Finding a tick on your cat is not as common as with dogs but it does happen. Cats who spend any significant time outside are vulnerable to picking up a tick. Fear not, though. We’ll be explaining how to remove a tick from your cat safely and carefully in these steps.

1. Confirm it’s a Tick
The first step in removing a tick from your cat is to positively identify that it is actually a tick. Because of their very small size, it can be hard to tell whether you’re looking at a skin tag or tick. What do cat ticks look like? Start by looking for a body that’s freely moving with its head submerged in the skin. If the tick hasn’t been feeding for very long, it’ll still be very small. If the tick has been in there for a while it may already look engorged from feeding.

2. Gather Your Supplies
Once you’ve confirmed you have a tick on a cat scenario on your hands, you’ll need:
• a tick remover for cats
• feline-friendly disinfectant
• a cotton swab
• a jar with a tight lid for containing the tick safely after removal
• two pairs of latex gloves

It’s also highly recommended to enlist a friend with plenty of cat treats to distract your cat and hold them still during the removal process. Lastly, make sure you have a pair of latex gloves for each of you.

3. Hold Your Cat Still
Here’s where your friend comes in. Try to stick to your respective tasks to work quickly and minimize your cat’s discomfort. Their job is going to be keeping your pet-patient still and subdued with treats while you remove the tick from your cat.

4. Remove the Tick
Grasp the tick with your tick removal tool, getting as close to your cat’s skin as possible without pinching them. Pull away slowly so you don’t pull off the tick’s body and leave the head inside, which is dangerous and heightens the risk of infection. Try to remove the entire tick in one piece. Ideally, they’ll release their mouthparts to make it easier to do.

5. Clean the Area
Now the tick is out, take a close look at the skin to make sure there are no remaining parts of it in the skin. Take your cotton ball and apply a few drops of isopropyl alcohol then wipe the affected area carefully. The hard part of treating tick bites on cats is over. Now you just need to clean and sanitize.

6. Contain the Tick
Put the tick into the jar and add some of the isopropyl alcohol to make sure it’s no longer capable of spreading infection.

7. Monitor Your Cat
Tick diseases in cats can happen so you’ll want to keep a close eye on your kitty over the next few weeks and especially in the following day or two. Make sure the tick bite is healing properly and if you notice any redness, swelling or discharge, take your cat to the vet.

It’s also a good idea to investigate cat tick prevention. There’s a range of options, from collars to oral medicine and your vet can help you select one that’s best for your cat.

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