Friday 11 July 2008

Ticks - yuck!!

Aren't ticks the most horrible things ever?

In the UK I had never seen one. Here I have seen more than my fair share of them on our cats. The 3 adults are really good a sitting still waiting for us to get the little hook and remove them. Not Misty though. She growls and hisses and wriggles like a growly, hissy, wriggly thing, and that is just when they are on her neck. So, you can imagine what she was like when we discovered she had one right on her bum-hole!!! Her tail become clamped to her arse like glue. She clenched her little bum so tight the bloody tick disappeared, she growled, hissed and wriggled and OH and I just collapsed laughing.

Two adults trying to prise up a tiny cats tail to get access to her bum must have looked hilarious. We tried waiting til she was asleep - no luck. We tried wrapping her in a towel - no luck. Someone had told us that if you dab the tick with nail polish remover it helped. So I dabbed a cotton bud in the liquid and applied it to the tick, waited til Misty was asleep and wonder of wonders it came of really easily.

9 comments:

softinthehead said...

Great description, cats can be such contortionists. I will remember the nail varnish remover tip - just in case :)

Georgina said...

Armed at all four corners! We are very lucky, very rarely do I find ticks on the animals. I found one on the horses about three months ago, twisted it off and popped it underfoot! Debs x

aims said...

Ick!! and Ewwwwww!

That nail varnish remover trick tho- wow!

Didn't Misty yelp when the stuff hit her tender bits?

Maggie May said...

Oh we do get ticks over here. There are warnings about Lyme Disease around the new Forest as the ticks spread this disease. There are ticks in the Lake District & Cornwall, Devon & Dorset..... all over the place.
Poor cat, what a place to get one. I shall go armed with nail varnish remover next time we go in an area where they are. (Bracken and scrub)

Wooly Works said...

I found something called diatomaceous earth that works on my animals like magic for all parasites, including ticks, fleas and lice. It also kills fly larvae so we sprinkle it on our poop piles and in our chicken pens. It saps all the moisture out of the parasite without any effect on the animal at all. It's lethal to insects and completely non-toxic to people, birds and animals. It's just amazing and I'm actually top dressing their food with it as well for the internal parasites. It's brilliant stuff. We've had no parasite problems and no fly problems this summer. My dog who usually has flea and tick infestations all summer is insect free.

I learned about it at http://wolfcreekranch.net/diatomaceous_earth.html

Answers.com says that it is available in France. Just a thought that may save you some worry and time...

Living the Dream said...

Oh Deborah I almost peed my pants laughing at your description. Poor little Misty. Good to catch up with you again.

Debra in France said...

The nail varnish remover seemed to loosen the tick, I will definately try it again.

Misty goes wandering through the long grass and has had loads of ticks this year. She has reacted badly to them and once they have been removed she comes up in big scabs, poor little thing. We use Frontline on all the cats but she really suffers with them.

Thanks for the information Wooly I have looked at the link as well, and will look into getting some.

Carol said...

OMG Debra that didn't half make me laugh!! I don't think I have ever been so thankful that our cats are indoor ones....I don't think Lugs would cope very well with Ticks!!

Glad your back and blogging

C x

Wooly Works said...

Debra, have you considered joining the Purple Coo site? I think you'd be a perfect fit and would find lots of kindred spirits there. I do hope you'll take a look and join us. It's group of completely wonderful people who are very kind and supportive while we all do our best to live the life we've been given. Check it out at www.purple.dreamhosters.com . If you think you'd like to join, drop me note and I'll send your name to the administrator.