A Tick In A Cat Or Cat: How To Remove It Correctly At Home, What Is Dangerous, The Consequences Of A Bite

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-17 22:26

Ticks in cats: how to find and remove

It is generally accepted that blood-sucking ticks are more dangerous as carriers of infections for humans and dogs than for cats. Often, the owners themselves do not associate the deterioration of the pet's health with the bite of a bloodsucker. Indeed, cats suffer from tick-borne infections less often than dogs, but this does not reduce either the severity of these diseases, or the danger of some of them for humans.

Content

• 1 What types of blood-sucking ticks can threaten cats

  1.1 Photo gallery: the most common types of ticks

• 2 When to make a close inspection of the animal

  • 2.1 What a tick looks like on a cat's body

    2.1.1 Photo gallery: what a bloodsucker looks like on a cat

  • 2.2 Safety when examining a cat

• 3 How to remove a tick if it has not yet sucked

  3.1 How to understand if a tick has bitten a pet

• 4 How to pull out a sucked tick

  • 4.1 Photo Gallery: Tick Extraction Devices and Their Use

  • 4.2 What not to do when removing a tick

    4.2.1 Video: how to properly remove a tick from an animal

  • 4.3 What to do after removing the tick

    • 4.3.1 With tick
    • 4.3.2 With a cat

• 5 Why a tick bite is dangerous for a cat

  • 5.1 Tularemia

  • 5.2 Hemobartonellosis

    5.2.1 Video: Feline Infectious Anemia

  • 5.3 Pyroplasmosis
  • 5.4 Theileriosis
  • 5.5 Features for pregnant cats and kittens
• 6 How to protect your cat from ixodid ticks
• 7 Useful advice from veterinarians

What types of blood-sucking ticks can threaten cats

All blood-sucking ticks, they are also called ixodid, or pasture, pose a threat to the cat. On the territory of Russia, the most common mites are:

• Ixodes ricinus;
• Rhipicephalus sanguineus;
• Dermacentor reticulatus.

A cat can be bitten by any other ixodid tick - there is no fundamental difference.

Photo gallery: the most common types of ticks

The Ixodes ricinus mite is the most common type of bloodsuckers

The mite of the species Rhipicephalus sanguineus is the most frequent representative of this family in Russia

The Dermacentor reticalatus mite is a typical inhabitant of deciduous and mixed forests in Europe and Siberia

All these mites have common properties: they necessarily feed on blood. Both adult sexually mature ticks and their larvae - nymphs - attack.

Mites usually hide in grass, bushes, low vegetation. They are found everywhere - from city yards and squares to fields and forests. Even if the cat does not leave the house, there remains the risk of being attacked by a tick brought into the apartment by people or other animals (most often a dog), as well as together with mushrooms gathered in the forest, a wreath woven in the field, and herbs collected at the dacha.

Ticks are activated at an air temperature of +8 ° C, the peak of their activity occurs in spring and autumn. But the likelihood of a bite is not excluded even in winter, for example, near a heating main or during a thaw on a thawed lawn.

The good news is that not all ticks are contagious. The spectrum and frequency of diseases carried by ticks differ in different regions, and the most comprehensive information on a specific area can be obtained from the regional sanitary and epidemiological service.

When to make a close inspection of the animal

It is necessary to carefully examine the cat every time it returns from a walk. The mite is easily seen in light or short coats. It is almost impossible to see a non-sucked tick if the coat is dark, long and thick, so it is recommended to supplement the inspection with combing with a fine-toothed comb.

The difference in size between well-fed and hungry mites is quite large, so the former is not difficult to detect on the skin of the animal.

What a tick looks like on a cat's body

Ixodid ticks, regardless of the species, have common structural features:

• an oblong body with a small head;
• there is a shield on the body;
• four pairs of paws;
• length 3-4 mm;
• color - often different shades of black, gray and brown.

Nymph mites are smaller and have three pairs of paws. The tick is hard to the touch and moves quickly. In no case should you crush it, since these arachnids are not only carriers, but also natural reservoirs of diseases dangerous for animals and humans, the pathogens of which are transmitted from one generation of ticks to the next.

