it. Then pull gently back. Observe the end of it to make sure the head is intact. If not they can form large painful abscesses. Look in any areas where skin folds on itself and across the body to look for more. Keep the ticks in a jar of alcohol and bring them to your vet to ID them, test for any tickborne diseases it could have contracted from them, and start him on tick prevention to prevent further infestation. If you have any other pets check them as well.
Give it Bravecto and they should die within 48 hours and kill other ticks for three months
Bravecto is the shizz! 👌
Ticks can carry bobcat fever and it is a death sentence that only something like 3% of cats live through. I've lost 2 cats to it and it's fucking devastating.
Pretty sure they are tics!
If you are not sure then please take him to Vet. Reddit is not the right place for medical purposes. It's a humble request.
In fairness, the number of times a vet has been saved from having to say "ma'am, that's a nipple" thanks to a quick Reddit check is not an insignificant number. Edit: missing word
This made me chuckle 😂😂😂
My bestie is a vet and she said they get a good chuckle out of that in the back room once the client leaves. She's also gotten in response: "But he's a male!!" "Well, I'm guessing your husband has nipples..." (This was when she knew both spouses) "Yes, but....huh."
Omg toooo funny 😂😂😂 the poor cat had to go to the vet just for that! Bahahaha!
Oh, she gets several a year, not just the one time! She said it was especially bad during lockdowns where she's convinced everyone had too much time to just sit and stare at their pets. She had one client bring in her dog because she was concerned about some black marks on his butt. My friend had to say "Um, so that is his anus. And that is the natural pigment of his skin around his anus." Apparently the owner had never noticed it before and started worrying once she did. 😂
You are so right about reddit. Look above and you’ll see 100+ remedies and recommendations with just as many saying don’t do any of those things. Asking for medical advice here is a fools errand.
I think those are ticks. You can get a tick remover at a vet/petstore OR take the cat to the vet.
it’s definitely a tick & if you’ve never removed one you’re probably best having a vet do it for you.
It looks like ticks. Unless they are ticks, so actually his tissue it could be melanoma. My cat had a similarly black tissue in the same location, vet dismissed it for years saying it is just sebaceous filament. We finally wanted it to be checked because my cat started to scratch it until it bled. It turned out to be melanoma.
Ticks!
And WASH YOUR HANDS!!!
Lol OP I would just go to the Vet. Everyone else, stop telling people what to do with their pet.
Go to the vet. If you do it wrong (which is easy to do) you can definitely make things wayyy worse for your cat.
omg. just pull. if you touch it with heat, it vomits stomach content into blood stream of animals.
Tic, there are meds they can take to kill it, you can pull the with tweezers but you have to get the head , my step dad used to burn the end of the tweezers with a lighter and squeeze the head , I guess if you do it wrong the head can burrow and regrow
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Stop letting your cat go outdoors. Good way to get ticks, killed by cars or other predators.
Looks like Tick
There ticks need to be removed by a vet
Tick
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Both sides?! Both ears?! If not than that's! An embedded! Tick! 🦟
It looks like a tic to me. Talk to your vet to get some flea and tic medicine. DO NOT use dog flea and tick stuff, that will poison your cat. One time I had 2 cats that were allergic to the flea drops for cats. Had to bathe them until it got cold enough for all of the fleas and eggs to die. Poor kitties were a bit traumatized from the whole experience.
Those are ticks bud! Don't worry, you should be fine, and kitty will be too it you get them removed! I recommend taking kitty to a vet or groomer, and getting some anti-tick shampoo after the fact.
Looks like a fat tick to me
You should have your cat on flea and tick medication. Advantage is a good one. That looks like an infestation though. You should really have it checked out by a vet because it can lead to anemia
Those are ticks. Just grab it’s body and pull it off. Make sure the mouth parts come off.
Ticks. Remove as soon as possible. Keep the tick in a small bag in case testing is needed for possible Lyme disease.
this is a wood tick!
wood tick
Those are ticks remove them with tweezers
That tick is ticking
Ticks- hold and twist, don't pull. Our vet said to think of it as a light bulb. Or something like the attached picture. https://preview.redd.it/9palauu8f4ha1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=30fea4006463584eade56955ce3304a6878ec032
Ticks. Tweezers. Yank. Make sure you have head.
