ticks

sophie1234

most of my family have gone away for the month and left me in charge of pet duty since leaving my cat has begun to get ticks lots of them none of my animals have ever had ticks before so i went to the vet and he gave me tick treatment for the dog and cat the dog has remained tick free but the cat came home with 20 of them and i brought her back to the vet and he removed them and reassured me that most were dead and waiting to fall off so i took her home and out she went and she has returned with 3 more im worried that they may be living in my house is this possible? im very freaked out as the animals have never had them before!! can they live in the house? if not does anyone no any treatments that will stop them actually going onto the cat? i really dont like them!! and does any one no how i can de tick my house if its the case that they have made home there i have kept the cat confined to one room.

Graces7

Not sure what the vet meant by dead; after three days they are full of blood and fall off to live on that, then start all over.

Very much alive still.

They are tiny creatures when they attach; like wee chocolate brown spiders. We only notice them when they are swelled up.

And they do fall off after three days.

This is not your fault and not the house etc. No need to confine the cat either.

Please don't worry!

They are a plague in Ireland now.

They live usually in long grass, especially in sheep country; our cats used to come in well laden with them, until we moved very high up; only seen one in the two months up here.

So worry not re the house; the cat is bringing them in from outside.

No tick treatment has ever worked on my cats. I simply put a tissue over and pull them out with my fingers; used to use tweezers.

Some people suggest many other things, but for me that has always been the simplest way.

It takes a little practice, but I have never had the head left in and you get used to feeling when the tick lets go.

I never took the cats to a vet either; we were always too far away and i checked online as you are doing.

Here they rarely carry disease; my cats would be long dead else.

They are revolting creatures, but copeable!

sophie1234 wrote: »

most of my family have gone away for the month and left me in charge of pet duty since leaving my cat has begun to get ticks lots of them none of my animals have ever had ticks before so i went to the vet and he gave me tick treatment for the dog and cat the dog has remained tick free but the cat came home with 20 of them and i brought her back to the vet and he removed them and reassured me that most were dead and waiting to fall off so i took her home and out she went and she has returned with 3 more im worried that they may be living in my house is this possible? im very freaked out as the animals have never had them before!! can they live in the house? if not does anyone no any treatments that will stop them actually going onto the cat? i really dont like them!! and does any one no how i can de tick my house if its the case that they have made home there i have kept the cat confined to one room.

sophie1234

Well ge said the treatment go's into her bloodstream tey latch on and begin takin her blood and the poisin will kill them and they will fall off and will not move cuz they are dead my car is very "vicous" so i cant hold her to take them off she jus attacks plus i hav a huge phobia of the ticks they freak me out! I jus dont no why now after 20years of havin cats dogs that when the rest of the family leave they begin to apear? I dnt want to get any on me either and i jus want to find a simple way of gettin rid of them? When they com off her to find a new host will they still be big and white or do they go back to the brown spider state? If the heads emain in them will the while body grow again as they fill with blood?

Ado86

You should NEVER pull out ticks !!! When you do this you can leave some of their legs in your cat or dog, and this can cause an allergic reaction! The best way is to put some alcohol on them, this will kill the tick, leave about 20 mins and then try remove them, very gently and inspect the tick afterwards to ensure you have it all!

Graces7

This is not true; period. It is one of those things that gets put about. .

We have removed literally hundreds of ticks from our cats and dogs and never once anything left; you can "feel" them letting go.

It is fast, easier on the cat also.

Bette then the alcohol which does not always work. Nor do lighted cigarettes or covering the tick with grease etc etc etc.

NB This method was arrived at after long trials of other methods

Occasionally the cat will scratch one out and part will be left; but never have we seen any reaction to that either.

Ado86 wrote: »

You should NEVER pull out ticks !!! When you do this you can leave some of their legs in your cat or dog, and this can cause an allergic reaction! The best way is to put some alcohol on them, this will kill the tick, leave about 20 mins and then try remove them, very gently and inspect the tick afterwards to ensure you have it all!

Graces7

I kn ow; they are utterly revolting, but sometimes we have to do these things, and it does get easier as you get used to it

We have tried thestuff they sell and it does not work for us; there are other threads here where others say the same.

And clearly it has not worked for you either.

Quite honestly given the cat being the way she is? I would leave them to fall off themselves.

Our cats are very amenable so it is easy.

They will not survive indoors either.

When we were where we got hundreds. I would occasionally get one crawling up my hand. That is how I know what they look like!

They go for warm places; armpits etc.

But if you are not handling the cat much?

Why are there so many? Something to do with farmers and their tick control these days.

NB they may well have always been there; maybe the family did not mention it!

Please, do not worry. Just do the best you can.

They live off the blood they have sucked... Then need another feed...

And no; if the head is left that is that. But in all these years of pulling them out I have never had that happen.

sophie1234 wrote: »

Well ge said the treatment go's into her bloodstream tey latch on and begin takin her blood and the poisin will kill them and they will fall off and will not move cuz they are dead my car is very "vicous" so i cant hold her to take them off she jus attacks plus i hav a huge phobia of the ticks they freak me out! I jus dont no why now after 20years of havin cats dogs that when the rest of the family leave they begin to apear? I dnt want to get any on me either and i jus want to find a simple way of gettin rid of them? When they com off her to find a new host will they still be big and white or do they go back to the brown spider state? If the heads emain in them will the while body grow again as they fill with blood?

kildara

OP, you can get a little tool for taking out ticks - its called an O'Tom Tick Twister.
Costs a few pound in a chemist or the vets.
It is generally recommended not to pull them out with your fingers as you can crush the tick pushing its contents into the open wound. Same is said of covering them in vaseline/burning them etc.

sophie1234

wow thanks for all the help guys you are starting to reasure me i have seen that tick twister online looks great but i could find it in my vet or pet shop but ill keep an eye out thanks a mill guys and any other suggestions welcome

Magenta

Don't put alcohol on them, your cat's first instinct will be to lick it and ingesting alcohol isnt going to do her any good.

K_user

Hi Sophie, as others have said ticks come from the long grass and its more to do where your pet has been than anything you've done.

We have two dogs and two cats. One of the dogs and neither cat ever seem to get ticks. Yet the newest dog got a new one every day for a few weeks at the end of the summer. Its just something you have little control over.

Some people will tell you to pull them, others to leave them till they fall off, others will recommend various treatments, but the final call is yours. Do what you feel comfortable with.

Chances are your cat has found a new hunting ground, this has led to an increase in ticks. The best thing you can do is wait till your family get home and find out if this has happened before.

Graces7

Amen to this. Each has a way of coping.

I started using fingers when the tweezers went missing; and you learn to pull without squeezing; my cats are very docile and tolerant thankfully...

So now it is simply fingers and tissue. After several hundred!

Amazing that now we have moved higher up into mountains, no ticks. Too ***** cold up here!

And yes, OP, just do the best you can where and how you are.

And worry not.... the cat will be fine. Which is what matters.

K_user wrote: »

Hi Sophie, as others have said ticks come from the long grass and its more to do where your pet has been than anything you've done.

We have two dogs and two cats. One of the dogs and neither cat ever seem to get ticks. Yet the newest dog got a new one every day for a few weeks at the end of the summer. Its just something you have little control over.

Some people will tell you to pull them, others to leave them till they fall off, others will recommend various treatments, but the final call is yours. Do what you feel comfortable with.

Chances are your cat has found a new hunting ground, this has led to an increase in ticks. The best thing you can do is wait till your family get home and find out if this has happened before.