Having attacked the victim, the tick for some time (from half an hour to two hours) looks for the most convenient place for a bite. His saliva contains an anesthetic substance, so the bite remains unnoticed by the victim. Having bitten, the tick begins to suck blood and grows in size up to 1.5 cm, while acquiring a reddish tint and the shape of a bean.

Photo gallery: what a bloodsucker looks like on a cat

The tick chooses the bite site within 0.5-2 hours

Recently ingested ticks are difficult to detect on the skin of long-haired cats

The sucked mite increases in size up to 1-1.5 cm

Cat Examination Safety

The cat should be examined on a smooth, preferably light surface, in order to notice the fleeing tick in time. Provide good lighting. You cannot touch the tick with unprotected hands; all manipulations must be done with rubber gloves.

Examine the cat with rubber gloves

You should not examine the cat on a sofa, carpet, or any other place where an escaped tick can easily hide and attack again. In case a bloodsucker is found, a small sealed glass container should be ready.

How to remove a tick if it has not yet sucked

It is necessary to remove the tick with gloves, you can also put a plastic bag on your hand. The tick cannot be crushed, it must be placed in a bottle. Touching a bloodsucker itself is not dangerous, but there is no guarantee that when caught, the tick will not be crushed, and pathogens of dangerous infections will not end up on the skin and mucous membranes of a person.

A non-adherent tick must be burned. It should not be thrown into the trash or sewer - this will not destroy it.

How to tell if a tick has bitten a pet

If the tick moved freely, it is highly likely that it chose a site for the bite and did not have time to penetrate the skin. Signs of a tick bite do not have typical differences - the insertion site will look like a small tubercle of edema or inflammation with a small punctate wound from which bloody fluid can ooze, since the tick saliva contains substances that prevent blood clotting. The cat may scratch the bite.

A tick can dig in absolutely everywhere, but more often it is found in secluded places where thin skin, capillaries are close and where it will be difficult to comb it off with a paw. Therefore, most often bloodsuckers are found:

• in the axillary and groin areas;
• on the stomach;
• behind the ears;
• at the withers;
• on the front of the neck;
• in the area under the tail.

If the tick dug long ago, then its head and front legs may already be in the thickness of the skin. The head of this arachnid is very firmly fixed. To the touch, a sucked tick is a soft-elastic tubercle located where it was not before.

How to pull out a sucked tick

The longer an ingested tick remains on a cat, the higher the likelihood of transmitting an infectious dose of the pathogen to it, sufficient for the onset of the disease. The bloodsucker needs to be removed as quickly as possible, and a half hour to an hour spent traveling to the vet can be critical. It is best to remove the tick yourself. It is advisable that during the manipulation someone holds the cat.

The tick can be removed:

• using a special device;
• using improvised means - a clamp, tweezers, thread;
• twisting gently with a gloved hand.

There are a lot of special devices now, but not all of them are suitable, since many of them do not involve twisting the tick, but only this ensures complete extraction of the parasite. In addition, the instrument must be reliable, comfortable, and does not put pressure on the abdomen of the bloodsucker.

Photo gallery: tick extraction devices and their use

The Tick Twister hook allows you to grab the tick at the base of its proboscis and easily remove it with twisting movements entirely without putting pressure on the abdomen

Trix Tix Lasso also allows you to remove the tick completely and without pressure on it.

The Tick Twister hook is simply rotated to one side without changing the direction of rotation

Devices of this type should not be bought - they involve capturing and pulling out the tick, while its head will remain in the skin and cause suppuration

The principle of operation for really suitable tools is the same:

1. The loop or clamp is placed as close to the cat's skin as possible, to the base of the tick's proboscis;
2. The tick is fixed and removed with rotational movements.
3. You can rotate in any convenient direction. There is no pressure on the tick.

The Tick Twister hook costs 200-250 rubles, there are similar devices with a price around 100 rubles. The cost of Trix Tix Lasso is 300-400 rubles.

If you don't have a device, you will need to use tweezers or a clip. Do not grip the tick vertically or at an angle. The tips of the clamp or tweezers should be exactly parallel to the cat's skin, as close to it as possible. Then the clamp or tweezers are rotated around the axis.

If there is nothing at all at hand, you can, wearing a glove, grab the tick with your fingers and, without putting pressure on the abdomen, turn it to one side. The method is suitable for those with thin fingers.

