How to Remove A Tick on a Cat

Ticks haven many diseases which are dangerous if not deciding to cats and humans. If your cat gets a tick on it, it's extremely significant to remove the tick right and quickly, without harming the cat.

There are many old wives tales about tick removal. Near of them are very serious and make things much worse. Here is the right method of tick removal, as endorsed by veterinarians.

• Wear Gloves

Ticks carry many diseases. What you're about to do is likely to get you in close contact with a live tick. Wear gloves and be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after you are done removing the tick.

• Do Not Pre-Agitate the Tick

Ticks are living creatures and they react to their environment. You want this tick to be as calm and quiet as possible proper up until you snap it and yank at it. If you've been digging and urging at the tick while you figure out if it's a scab or a wart, leave the cat alone for 5 to 10 minutes afterwards. Let the tick quiet down. That way it will release its panic-grip and fall down to the quiet business of drinking the blood again. You want to get the tick unawares.

• Wrap the Cat in a Towel

This can hurt the cat a bit as you force the tick free. You want to do this as quickly as you can. We observe it best to wrap the cat gently in a towel to hold it still without pains it. Once you're at this stage, have the tweezers and a shotglass of alcohol at the ready so you're prepared for the subsquent steps.

• Grab the Tick Firmly by the HEAD with tweezers

Your target is to get the entire tick off of the cat. If you just yank by the body, you might only remove half of the tick. Get as close to the cat's skin as you can get with great tweezers.

NOTE : You do not want to do inane things like try to cut the tick with a match, drown the tick in oil or alcohol, or smother the tick with plastic wrap.

REMEMBER : The deadly part of the tick is in its saliva, which is already down in your pet's skin. Anything which antagonizes the tick is going to cause the tick to inject much more saliva in. You want to get that tick out before it even knows something is going on.

• Pull the Tick Straight Out Without Twisting

Again, the head of the tick is included into the cat's body. If you twist, you're likely to twist that head right off and leave it behind. It went in straight, it will come out straight. Yes, there are still times that a bit of head will be left behind. And again, it's not the head that is the problem, it's the saliva. So the cat's body will naturally force out the head after a short while. Do the best you can, but don't haunt if there's a small spot left.

• Drop the Tick Into Alcohol

Ticks are very resiliant and can survive just about anything, admitting drowning in water. They have an air sac that helps them survive. Still, alcohol is a poison. Drop the entire tick into alcohol and in about ten minutes they should be toast.