Attention all furry animal owners...

[kiticatkiticat]

I've never seen a tick, but last night while petting my 14 year old princess, Murphy (a cat), I felt two bumps on her skin. By her chin and on her neck. Larger bumps. At closer inspection, all I could make out was something hard clinger to her skin and wrapped in her fur. She didn't like the extra attention and it seemed to bother her for me to touch them. So I really didn't get a good look. Can anyone tell me what I'm looking for? She's an indoor cat that goes out on the 2nd floor balcony from time to time, but my hubby is an avid outdoorsman. If it is Tick what do I do to remove it, I've heard that their heads can break off and travel throughthe bloodstream until it paralyses and kills the animal. Can someone please help me??? I don't have much money right now either for the vet unless it's a must, besides she's an explosive kitty at the doctors.

[Kayl]

The heads won't break off, but if you don't get the mouth parts out it can cause an infection.

Ticks look like black or dark gray bumps, either flat or, if the tick has fed, round. There are a couple ways to get them off. You can use a pair of tweezers--just be careful to get the mouth parts off or be ready with hydrogen peroxide in case it gets infected. Or, the trick my mom used, light a match, let it burn for a minute, blow it out, and touch the hot end to the tick. Supposedly it makes them back out, and if you don't miss you won't hurt your cat.

If the cat won't sit still, you may need three people to see--two to hold the cat and one to get the ticks off, if that's what they are. If the bumps aren't ticks, I'd suggest getting your vet to check them out.

Another possiblity for the bumps is that they are scabs. My cat will get them on his chin and neck every now and then. I'm never sure if they're from his claws digging into his skin accidentally or from playing with the other cats. I just pick them off, make sure they're not bleeding, and let him go.

[BadBlood]

Don't use the match trick, it doesn't work, and can cause harm to your pet for obvious reasons.
If you put rubbing alcohol on the tick, it will cause the tick to get sleepy and you can remove it with less chance of the head breaking off. If the head does break off it may have to be surgically removed, as it can cause a systemic infection and lead to paralysis as you mentioned.

[andreaS15]

If you havn't removed one before, take your cat to the Vet to get it done, this way you will get to know for sure "if" it is a Tick or not, it woudl suck to try and pul off a mole thats attached to the poor kitty.
(there are Tick removers you can buy, we used to use them @ the Vet i worked @)

[BreakingDaHabit]

You'd know if it was a tick..even if you've never seen one before.. You can see heads, eyes and legs moving. They're flat and black/dark brown.

If it looks like a green grape with legs..then it's a tick full of blood.

This site has a pic of one..
http://core2.gsfc.nasa.gov/personal_pages/gunther/Bolivia/images/biology/tick.JPG

They're easy to remove. I'm gross and just use my fingers to pull it out. lol most people use tweezers. You just got to get a good grip on it and do it fast.