An even less convenient option is to remove the tick with a thread. A loop of thread is put on the base of the proboscis as close to the skin as possible, and the tick is removed with twisting movements. The method is suitable for calm cats with short hair.

What not to do when removing a tick

It is not necessary to fill the tick with vegetable oil, as well as aggressive liquids - alcohol, acetone and others. The tick will not go away and is unlikely to loosen its grip. In most cases, it will die, the tone of the proboscis will drop, and its infected gastrointestinal contents will end up in the cat's bloodstream, significantly increasing the likelihood of infection.

Capture errors when removing a tick:

• jerks and pulling movements are unacceptable - the head will surely come off;

• do not grasp by the abdomen, the infected contents of the tick can enter the vessels of the cat.

  

  The tick should be grasped only at the base of the proboscis, without pressing on the abdomen

Video: how to properly remove a tick from an animal

What to do after removing the tick

After removing the tick, you need to make sure its integrity. The wound must be treated with hydrogen peroxide, dried and cauterized with iodine or brilliant green. If the cat is allergic, give the antihistamine prescribed by the veterinarian.

If the head of the tick still remains under the skin, then if the cat is calm, you can remove it like a splinter using a sterile syringe needle. If the attempt is unsuccessful, you will have to contact your veterinarian. The head of the tick must be removed without fail, otherwise a focus of purulent inflammation will form.

With a tick

The tick must be placed in a glass container with a secure lid and sent to the laboratory for research. The tick must wait for the dispatch in the refrigerator, it is better to put a piece of cotton wool soaked in water in a bottle. The tick must be delivered to the laboratory alive and as soon as possible. If there is no way to examine the tick, it must be burned.

After removing the tick, place it in a glass container and take it to the laboratory for research

If the veterinary laboratory does not take a tick for research (and this happens), I go to a regular medical laboratory and order a test for a number of pathogens of interest to me, including tularemia, since I live near a natural focus. The fact that the tick was removed from the animal need not be disclosed. Of the minuses - the study is truncated in comparison with the veterinary laboratory, since the danger to humans and animals does not coincide for all pathogens. Of the advantages - convenience and speed; in 1-2 days, the results will be sent to your email. In the case of a positive response from the laboratory, I would gain time both in the form of early treatment of the animal before the development of clinical manifestations, and for the prevention of the disease in myself, taking an antibiotic.

With cat

It is necessary to warn the veterinarian of the cat about her tick bite. The pet should be monitored for 2-3 weeks, since it is during this period that the incubation periods of most tick-borne infections fit.

You need to urgently contact your veterinarian when:

• behavior changes:

  • avoiding contact;
  • drowsiness;
  • lethargy, apathy;
• decrease or lack of appetite, refusal of treats;
• changes in the color of urine (contains an admixture of blood or looks brown);

• disorders of the digestive system:

  • nausea;
  • vomiting;
  • diarrhea;

• changes in the color of mucous membranes:

  • redness;
  • paleness;
  • yellowing;
• increased body temperature;
• enlarged lymph nodes;

• symptoms of damage to the nervous system:

  • unsteadiness of gait;
  • paresis (weakness of the paws);
• any other manifestations of cat ailment.

There are only a few hours to provide timely assistance, so the owner must not waste time.

Why a tick bite is dangerous for a cat

A tick bite for a cat is dangerous development:

• tularemia;
• hemobartonellosis;
• piroplasmosis;
• theileriosis;
• anemia (in case of mass sucking of ticks).

Cats and dogs are species resistant to tick-borne encephalitis pathogen and do not get sick with it.

Tularemia

Tularemia is an infection that is dangerous for both cats and humans, as well as other domestic animals, including rodents and birds. This is a natural focal disease, the causative agent is the bacterium Francisella tularensis. Tularemia foci are dispersed throughout the territory of our country.

Tularemia is very contagious; 10-50 bacteria are enough for a person to develop the disease. Human infection is possible by air, alimentary and contact routes. Transmission of bacteria through intact skin and mucous membranes is possible, as well as intrauterine infection. Wild animals serve as a natural reservoir.

The incubation period in humans is from several hours to 3–7 days; the cat has 4-12 days. Tularemia is transmitted from cat to person, no cases of transmission from person to person have been reported. A cat can also become infected by eating infected rodents.

