Tick Removal
& Prevention Tips

Let us properly introduce the tick: a small, eight-legged opportunist who spends its days lurking on the tips of tall grass with its front legs outstretched, waiting — with the patience of a very committed hitchhiker — for something warm to brush past. This behavior even has a name: questing. Which makes the tick sound far more noble than it is. There is nothing noble about a tick. It is, essentially, a tiny vampire with excellent posture.

Now, our Persian and British kittens are mostly indoor royalty, which means tick encounters are rarer for them than for the outdoor-roaming, adventure-seeking cat. But “rare” is not “never.” A tick can hitch a ride indoors on a dog, on your trouser leg, or through an open door, and a cat who enjoys a screened porch or a supervised garden stroll is fair game. So every cat family should know two things by heart: how to remove a tick correctly, and how to keep them away in the first place. Let’s start with prevention, because the best tick is the one that never arrives.

Keeping Ticks Away

A few sensible habits dramatically lower the odds of an unwelcome arrival:

• ✧ Talk to Your Vet About Prevention This is the big one. There are vet-approved tick preventives made specifically for cats — but here is the crucial part: never use a dog tick product on a cat. Many contain permethrin, which is highly toxic, even fatal, to cats. Always use a cat-specific product, and always check with your vet first.
• ✧ Keep the Grass Trimmed Ticks love long grass and leaf litter. A tidy yard with mowed grass and cleared edges gives them far fewer places to lie in wait.
• ✧ Supervise Outdoor Time If your cat enjoys the garden, keep them to open, sunny, well-maintained areas and away from tall grass, brush, and wooded edges where ticks gather.
• ✧ Check After Any Outing After your cat has been outside — or after your dog comes in from a walk — run your hands slowly over the body, feeling for any small bump. Pay special attention to the warm, hidden spots: ears, around the eyes, under the chin, the armpits, between the toes.
• ✧ Don’t Forget the Dog If you have a dog who goes outdoors, they are the most likely tick taxi into your home. Keeping the dog on prevention protects the cat, too.

How to Remove a Tick — The Right Way

So despite your best efforts, you’ve found one: a small, dark, slightly horrifying bump attached to your cat. Don’t panic, and please don’t reach for any of the old folk remedies (more on those in a moment). Calm, steady, and prompt is the goal. Here’s the proper method:

• ✧ Gather Your Tools Fine-tipped tweezers or, even better, a purpose-made tick-removal tool (they’re inexpensive and worth keeping in the cabinet). Plus gloves if you have them, and a small sealable container or bag.
• ✧ Grip Low — As Close to the Skin as Possible Get the tweezers right down at the base, where the tick’s mouth meets your cat’s skin. You want to grasp the head, not the bloated body.
• ✧ Pull Straight Up, Slow and Steady Apply gentle, even, upward pressure. No twisting, no jerking, no yanking. Twisting can snap off the mouthparts and leave them embedded. Just a patient, straight pull until the tick releases.
• ✧ Clean the Bite Once the tick is out, clean the spot with a little antiseptic or mild soap and water. Wash your hands thoroughly.
• ✧ Dispose of the Tick Safely Don’t crush it between your fingers. Drop it in a sealed bag or a small container of rubbing alcohol. (Some vets suggest keeping it for a few weeks in case symptoms appear and identification helps.)
• ✧ Watch the Spot for a Few Days A small bump may linger briefly — that’s normal. But if the area becomes red, swollen, or oozing, or if your cat seems unwell, call your vet.

The Folk Remedies to Skip

You may have heard that you should burn a tick off with a match, smother it in petroleum jelly, or drown it in nail polish. Please don’t. These old tricks don’t make the tick “back out” politely — they tend to irritate it into regurgitating more saliva into the wound, which is exactly the opposite of what you want. (The tick, having no manners to begin with, takes this as encouragement.) The slow, steady pull with proper tweezers is the only method worth using.

When to Call the Vet

Reach out to your veterinarian if you can’t fully remove the tick and mouthparts remain in the skin; if the bite area becomes infected; if your cat becomes lethargic, loses their appetite, develops a fever, or seems “off” in the weeks following a bite; or simply if you’re unsure and would feel better with a professional set of eyes on it. Tick-borne illnesses are less common in cats than in dogs or people, but they do occur, and a watchful vet is always your best ally.

A Note from Inara

Most of our little ones will live their whole pampered lives indoors and never meet a tick at all — which suits them, and us, perfectly. But knowledge is a kind of love, and knowing how to handle one of these uninvited guests calmly and correctly means that on the rare day it happens, you’ll be ready, and your cat will be in the safest possible hands.

If you ever find one and feel unsure, don’t hesitate to reach out — or better yet, keep a little tick-removal tool in your cabinet and your vet’s number on the fridge. A prepared cat family is a calm cat family, and a calm cat family makes for a very calm cat.