Natural Tick Treatment For Cats

Tick Season Is Upon Us Try These Natural And Effective Remedies And Strategies To Repel These Nasty Parasites Without Harmful Chemicals

Many of us already have had encounters with ticks from simply venturing outside. This proves you dont have to walk deep into the woods to come in contact with ticks. But how can you stay safe?

Prevention is the best way to avoid the itching and the devastating effects of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Powassan encephalitis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, and anaplasmosis, just to name a few, that can be transmitted by tick bites.

There are many different types of ticks but the risk of developing these infections depends on several factors, including the type of tick and how long it was attached to the skin.

But you probably dont want to take any chances. Try these natural and effective ways to keep those nasty parasites away without having to resort to harsh chemicals:

How To Remove Ticks From Kittens

Kittens are even more susceptible to disease and infections because a kitten’s immune system is still developing. Therefore, if you detect ticks on your kitten it is important to act quickly and remove the tick from the kitten’s body. Especially if the kitten is newborn, regular antiparasitic drugs are not recommended because of the levels of toxicity in these drugs. It is better to use products designed exclusively for kittens or natural antiparasitic remedies against ticks. It you have any doubts about your kitten’s health, it is best to consult the vet.

When it comes to natural remedies the most advisable method for removing ticks from kittens is to use chamomile. Chamomile has important anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, analgesic and healing properties. In addition to aiding the extraction of the tick, it allows the skin to regenerate faster. Importantly, chamomile is not toxic to cats or kittens.

To use chamomile to remove a tick from a kitten, first prepare an infusion of organic chamomile. Allow it to cool, wet a piece of gauze in the infusion, and gently rub the affected area. If the tick does not come out by itself, you should remove it with tweezers . You can also use diluted vinegar or olive oil, as explained above, for removing ticks in kittens. Apply them following the indications given for adult cats, and making sure they do not get into the kitten’s eyes or ear canal.

Put A Stop To The Tick Bites

It can be super scary, and totally unexpected, if you spot a tick on your indoor cat.

But the truth is, cats who dont take tick medication regularly are vulnerable to ticks even if the cats only live indoors.

Control of external parasites for my feline patients is a very important discussion I have with my clients, not just because of the gross out factor when thinking of bugs crawling on their pet, but also because of the health risks posed by the presence of these parasites, Dr. Michael Henricks, a veterinarian at Faithful Friends Veterinary Clinic in Ohio, told The Dodo.

Ticks can be super harmful to cats and a total pest to deal with, so tick prevention is essential.

The Dodo spoke with Dr. Henricks to find out his favorite tick-prevention options.

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Natural Tick Repellent With Tea Tree Oil For Humans

Tea tree oil is an excellent bug repellent. In this recipe, you use white vinegar and water with a few drops of tea tree essential oil. Never apply tea tree essential oil directly to the skin as it could cause an allergic reaction, particularly if the oil is highly concentrated. Mix the oil in some carrier oil like sweet almond oil to dilute it a bit.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup distilled water
• 10 drops of tea tree essential oil

Mix all ingredients and store in a spray bottle. Spray all over the skin. In case you do not want to use tea tree oil, you could add peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, geranium or camphor oil.

Natural And Safe Tick Repellent For Cats

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Cats are special animals, they love to roam the outdoors all year. But during peak tick season from early spring to late fall, these nasty little bloodsuckers can easily burrow into your cats fur and bite your pet, and at worst, transmit diseases. Use Tick Repellent for Cats to reduce the risk of your cat getting a tick bite, and check your cats coat regularly. Ticks need some time to find a suitable bite site, with luck you can find the arachnid before it bites your pet. If it has already bitten your cat, remove the tick as soon as possible.

When using tick repellents for cats, be sure they are specially made for and safe to be used on cats. Some repellents intended for other pets are too strong or contain substances that cats can not tolerate as the cats metabolism differs from that of other mammals.

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Natural Flea And Tick Repellents For Kittens/puppies

Natural flea and tick repellents for kittens, puppies, and dogs

• Flea & Tick Repellent with Citrus Extracts This organic blend of essential oils is a blend of lemon, citronella, cedarwood, and rosemary. These natural ingredients work together to keep your pet protected from fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, and other biting insects. The spray also prevents the growth of mold or mildew on your furniture or carpets from pets shedding their fur.
• Drontal Plus Collar for Dogs This collar protects against fleas, ticks, and lice for up to 8 months without causing any harmful side effects like itchiness, skin irritation, or hair loss in dogs when used as directed by the manufacturers instructions

How To Protect Your Pets Safely

The experts we consulted recommended asking your veterinarian before using any tick-prevention product on your pet, whether its natural, homemade, or conventional.

Youll probably see the most benefit from products that are FDA-approved or EPA-registered.

