Tick - Remove Myself or Vets?

[ItMustBeBunnies]

My cat has picked up a tick on her eyelid (that light blob above her eye in the pic). I've put her latest dose of Advocate on her neck (she was due it anyway).

Should I get the tweezers and see if she will let me pull it out? I've read the pages on how to do this without squeezing it etc. or would I be better not risking leaving a bit buried inside and see if I can get her an appointment at the vets tomorrow? Due to work, I could only make the last half hour of opening time, so not sure if an appointment will be possible then or not.

[YeOldTrout]

argh, that's bad. Have you pulled them out before?
I'd probably go for it myself, but feel like an old hand at the task.
Last one I pulled out had died in situ but still had a good lock into skin (boak).

[ItMustBeBunnies]

I should add that DH is adamant about the vet, and I would prefer this, but worrying what to do if I can't get an appointment for tomorrow. Would it be ok leaving until Tuesday?

[SoupDragon]

I always take my dog in to the vets to have them removed - it's usually done by a vet nurse so no real appointment is necessary. It is a three person job - two to pin down the hyperactive spaniel, one to remove the tick! I can't imagine my cat letting me anywhere near him with the tick twister tool.

I take him in because the thought it doing it myself makes me feel ill.

[ItMustBeBunnies]

Cross-post Trout. I've not dealt with ticks before. I'm a dab hand at flea catching (and popping), but ticks are more tricky!

[SoupDragon]

That close to an eye I think I would definitely go to the vet.

[ItMustBeBunnies]

Thanks, Soup. Hopefully that means that we won't have an issue getting seen tomorrow. If it were anywhere else other than her eyelid, I'd probably be more likely to have a go, but she isn't going to miss a pair of tweezers coming towards her eye!

[Poppiesway]

Coat it in Vaseline, leave overnight and it will die. It will be suffurcated by the Vaseline.
Old vet trick..

[badRoly]

Years ago or aged moggy decided to go feral while we went on holiday (we suspect he was sleeping with sheep in the field over the road) and was covered in ticks. The vet recommended covering them in Vaseline. The ticks suffocate and fall off. Don't know if you could try that until you get to the vet?

[badRoly]

Crosspost with Poppies

[ItMustBeBunnies]

Thanks. All the pages I've read today said to not use Vaseline, otherwise I would try it as I always thought that was how you dealt with them. I've taken another photo in profile. It's looking quite fat now and sticking out quite handily. Do they latch on for good, or will they drop off when sated? I know very little about them!

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Advocate does not kill ticks so doing that is neither here nor there.
Covering ticks with Vaseline suffocates them causing them to regurgitate into the cats body making transfer of disease more likely so this is a bad idea.
Removal within 48 hours is the important thing.
Only frontline and broadline are currently effective against ticks.

[ItMustBeBunnies]

I didn't realise that Advocate was different to Frontline in that respect. I didn't really expect it to do much with the current situation, but thought I ought to mention it.

Fingers crossed that she can be seen in the vets tomorrow!

[Lovelydiscusfish]

Not sure how helpful this is, given the time, but there is a little plastic tool you can get from the vets which allows you to twist the ticks off and out. Don't suppose you know anyone who might have one of these?
In the absence of one, I imagine that gripping the tick lightly with the tweezers then twisting it out, rather than just gripping and pulling, might do the trick.
But I am not a vet, so please don't take my advice.
You don't have a 24 hour vet surgery you could phone for advice? ( we have hours on speed dial - bloody injury-prone pets!)

[Lovelydiscusfish]

Ours not hours, sorry (tho adding it up, we probably spend hours on the phone to them in any given year!)

[RubbishMantra]

Ticks feed until engorged - imagine the size of a sweetcorn. Then they drop off to digest their blood meal.

I'd ask the vet nurse to remove it. It's easy to leave the head in Likely to cause infection) if you're inexperienced, and you don;t want that, especially so close to the eye.

FWIW, I tried the vaseline thing years ago, and it didn't work. Cats just wash any foreign substance off their coat, therefore ingesting it.

[Lurkedforever1]

I would but not near an eye if you aren't practiced and confident, vet would be best, but we had an old feral that nobody sane was attempting to remove ticks from, and eventually they do drop off themselves so don't panic if you can't get in tomorrow. Same for tweezers, if you aren't practiced it's too easy to not keep the pressure on while you twist, so the head stays attached. The metal tick removers are best.

[ItMustBeBunnies]

Thanks for all your advice and reassurance. I really don't want to risk her getting an infected eyelid, so will wait for the vet.

[YeOldTrout]

Would cost £40 to get it removed at my vet.

Oh BLOODY HELL I didn't realise what I have (Stronghold) isn't effective against ticks. That is extremely annoying.

[SoupDragon]

£40! Mine do it free of charge!

The cat advocate certainly used to be effective against ticks whereas the dog one was not. I remember this after Fleamageddon 3 years ago when we discovered Frontline was no longer working so SoupDogg has a tick collar. I've just looked at my new box of cat Advocate and it no longer mentions ticks - they must have changed it!

[PurpleWithRed]

I was going to post 'do it yourself' but then I saw where the tick is. I'd make it a Vet job.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Soup dragon advocate has never had a licence for ticks. For many years Frontline was the only product licensed for cats , now there is broadline too. Next year there maybe more options.......

[ItMustBeBunnies]

The earliest the vet can see her is 5.30pm on Wednesday, which I feel is too long based on the 48hrs mentioned up-thread. Though if they don't feel that it's worth an urgent appointment then maybe it's OK.

I doubt that it will be free. I'm expecting at least £30!

[ErrolTheDragon]

For future use (and even then I'd hesitate on the eyelid), get a tick card rather than trying to use tweezers. We've taken a couple of ticks off our dog very easily with one of these.

[BlueKarou]

Those tick twisters are the best. I have some in my animal tool box (along with grooming tools, and supplements and the like) - they're good for taking ticks off, head-included.

Most pet shops have them, so you could get her tick-free this evening if you feel confident enough to do it yourself. (wrap her in a towel and then sort of straddle her gently if she's not comfortable with you touching it.

Incredibly itch-making video . Not for the squeamish!

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I have say Wednesday astounds me on several levels. In my practice we do our utmost best to see everybody who wants to be seen on the day we want to be seen, no matter how busy we are. In this instance even if the vets were rammed we would have slipped you in to see a nurse. Mind you this is a big bug bear of mine vet practices being run to suit vets not their clients.
Ask if you can purchase an O'Tom tick tool and remove it yourself.