The disease can be acute or worn out; the symptoms in cats and humans are similar. For a person, emergency prevention measures have been developed: this is vaccination (before it, an analysis is submitted, confirming that the person is not sick with tularemia at the time of vaccination) or antibiotic prophylaxis. There is no specific prophylaxis for animals.

Tularemia manifests itself:

• fever;
• inflammation of the lymph nodes with their subsequent suppuration;
• damage to the spleen, liver, lungs with the formation of abscesses;
• general weakness;
• ulceration of the oral mucosa;
• exhaustion.

Without treatment, the cat will die. It is treated well with timely diagnosis. During therapy, it is necessary to isolate the sick animal.

Hemobartonellosis

Haemobartonellosis in cats is caused by Haemobartonella felis, which affects red blood cells. The incubation period is 10-14 days. Clinical manifestations consist of:

• anemia;
• loss of appetite and weight;
• lethargy.

Fever attacks may occur. Attention is drawn to the change in the color of urine - it becomes darker.

Cats can also get this disease not only from ticks, but also during a fight with another cat. Unlike tularemia, hemobartonellosis is safe for humans. A sick cat easily develops associated infectious diseases. Without treatment, mortality can be as high as 30%; treated cats have a 1% mortality rate.

Video: feline infectious anemia

Pyroplasmosis

Pyroplasmosis in cats is caused by Babesia Felis. It is diagnosed in Russia so far in isolated cases, mainly in animals aged 1-3 years, more often in the Siamese breed. This pathogen infects red blood cells, causing them to hemolysis (destruction), which leads to:

• the development of anemia;
• darkening of urine;
• jaundice;
• weakness;
• loss of weight and appetite;
• fever.

Without treatment, the cat will die. The disease is safe for humans.

Mass decay of affected red blood cells is manifested by jaundice

Theileriosis

Theileriosis occurs in the southern regions of Russia:

• Grozny region;
• Rostov region;
• south of the Stavropol Territory.

In other regions, cases are rare. It is caused by Theileria Felis, which affects the bone marrow, leukocytes, liver, kidneys, and lungs.

The disease manifests itself:

• general oppression;
• weight loss;
• severe dehydration;
• fever;
• enlargement of the spleen and lymph nodes;
• pallor of the mucous membranes;
• shortness of breath.

In the absence of therapy, coma and death occurs. Mortality reaches 90%. The disease has been little studied, and experience in its treatment is limited. The disease is safe for humans.

Features for pregnant cats and kittens

The special vulnerability of this category belongs to the peculiarities of pregnant cats and kittens, since both have reduced immunity. Therefore, one should expect them to have an earlier onset of the disease and a more aggressive course of it. Antibacterial therapy is indicated for pregnant cats for health reasons, and the life of an adult will be higher here than the successful outcome of her pregnancy. Kittens are also shown antibacterial and supportive therapy. The tactics of managing each specific case is chosen by the individually treating veterinarian.

How to protect your cat from ixodid ticks

Since favorable treatment outcomes for tick-borne infections are not always guaranteed, protecting the cat from attack by bloodsuckers is of particular importance. For this, collars, sprays, drops on the withers are used. It should be noted that not all manufacturers include in their formulations substances that are destructive for ticks, so you should always carefully read the annotation to the product.

Usually, anti-tick products contain the following substances:

• fipronil;
• etofenprox;
• permethrin;
• selamectin;
• ivermectin;
• pyriproxyfen.

There are many products for protection against ticks, with different methods of application and in different price categories. Reliable manufacturers are:

• "Merial";
• "Leopard";
• "Hartz";
• Bayer.

Frontline spray from the Merial company deserves special attention, it can be used both in pregnant and lactating cats, and in kittens from 2 days of age.

Frontline spray is suitable for pregnant cats and kittens

Helpful advice from veterinarians

Contrary to the firm belief that there is no threat to cats from ixodid ticks, it exists. Tick-borne tularemia is also dangerous to humans. Theileriosis is rare, poorly understood, but has catastrophic mortality. Pyroplasmosis of cats, apparently, is only entering the epidemiological arena. Hemobartonellosis kills pets quietly and unnoticed. Low alertness to tick-borne infections in cats leads to the fact that these diseases are diagnosed late and less well treated. There is also a tendency to neglect tick protection in cats, which is a major factor in preventing infections.