A question for any vets on DS as we can't afford vet fees at the moment. On Friday we noticed a couple of ticks on one of our cats and researched how to deal with them. We applied Frontline flea and tick treatment and that seems to have killed all the adults however the cat has white dots around one of his eyes and on other parts of his body. These appear to be getting larger and we believe these may be young ticks growing. The frontline doesn't appear to have treated them (perhaps too young in their cycle...?) The cat isn't in distress so can I (should I) wait for these (baby ticks?) to reach a certain size (age) and treat again? Your help is much appreciated

According to the Frontline website, Frontline kills ticks at all stages of their lifecycle except eggs:

http://frontline.us.merial.com/fle_todoticks.asp

Hopefully when the eggs hatch the Frontline will kill them. Do make sure to reapply at the right interval for a couple of treatments to make sure you don't have any lurkers. The pack tells you how often that is - I can't remember.

I wouldnt personaly try to take them off as you can sometimes leave the heads in. You realy need to take your cat too the vets to get rid of them. I know you said that you cant afford it but the cat does need to be seen. What if one of the ticks drops off and lands on you. It can make you realy realy ill.

The adults have died and have been safely groomed out of his coat however I don't believe the eggs / young ticks have any intention of dropping off the cat and potentially landing on humans any time soon (although I appreciate your concern for us). I hadn't considered that Frontline acts for a couple of weeks and as cats-five posted, if when the young reach an age where they are killed by Frontline before A) Frontline wears off B) the cat gets distressed then we'll just play a waiting game. The main concern is will Frontline kill off the young ticks around his eyes? My wife believes they are no longer eggs and yet they have not dropped off? I'll get the magnifying glass and have another look...

Please read the Frontline instructions and use it as frequently as directed, at least until you are sure the eggs have all hatched into larvae which the Frontline has killed. However you obviously live in an area where your cat can pick up ticks, so you probably need to be vigilant all year about this. Frontline is cheapest from online suppliers and Google will help you find them. There are plenty of reliable UK ones.

Thanks for the advice. Having just checked him the majority of young ticks around his eye and mouth have gone so it looks like Frontline is doing its job

Glad to hear the ticks are going but a waiting game with them isn't a good idea as ticks can carry various diseases,(one reason ticks are usually treated with an antibiotic injection as well as removal of the tick), which, apart from making the cat ill can also be passed on to people.
If you cannot afford a private vet possible you would qualify for the cats to be treated at the PDSA or the RSPCA?

OP I'm not being horrible but honestly if you cannot afford a vet why get animals in the first case, the little darlings can be costly! PDSA is a good first point...not sure but even cats protection may help....

I agree that pets are not cheap and some families irresponsibly acquire them even when they have next to no spare money. However that was not the case with us as we were a lot better off when they first arrived however the severe recession has wrecked our finances and unfortunately mortgage etc come before vets fees.

Don't you need a vet's prescription to purchase Frontline from an online supplier?

when my boy has a tick problem the vet told me ( as well as frontline ) to smear vaseline over them which suffocates them....obviously only on the ear area and not near eyes or mouth though

Not for the ordinary version. According to hyperdrug.com you do for the Combo version and the spray.

http://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/ProductBy...asp?alphabet=A

Thanks for that. Very helpful.

Oh cripes.....are ticks harmful to humans? A couple of years ago I found a poorly hedgehog COVERED in them and I spent the best part of 3 hours unscrewing them (around 90) - he went to the vets after to get the rest removed. Oh well, I am still alive so I guess it didnt harm me!

If they are carrying Lyme Disease and they bite you they can be, plus tick bites can become infected anyway if you don't remove the whole tick.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease

I knew they had something but couldnt remember what it was. I do know of a jack russle that died after getting Lyme Disease.

Some vets sell tick-removing tools for about £2. I've never used one so cannot say how effective they are but if money's a problem then this must be cheaper than seeing the vet. A quick chat with the nurse will probably inform you how to use them. If ever I'm in doubt about anything, I just pop in to the vets and have a chat at the dispensary to a nurse.

Havent h ad to use one thankfully. I think the tool ist like a pair of twissers. You put it under the tick so the tick sits on top and twist it. You will know when i tick comes off as it pops. When smokey was first brought too us he had one on him. I did manage to get it off him by pulling it and i did get it all. I took him too the vets the next day and that's when i found he had a broken leg and injured foot

I have used 2 tick removers on my dog. The best one in my opinion is the O'Tom tick twister. You can buy them from the vets and some pet shops - just a couple of pounds. If you are squeamish I wouldnt recommend it as the tick come out alive with all the little legs waving around. This is what you want though as tweezers and other methods tend to leave the head in or make the tick regurgitate into the bite - yuk! Afterwards you can drop them in some vodka or ethanol to kill them. If they are near the eye be careful though - I got my vet to take one out that I felt nervous about doing.

If you can keep him still, a trick that works on ticks in humans and may also do in cats is to swamp it in tea tree oil. It won't be able to breathe so will loosen its grip where you can tweeze it out. Obviously not an option for ticks on his face though, and also I don't know if tea-tree may be bad for a cat's skin, so I'd do research before trying it.

AFAIK Tea Tree oil is poisinous to cats:

http://www.messybeast.com/teatree.htm

Thanks for reminding us off that

Another gem from Messybeast:

http://www.messybeast.com/lyme.htm

I just used tweezers on the hedgehog and twisted the ticks until they popped out - made sure that they were whole when removed - I find ticks fascinating (not that I like the little buggers!) Not very nice for animals!

^^^^^ after the tick/s are removed, chuck 'em in some water then down the toilet