Removing ticks from cats

As soon as it gets warmer, not only do we humans and our cats prefer to go outside, ticks also become more active from an outside temperature of 7 degrees. The bloodsuckers keep cat owners of outdoor cats on their toes, but they are not only annoying, but can also be dangerous for their host. Our tips will help you remove ticks from your cat and understand when it's better to take your cat to the vet.

Why should I remove ticks from my cat?

The bloodsuckers crawl around on their host until they have found the optimal spot: they prefer to sting the head, ears or armpits of the four-legged friends with their mouthparts - the skin there is particularly soft. Ticks can not only rob you and your cat of their last nerve, but can also transmit various diseases via saliva, depending on the type of tick :

• Anaplasmosis: Ticks that carry the pathogen anaplasma can infect the host with the disease through their bite. These bacteria attack the sick animal's white blood cells, causing symptoms such as fever, weight loss, or apathy.

• Lyme disease: Lyme disease is difficult to detect in cats, but can be dangerous. The pathogens Borrelia bacteria that enter the blood cause symptoms such as joint inflammation, paralysis or loss of appetite.

• Babesiosis: In this disease, bacteria destroy the red blood cells and thus cause anemia, weakness, fever and loss of appetite. In the worst case, it can lead to organ failure.

Although cats rarely develop diseases from tick bites, you should take the parasites seriously to prevent possible infections.

Is your cat full of ticks? What you can do

Outdoor cats are particularly susceptible to being attacked by parasites such as ticks and fleas on their forays. As a cat owner, you should therefore check the skin and fur of your velvet paw regularly. If you discover a tick on your furry friend, you can remove it with these tools :

• Tick card
• Tick forecaps
• Tick hook
• Tick tweezers
• Tick lasso/snare

The most convenient way is to remove it with a tick hook, which allows you to easily remove the tick in these steps:

Do cats remove ticks themselves?

Since cats are very clean animals, they usually remove ticks themselves. In doing so, they try to bite off or scrape off the parasite. However, ticks often sit in places that are difficult for your cat to reach , such as the head or neck. Therefore, you should always keep an eye on your pet in order to be able to quickly discover and remove the pests.

Removing ticks from your cat – without tick tweezers

If you try to pull out a tick with your bare hands, you run the risk of crushing it, which could allow pathogens to enter your cat's bloodstream and yours as well. If you don't have tick tweezers or a tick hook at hand, it's best to use tweezers. Tick removal with tweezers works like this:

1. Relax: Only remove a tick when your cat is relaxed and calm . If your cat is excited or anxious, it may move jerkily and the tick may be crushed when trying to pull it.
2. Create space: Use your fingers to sweep the fur around the tick bite to the side so that you can see the tick clearly.
3. Grab the tick: Now gently grasp the tick with the tweezers. Be careful not to push too hard so you don't accidentally crush them.
4. Pull the tick: Now you can pull the tick out slowly and as straight as possible with the lightly gripped tweezers. Please do not twist or pull out jerkily with the tweezers!
5. Dispose of the parasite: Done! Once you have successfully freed your pet from the torturous spirit, you have to get rid of the tick - either you put it between kitchen paper and crush it with an object or you kill it in at least 40% alcohol . By the way, you should not flush the tick down the sink or toilet, as they are viable in the water for up to 3 weeks.
6. Follow-up treatment of your cat: If your four-legged friend is tick-free, you should disinfect the bite sites and observe them for a few weeks. This way you can make sure that the area does not become inflamed. If you notice any changes in the skin, it is best to go to a veterinarian.

To prevent ticks and other parasites such as fleas, you can use various means, especially for outdoor cats :

• Spot-ons are an ideal tick protection. You regularly put these on your cat's fur. The active ingredients contained scare away ticks and kill them. Make sure to only use preparations that are specifically suitable for cats.

• Other ways to prevent ticks include sprays that you spray all over the cat's body, and

• Collars that contain the active ingredients that deter ticks. However, only use collars with a protective mechanism so that they open if your cat gets stuck on bushes, for example, so that they don't hurt themselves.

Have your cat's tick removed by a veterinarian – these are the costs

If the tick is located in a sensitive area such as your cat's eye, neck or ears, or if the arachnid simply cannot be removed from you, it is best to take it to the veterinarian. While the cost of having a tick removed by the veterinarian is based on the veterinarian's fee schedule, it can vary depending on the practice. As a rule, they are between 10 and 30 euros and can be higher if you come to the practice outside of office hours. At the vet, however, you can be sure that your velvet paw is in good hands and that the tick is completely removed.

How to remove a tick from a cat – what you should pay attention to

It's important to properly remove a tick from your cat to prevent disease. Keep these tips in mind when pulling the tick:

• Grasp the tick as close as possible to the bite site with your tool such as tweezers – this will make it easier to pull the entire tick.

• Avoid twisting movements when pulling with the tweezers! You may catch the tick, but there is a risk that its mouthparts will get stuck.

• Don 't just leave the tick stuck. The longer the tick sucks your cat's blood, the greater the risk of transmitting a disease.

• Avoid pre-treatment with certain home remedies. Ticks don't just fall off when drizzled with alcohol or oils. It can even happen that the parasite vomits and releases pathogens into the cat. While tea tree oil or lavender oil can be beneficial in dogs, they can cause problems in cats in larger amounts because they lack enzymes to break down the oils.

• Watch the tick bite! Even if you can't always see the bite site through the cat's fur, you should take time to look at your cat's skin every day after a tick bite - this way you can react quickly if changes such as inflammation appear.