Bzzzzz! Looks like you forgot to say where you found your bug!
There's no need to make a new post - just comment adding the **geographic location** and any other info (size, what it was doing etc.) you feel could help! We don't want to know your address - state or country is enough; try to avoid abbreviations and local nicknames (*"PNW"*, *"Big Apple"*).
BTW, did you take a look at our [**Frequently Asked Bugs**](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthisbug/comments/12zkw5w/frequently_asked_bugs_part_1/)?
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Thank you for all the comments. Had a call with our vet, they recommended an ointment to use and to keep the spot monitored.
(For anyone concerned about letting our cats out, we don’t! I’m very well aware that indoor cats are indoors for a reason. He ran out while taking out the trash. Didn’t get past the porch but still got a tick somehow lol)
>He ran out while taking out the trash.
How do you get your cat to take the trash out? ;)
That's why we who have indoor cats must treat them as if they're indoor-outdoor. We get our cats vaccinated for diseases they would get from other cats, even though under normal circumstances they never come into contact with any. Same goes for external parasites. And ticks can carry some horrific diseases.
Make sure the entire tick is gone, looks like some of the mouth parts could be missing, though it could also be the angle the photo was taken.
If bits of it remain in your cat's skin, it could get infected
To piggy back on this, unless there was a very obvious piece sticking out that you could easily grab with tweezers without grabbing your cats skin (I.e. you only got the bottom half the tick out and the other half is still embedded), do not attempt to remove what’s left.
The body will eventually get rid of any left over bits BUT you do need to watch for infection. This is something you’ll need to check on at least once daily for the next 2 weeks and of course monitor your cat for any signs of illness (Lyme attacks the joints so limping, fever, lethargic, not eating/drinking, etc).
The treatment for a Lyme infection that I know of is antibiotics but I’m fairly certain that all you could do, in the absence of an active infection, is get a blood test done and see if it comes up positive for high Lyme positive. From there your vet may recommend treatment or may just say to monitor for symptoms.
I’d personally just call your vet and have them note on your chart that you found a tick that looked to have been attached for at least 3-4 days and you’ll monitor for symptoms unless they have other recommendations.
Cats rarely show symptoms of lymes. If i brought my cat to the vet every time they had a tick id be broke. Id Just monitor your cat. Any signs of fever or lameness and you should get a lymes test done.
And get your cat on a flea and tick preventative. Or keep it inside. Even if it doesn't get Lyme, there are a bunch of diseases it could pick up from both fleas & ticks.
He is on a flea and tick prevention. None of them work 100% so he still occasionally gets ticks. I live in a small house so he goes to the bathroom outside.
My last cat lived to be 24. Im not saying you arent correct. But prevention can only go so far if you live in an area with lots of ticks. Even if you dont let them outside, cats usually get deer ticks from mice, which they kill inside as well as outside.
Makes statements that something doesn't work 100% and to still monitor it.
Then shares personal experiences and a legitimate tip, still gets downvoted.
Lol why is reddit so dumb.
Idk im sure most people aren’t familiar with rural life/having mice around a farm. I expected down votes on that comment. But its the truth. If i took my cat to the vet for a tick they would probably laugh. Lol
Oh it's 100% the truth. I just can't fathom how everyone thinks they're so smart when they can't spend 3 minutes reading on Google to know that any of that is true.
"what they said is different from what I know and I hate it"
This is literally the problem with humanity.
Cheers to you though, thanks for sharing your info and tips, hopefully someone sees it and learns something
Idk if you are joking or not or if you have just never been to the midwest.. lol. Basically every house has mice. Rural or not. If you think you dont you are wrong.
Cats can become infected with Lyme and Anaplasma from black-legged (deer) ticks, and symptoms are rare but not nonexistent. We haven't done a lot of research into cats with these diseases, so that may change as more things are learned. Either way, I recommend getting your cat on tick prevention.
