My cat has a tick and I am big cry baby who doesn’t know what to do.
I think that the tick has been in her neck for a few days. She has not been outside since Tuesday. It is pretty well imbedded in her next.
I tried to pull it out with tweezers like I have done with ticks in the past. I accidentally pulled it in half. Then I tried putting alcohol on it and pulling it out by hand. It won’t budge. I am afraid that if I use the tweezers again I will break it even more.
Does anyone know what to do about a stubborn tick? Will it make her sick if I leave it till tomorrow afternoon and bring her by the vet then?
I’ve always heard you should coat it with Vaseline or somesuch. It will come out voluntarily rather than suffocate. Of course, if you’ve already pulled it in half, it’s probably not too worried about its air supply any more.
The tick is dead. Your choices are a vet or let nature take its course. Don’t worry, the infection, if any, will be minor.
In the future, apply heat (ah, the advantages of being a cigarette smoker) to the tick and it will back up of its own accord. Or try Smeghead’s suggestion with alcohol to make the tick back out for air.
(And I thought only watch dogs had ticks!)
Thanks Acidhead. I guess my main worry is infection. I don’t really know much about ticks except that you should get them out as soon as possible. I am probably a worry wort but I am not going to be able to sleep tonight if my cat still has that thing in her next.
I don’t think the vet would like me to call the emergency number over a tick. 
Uggh! I mean Acidkid. I am sorry. I really should go to bed.
Zumba,
Don’t worry too much. The vet can get the rest of the tick off/out and then clean the area. Cats aren’t nearly as susceptible to tick diseases as dogs are, so your kitty should be just fine.
If you are having trouble with ticks in your area, ask your vet about topical treatments you can use on kitty to keep them off and follow the directions exactly on how to apply it, so she can’t lick it off.
If you find another tick, douse it with alcohol, wait a minute or two and then use tweezers to get it off, or buy one of those tick remover things at the pet store. They work quite well. With tweezers you need to grab the tick as close to its head as possible to get it all off. The sooner you find the tick, the easier it is to get it off, too.
Try to avoid touching the tick yourself at all costs. People are much more susceptible to tick-borne diseases than cats are.
Give your kitty a pat for me :).
Ow! OOOOWWWW! My sides hurt!
Whew. Good one, jarbaby.
And you know what?
I almost didn’t say:
'cuz you know someone’s gonna come along and say something, but then I thought aw, hell, let jarbaby have her fun :D.
(BTW, you’re going to be a really cool mom - wish you could be mine!)
Now let’s be careful whose kitties we pat out there (and Zumba, I hope you got the tick taken care of).
I got the tick out!
Thank you everyone for your support. I am just very squeamish about bugs. Ticks look like small round blood sucking spiders. The only thing I hate more then a bug that looks like a spider is a spider.
It hurt my poor kitty. She meowed at me. But, she is now happily eating a can of tuna fish and purring loudly. I think she will forgive me.
I think that it is time to pet my kitty.
Zumba,
Glad everything is OK again!
FWIW, I was a part-time pet sitter for 5 years and I also do greyhound adoption and rescue. So I can’t tell you how many times I’ve yanked ticks. And I’m not squeamish about bugs, but ticks are way up on the gross scale for me. Not only because they swell up after eating a blood meal off of your pet (that’s gross enough), but because they do carry some pretty bad illnesses. Cats happen to be lucky enough to be very resistant to them though.
I know you’ll be spoiling her this weekend :).
