What's this on my cat's neck? (Pic)

[SingToMeInFrench]

Hello!

Just stroking my main coone and felt a lump on the back of his neck.

What is this? A tick? Can we removed it ourselves?

I'm also 5months pregnant, are ticks dangerous?

Thank you!

A tick. Can get remover from pet shop. Stamp on them when they come out. No real danger to you as they will be full and not wanting you!

Just be careful not to leave the head inside as that can cause infection. If it's your first one, maybe get the vet to do it?

Agree - definitely a tick. I'm assuming you don't have a tick hook (like a 2 pronged fork which slides under the tick and enables you to twist it off easily.)

I have successfully removed a tick from a dog without a hook. Just take a light hold (you might like to use a tissue). As light a hold as possible so you don't squeeze any gunk into the cat. Turn anti-clockwise until it comes away. You should see its legs wriggling . Dab a bit of antiseptic on the affected area.

Dab a bit of alcohol on it first to relax its grip a bit

It's a tick. Don't try to pull it out with your fingers, you might squash it. Ticks carry a number of diseases, if you squeeze them they can regurgitate the blood they have eaten back into the host, so passing any nasties back into your pet.
You can get a tick remover from your vet, it looks like a mini crow bar, to lever the tick out of your pets skin.
People can get ticks too, btw. I have used a tick tool on my DH in a very "delicate" place.

You should never pull a tick. It needs to be twisted out. It looks quite engorged so I suspect might come away quite easily but you must hold it very lightly.

Once I've seen a tick I have to remove it - couldn't wait until tomorrow to get a hook!

Thanks for the quick replies everyone!

Husband has removed it, very lightly, with tweezers- nothing was left behind, just a little "bite mark".

Really freaked me out- might take him to the vets tomorrow to check it's all been removed

Smear on loads of Vaseline
Leave a few hours
Get a tissue then get a hold of it and twist and pull
Should come out whole and should see it's legs
Will be fine, mine get them
Lots

Husband reports he saw the legs and it looked "whole" when he removed it- phew

At first, I thought DS had gotten a jellybean stuck to the poor cat

Odd little sods aren't they. Bastard cat had one recently but I didn't realise what it was until afterwards. I was stroking him and felt something, he often has all sorts of crap in his fur so I just gently tugged it out and absentmindedly put it on the arm of the sofa to put I the bin later (because cat on lap therefore obviously couldn't get up straight away). Then the thing I'd put on the sofa started moving around.

Vile things aren't they? Worth checking pets from time to time. Favourite places on my dogs are ears, armpits and groin. Never seen one on my cats.

Unfortunately our vet doesn't prescribe one thing for fleas, ticks and lungworm. It's either fleas and ticks or fleas and lungworm so we tend to protect against the latter as it's much more serious. Consequently anything unusual on their skin is subject to forensic investigation!

Whether on cat,s doggs or humans, don't twist unless you are using a tick removal tool (the tool doesn't twist the tick itself):

www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-ticks/tick-removal/

Twisting increases the risk of separating the head from the body and leaving the head in the skin. Just grip the head as close to skin as possible and pull straight upwards.

Also don't squeeze them, burn them, vaseline them (sorry justaweeone) or anything else to make them let go. You increase the risk they will puke whatever infections they might be carrying in to the bite wound.