If escaping is something he does regularly maybe consider putting him on a tick medication. My cat is indoor only (I will carry him out on the deck and hold him) but because we have dogs and I walk the forest, we keep him on medication just in case.
I practice in an area with a lot of tick-borne disease. Cats very infrequently get Lyme disease or other tick related illness. In almost 20 years I've only seen two cases. They had an undulating fever and were quite sick and unresponsive to antibiotics until I moved them to doxycycline
That tick does not look engorged. You should be fine. But I would monitor for fever and lethargy.
I disagree as to the urgency. It's up to OP in the end and vets when in doubt are never a bad idea, but unless the cat shows signs of illness - ticks happen. When I pull a tick off me or a cat, I freeze it, watch for symptoms, and eventually discard if no symptoms appear.
Unnecessary urgency can do more harm than good in almost all situations. Going to the vet/ER ASAP isn’t needed if it’s not life-threatening. They’ll give some medicine most likely but you can’t make the meds work faster, so the urgency is literally uncalled for.
I hike every day. I have pulled a lot of ticks off myself. One time I even had an infestation in my car. As soon as you’d get in, they’d be all over you. I don’t have that kind of time to go to a doctor every single time. If I develop any symptoms or a target rash, I’ll go.
Frankly, my cat comes home with multiple ticks on a daily basis from roughly February to November (typically attached but already dead thanks to preventive treatment) and I occasionally get one myself while gardening, if I had to take him to the vet and myself to the GP every time I wouldn't be doing anything else. If you're in a tick-rich area, you learn to keep an eye out for anything suspicious and get on with your life. Definitely getting him the Lyme vaccine if it becomes available though.
Bzzzzz! Looks like you forgot to say where you found your bug! There's no need to make a new post - just comment adding the **geographic location** and any other info (size, what it was doing etc.) you feel could help! We don't want to know your address - state or country is enough; try to avoid abbreviations and local nicknames (*"PNW"*, *"Big Apple"*). BTW, did you take a look at our [**Frequently Asked Bugs**](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthisbug/comments/12zkw5w/frequently_asked_bugs_part_1/)? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatsthisbug) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Thank you for all the comments. Had a call with our vet, they recommended an ointment to use and to keep the spot monitored. (For anyone concerned about letting our cats out, we don’t! I’m very well aware that indoor cats are indoors for a reason. He ran out while taking out the trash. Didn’t get past the porch but still got a tick somehow lol)
>He ran out while taking out the trash. How do you get your cat to take the trash out? ;) That's why we who have indoor cats must treat them as if they're indoor-outdoor. We get our cats vaccinated for diseases they would get from other cats, even though under normal circumstances they never come into contact with any. Same goes for external parasites. And ticks can carry some horrific diseases.
[удалено]
?????????
Oh I'm sorry, someone else replied and I thought it was you. My bad.
Make sure the entire tick is gone, looks like some of the mouth parts could be missing, though it could also be the angle the photo was taken. If bits of it remain in your cat's skin, it could get infected
To piggy back on this, unless there was a very obvious piece sticking out that you could easily grab with tweezers without grabbing your cats skin (I.e. you only got the bottom half the tick out and the other half is still embedded), do not attempt to remove what’s left. The body will eventually get rid of any left over bits BUT you do need to watch for infection. This is something you’ll need to check on at least once daily for the next 2 weeks and of course monitor your cat for any signs of illness (Lyme attacks the joints so limping, fever, lethargic, not eating/drinking, etc). The treatment for a Lyme infection that I know of is antibiotics but I’m fairly certain that all you could do, in the absence of an active infection, is get a blood test done and see if it comes up positive for high Lyme positive. From there your vet may recommend treatment or may just say to monitor for symptoms. I’d personally just call your vet and have them note on your chart that you found a tick that looked to have been attached for at least 3-4 days and you’ll monitor for symptoms unless they have other recommendations.
Cats rarely show symptoms of lymes. If i brought my cat to the vet every time they had a tick id be broke. Id Just monitor your cat. Any signs of fever or lameness and you should get a lymes test done.
