Is it ok to carefuly pull ticks off of your cat with tweesers? Or shuld they be brought to the vet?

I discovered that if you soak a cotton ball in alcohol and put it on the tick, the tick will let go, allowing you to pull it off safely. That way, you don't leave the head behind and the risks of infection decrease. Of course, you can also dab the area with said cotton ball after the tick is off, too... to be extra sure.

We have the tweezers that are specifically designed for tick removal. They're not very expensive, the way they're designed it's like they're springloaded-you squeeze them apart, place them as close to the head of the tick as you can get them, and then wait. The tick will pull itself out of the cat, and you don't have to worry about leaving a part of the tick in the animal. I highly recommend them.

If I went to the vet every time they had a tick-I'd be homeless!Sounds like a big waste of money for such a simple task!Best medicine is prevention of course.I use spot-on treatments monthly for the cats and dogs.Nothing seems to work for the horses however.I keep a small glass of rubbing alchohol handy to place them in after picking them off.It kills them readily.The tweezers are mainly to keep from squeezing contaminated blood back into the animal.But if the tick is already attached,the damage is already done.I believe there is a vaccine out now for lyme disease.Ask your vet or check the catalogs for this.Unfortunately it is not for humans-YET!

I have used tweezers before, the important thing is to make sure you don't leave the head in. If the head stays in, then I would go to the vet.

Tweezers aren't the best to remove a tick. The best thing to do is use latex gloves and get your fingers as close to the head of the ticka and pull very slowly. If you pull too fast or don't get your fingers as close as you can to the animal's skin you may leave the head in the animal. There are also devices at pet stores specifically designed to remove ticks.