hey
thanks to everyone for the comments!!
I brought her to the groomer and we ended up getting it out with a little tweezer type tool from the vet. I have now, officially found out which insect creeps me out the most, they are gross little buggers!!! =P
i feel bad for the cat because i've had her for about a week, and she hasnt gone outdoors in that time so it had been in her for a while, i sent the tick to be checked for lyme disease. Like i said, she's fairly wild and hard to handle but we checked her out and that seemed to be the only one.
glad it's over with!!!
Ginger- 25 ticks removed from your body.... that must have ruined your day eh? =P
When ticks have their heads embedded in the skin they breathe through their skin. If you take petroleum jelly and put a heavy coating of it over the entire tick and the area surrounding it, it will back out because it can no longer breathe and you will be able to safely pick it from the cat without risking the head coming off and remaining under the skin. I have used this method several times in the past with success.
Ghilly
Take hold of the base of the Tick (where it is attached to the skin) with a pair of tweezers, then use a gentle but quite firm 'levering' motion to pull it straight out. It's important not to leave the head of the Tick in, as it can cause an abscess. If you are unsure how to do this, then get either the vet or your groomer to show you exactly how it's done, so you can do it next time. It would be helpful if you can get someone to hold the cat very steady for you while you pull the Tick off.
I always dab a bit of antiseptic on afterwards.
You are advised to wash your hands after removing a Tick, and keep it in a small container, just to be on the safe side, (in case your pet develops any symptoms at a later date)
Only a small number of Ticks carry Lyme Disease. I know. There is a lot of Lyme disease in my area too. My dog has had umpteen Ticks, but has never developed Lyme. Nor have I (yet) and I once had to remove 25 Ticks from my body!
The quicker a Tick (even an infected one) is removed, the less likely it is that it will transmit Lyme disease anyway. If even a Lyme-bearing Tick is removed straight away, or even within a few hours, it is very unlikely to cause infection.
The trick is to examine the dog/cat regularly for Ticks. In my case I do examine my dog every day, as she spends a lot of time in grassy or wooded places, where she sometimes picks up Ticks.
Our vet told us an easy way to remove ticks from our dog.
Put antibacterial soap on a cottonball and place over tick for 20 seconds. Then gently rub to remove tick. It worked for us.