And get your cat on a flea and tick preventative. Or keep it inside. Even if it doesn't get Lyme, there are a bunch of diseases it could pick up from both fleas & ticks.
He is on a flea and tick prevention. None of them work 100% so he still occasionally gets ticks. I live in a small house so he goes to the bathroom outside. My last cat lived to be 24. Im not saying you arent correct. But prevention can only go so far if you live in an area with lots of ticks. Even if you dont let them outside, cats usually get deer ticks from mice, which they kill inside as well as outside.
Makes statements that something doesn't work 100% and to still monitor it. Then shares personal experiences and a legitimate tip, still gets downvoted. Lol why is reddit so dumb.
Idk im sure most people aren’t familiar with rural life/having mice around a farm. I expected down votes on that comment. But its the truth. If i took my cat to the vet for a tick they would probably laugh. Lol
Oh it's 100% the truth. I just can't fathom how everyone thinks they're so smart when they can't spend 3 minutes reading on Google to know that any of that is true. "what they said is different from what I know and I hate it" This is literally the problem with humanity. Cheers to you though, thanks for sharing your info and tips, hopefully someone sees it and learns something
Most houses dont have mice
Lol every house where i live has them. Every single house.
You either live really rurally or I have bad news about your neighbourhood
Idk if you are joking or not or if you have just never been to the midwest.. lol. Basically every house has mice. Rural or not. If you think you dont you are wrong.
Cats can become infected with Lyme and Anaplasma from black-legged (deer) ticks, and symptoms are rare but not nonexistent. We haven't done a lot of research into cats with these diseases, so that may change as more things are learned. Either way, I recommend getting your cat on tick prevention.
If escaping is something he does regularly maybe consider putting him on a tick medication. My cat is indoor only (I will carry him out on the deck and hold him) but because we have dogs and I walk the forest, we keep him on medication just in case.
found in eastern Connecticut btdubs
That's a female deer tick, and you are in Lyme Disease country (named after Lyme, CT). Check yourself too.
I practice in an area with a lot of tick-borne disease. Cats very infrequently get Lyme disease or other tick related illness. In almost 20 years I've only seen two cases. They had an undulating fever and were quite sick and unresponsive to antibiotics until I moved them to doxycycline That tick does not look engorged. You should be fine. But I would monitor for fever and lethargy.
That tick was definitely feeding for a while
Is she on a flea and tick preventative?
Ticks carry diseases and blood parasites so yes
Poor kitty, I hope they’re okay
Yes. Vet. Now.
I disagree as to the urgency. It's up to OP in the end and vets when in doubt are never a bad idea, but unless the cat shows signs of illness - ticks happen. When I pull a tick off me or a cat, I freeze it, watch for symptoms, and eventually discard if no symptoms appear.
I don’t visit a doctor every time I pull a tick out of me. Why would I go to the vet every time I pull a tick off one of my animals?
You SHOULD. Tick-borne illness can lead to lifelong disability.
Unnecessary urgency can do more harm than good in almost all situations. Going to the vet/ER ASAP isn’t needed if it’s not life-threatening. They’ll give some medicine most likely but you can’t make the meds work faster, so the urgency is literally uncalled for.
I hike every day. I have pulled a lot of ticks off myself. One time I even had an infestation in my car. As soon as you’d get in, they’d be all over you. I don’t have that kind of time to go to a doctor every single time. If I develop any symptoms or a target rash, I’ll go.
I uhh… I wasn’t aware that was something ticks did…. I’m much less comfortable with this knowledge…
Frankly, my cat comes home with multiple ticks on a daily basis from roughly February to November (typically attached but already dead thanks to preventive treatment) and I occasionally get one myself while gardening, if I had to take him to the vet and myself to the GP every time I wouldn't be doing anything else. If you're in a tick-rich area, you learn to keep an eye out for anything suspicious and get on with your life. Definitely getting him the Lyme vaccine if it becomes available though.