Cats are so low to the ground it is easy for them to pick up a tick or two on their adventures. These ticks can dig in for the ride too. They stick their little heads under the skin to suck the blood for nourishment. The ticks on cats can be a problem though that has to be dealt with. These ticks will have to be removed for the health of the cat. You see ticks are great at spreading diseases.

One disease they can spread is Lyme disease. If a tick is allowed to be on the cat too long it can develop this disease. This is a bacterial infection given to the cat by the ticks. Luckily you can’t catch this disease from your cat only from the ticks.

See the ticks get on wild animals like deer and mice that have the bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, which cause the Lyme disease. Then the ticks have a nice meal of blood from these animals. The ticks then jump onto the cat and bite it. This gives the cat Lyme disease.

Symptoms for Lyme disease are not bad in cats as they would be for you. You need to look for the following symptoms in cat when they have this disease: lameness, arthritis, joint swelling and pain, lack of appetite, fever, swollen lymph nodes, lethargy, dehydration, and in real severe case kidney failure could occur.

So you can see why it is so important to remove any ticks from your cat quickly. If you have not done this before you are probably wondering how to get these clingy creatures off safely. Read on to discover a method for removing ticks.

Now if you are too squeamish to remove the tick yourself you can make a trip to the veterinarian to get it removed. This could cost you some money though that you may not want to spend. Instead grab your plastic gloves and your tweezers. You grab the tick on its head right at the skin of the cat. Gently pull to extract the tick from the skin. You don’t want to pop the tick’s body though this could cause bacteria to get into your cat’s system through their skin. Make sure to get all the head of the tick out too.

You can kill the tick by with a paper towel but not your bare fingers. Throw the tick in the trash afterwards. Remember do not touch the tick bare-handed at all. If you do not want to go through this removal process all the time do something to prevent the ticks from getting on your cat.

You can use preventatives from topically-applied ones to collars. Just make sure all these products are made just for cats. These will keep the ticks and fleas at bay. Also if your yard is a source of ticks you may want to treat your yard with a preventative safe for cats. You can protect your home by treating it too. Just make sure your cat is not present at the time. The ticks on cats can be a problem but hopefully now you understand how to handle it better now.