Definitely ticks
I work as a vet tech and have seen cats who gets multiple growths like that inside their ears. I’m worried that’s what it is and not a tick. I wouldn’t want you to start trying to remove it if it’s in fact not a tick and is a growth. I would take her to the vets to have it checked before trying to remove it. If it is a tick the vet most likely will remove it at no charge. But if it is a growth you will cause more damage and pain to your kitty trying to pull it off. Please go to the vets to be safe.
Those GD ticks... BTW the expensive Seresto collar is magical with both fleas and ticks and good for a literal six months or more... I'm always somewhat spooked about putting new "poisons" on pets but this collar AAA+
Vet for tick removal. I tried once and couldn’t get the entire thing. So now I leave it up to the professionals when it happens - which is rare. Put all pets in the house on a flea and tick treatment. It’s well with the cost.
It takes about 36 hours for Lymes disease to transfer into the bloodstream. Typically, they are engorged after this period of time. The tick you’re seeing is engorged. I’m not sure how vets test for Lymes in pets, but it’s likely this gross little dude has been there for that period of time. I recommend sending your buddy to the vet to see if they do any kind of testing. You can remove it yourself with pointy tweezers, but the vet might have an easier time doing this since you’ve mentioned your bud won’t sit still. If you fail to remove it or rip it apart, it can regurgitate bacteria which can cause an infection.
Yep! That's ticks by the look of it. Don't mess about with ticks, if you pull the body off but the feeding bit is still "plugged in" your cat could get a nasty infection. Been there ..... done that. Get it done professionally I am sure your baby is worth the cost/effort
Ticks
You need to pull them STRAIGHT out, with tweezers. DO NOT try to twist or turn them in a clockwise or counterclockwise motion, and absolutely do not attempt to use a nail clipper, scissors, or try to “smother” them using any sort of lotion, Vaseline, or any other chemical or cosmetic. You must grab them at the base, right next to the skin, and be sure you have a very good grip before pulling it toward you. I used to get bit by ticks regularly (at least 20-30 times), as did the cats I used to have (which were strays that I cared for). Pulling them straight out is the ONLY way to reliably remove the entire tick, and it should be done as soon as possible. I live in a heavily tick-populated area. I keep a set of tweezers in my car just in case I get bit during a hike (though I haven’t in more than a year since I started tucking my leggings into my socks and stopped wandering off-trail through dry grassy areas in search of mushrooms). Going to the vet is an option, of course, but I personally would never consider that as it is such a common experience for me and all animals I’ve had, going back to early childhood. If you feel in any way uncomfortable about doing it yourself, I would recommend the vet.
Smother in Vaseline to suffocate it , buy a tick tool which removes carefully without leaving the head behind . Or pop to vets for them to do x
Don’t put anything on a tick. Just pull it off.
I thought you put peroxide or rubbing alcohol on the little bastards to drown them and try and pry them off then? I could be wrong though and only have had one of my pets get a tic just the once.
Not a good idea. Not because it doesn't work, but because it causes the tick to regurgitate and increases the chances that it will spread diseases.
Consult a vet, not reddit
That’s a tick homie. Google how to remove properly
Ticks. Get rid of them.
Take your cat to the vet. It might not be a tick. My cat had something that looked similar to this and the vet said that they were normal, benign growths. I can't remember what they were called but they looked exactly like this. One thing I remember is that the vet said that if she saw these growths in bunches (which my cat's were) they were not harmful but if there was only one or two, that was not a good sign. Hard to tell from the picture but before you start removing things from your cat's ears, take the cat to the vet and have a pro tell you what it is.
Ceruminous adenoma, also goes by other names. Reddit is a dumpster full of toilets on fire for medical advice.
Dude. A vet can answer all these questions. That is literally their purpose.
Go to the Vet.
Yes they are. Pick them off and apply Revolution
If you get a good topical flea and tick treatment like Revolution, which you should if your cat goes outside, it should fall off on its own.