Read time: 2 mins
Ticks.
Just the word alone makes us shudder. These teeny beasties can pack an almighty punch if they decide to attach themselves to your little loved one. Looking a little like beetles and often found in woody, grassy areas, they’ll most likely be living in areas with lots of deer, sheep or wildlife and though active throughout the year are more prevalent in the spring and autumn.
Ticks (unlike fleas) don’t fly or jump onto your cat but simply take their opportunity to crawl on board. Quite easy to spot or feel in your furball’s coat, ticks will appear and feel like a small bump on your cat’s coat and often cling on close to your cat’s head and ears. They start off super small, but their game is to latch on and suck the blood from your poor puss like little vampires, growing larger and can change colour as they fill up with blood – gross. They end up sort of looking like eggs attached to your cat and quite obvious to identify.
Ticks are not ideal for anyone, especially not latched onto your little one, so it’s important you remove these from your cat quickly and efficiently. Luckily pet shops will often sell tick removal tools and a quick google of removal methods should bring up some handy vids so you can learn the ‘twist and remove’ method.
If you discover a tiny tick and are ready to brave the removal process, here’s a handy guide to follow:
- It’s always a good idea to have someone else on hand to keep your cat calm and secure.
- Part the floof to the skin to get a good look at the little guy.
- Using a tick removal tool, place the remover around the body of the tick as close to your cat’s skin as possible.
- Slowly pull and twist the tick away from your cat, making sure not to squeeze the body.
- Once removed, check the tick is fully intact with no bodypart left behind (ew). Sometimes the legs can get lost, so make sure you can count all 8.
- Clean the area the tick had called home thoroughly with cat-safe antiseptic and you should be good to go!
Vets are always on hand should you want advice or an expert to do the job swiftly.
If you live in a particularly wooded area and your little nature lover spends a lot of time in the great outdoors, it’s definitely worth investing in some tick-prevention treatments. You can even sign up for flea & wormer treatments to get delivered to your door direct from the Republic.