Still, even an approved product has the potential to cause harm, especially if used improperly. What to do:

• Read labels carefully, and ensure that youre using something approved for the age and weight of your pet. Some items that can be used on grown dogs, for instance, shouldnt be used on puppies.

• Never use something meant for a dog on a cat, and vice versa. For example, the pesticide permethrin, a common ingredient in some tick-prevention products for dogs, is highly toxic to cats. If you have a dog and a cat, and the cat regularly licks or grooms the dog, avoid using permethrin on your dog, says Lori Bierbrier, D.V.M., medical director for the community medicine program at the ASPCA.

• Watch pets closely the first time you use any new tick-prevention method, to make sure they dont experience skin irritation, excessive salivating, tremors, or another worrying reaction. If they do, call your vet right away.

• If you think the method youre using isnt working, talk with your vet, Bierbrier says. You may need to switch to a different kind of tick-prevention product.

• Never use products meant for humans, such as insect repellents that contain deet, on your pets.

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Get Rid Of These Pesky Bugs With Right Formula For Your Feline

Sarah Scott is a fact-checker and researcher with 16 years of experience researching, verifying, and editing topics in science and health.

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Fleas are not only a nuisance but they can also transmit serious diseases to your cats. Thankfully, various flea preventatives and treatments are available to help limit your cats chances of attracting and harboring these external parasites. However, they arent all created equally. Some flea treatments arent even effective and worse yet, arent safe to use on cats despite what the packaging states. Additionally, some products will kill live fleas while others will only prevent a flea from reproducing, so not all products are appropriate for all your flea needs.

Below, we share the best flea treatments for cats available today.

• Protects from more than just fleas

• Some cats dislike how it feels

• May cause hair loss at application site

With not only safe and effective flea killing power, Revolution plus also combats ticks, heartworms, ear mites, and intestinal parasites. This makes it a top choice for cat owners who want to protect their cats from as many parasites as possible.

Preventing Ticks On Your Cat

Once you remove a tick from your cat, keep a close eye on him for the next week or so. Contact your veterinarian at the first sign of sickness, especially fever, loss of appetite, listlessness, apparent stiffness or aching in the joints. The bite location can also become infected. In rare cases, the tick bite itself can cause a progressive weakness in the back legs of the cat, a condition called tick-bite paralysis. Although this usually goes away on its own within 24 to 72 hours after the tick is removed, it can require IV fluids or additional support from your vet’s office. That’s why you should see a vet for this, rather than wait to see if it clears up.

Removing a tick from your cat is a traumatic experience for any cat owner. The best way to treat ticks, therefore, is to prevent them from attaching in the first place. Keep in mind that indoor cats almost never get ticks, unless they’re carried in by other pets, pests or people. If your cat does go outdoors on a leash, steer him away from tall grasses and bushes. Free-roaming cats should be checked regularly for ticks when they come indoors, especially during hot weather and in rural areas. Ticks are small and can be easily missed, so be particularly aware of symptoms any time your cat goes outdoors — even if you don’t see any ticks.

Ticks are nasty little creatures, but these tips should provide you with effective tools for keeping them off your cat.

Originally Published: Jun 1, 2011

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Treat The House And Lawn

Keeping your lawn, bushes, and trees trimmed back will help reduce the population of fleas and ticks in your backyard. If there are fewer areas for these parasites to live and breed, there will be fewer of them to be concerned with. If you still have a problem, consider using one of the various household and yard sprays or granular treatments that are available from your veterinarian, pet store, or local garden center. Just be careful when using these products, as they can be harmful to animals, fish, and humans. If you have a severe problem or you are concerned about the proper handling of these chemicals, you might want to consider hiring an exterminator to apply yard and area sprays to control the ticks and fleas.

Natural Tick Prevention For Dogs

Spring is almost here. Tick season starts as early as Ticks are ready and waiting out there for your pooch to coming strolling by!

If you and your dog just love being outside in nature, ticks may be hard to avoid between early Spring and late Fall.

If you are outdoors with your dog going to beaches, hiking, and parks, a natural tick repellent can help considerably without falling for the heavy duty chemical flea and tick recommendations from the conventional vet.

However, you have to be diligent as ticks can carry some pretty unpleasant diseases. For instance, Lyme disease. Ugh! There is also ehrlichiosis, which the brown dog tick is the main carrier of the ehrlichia organism in nature.

And then there is Babesiosis, Babesiosis is a rare and life-threatening contamination of the red blood cells that’s usually spread by ticks.

Like everything else in the holistic, naturopathic methods prevention is key. A healthy, high vibe dog that has a strong immune system is less susceptible to these diseases.

Prevention is always the best medicine. Building natural immunity makes your dog less attractive to all pests. Natural tick prevention for dogs by far the safest option.

Many manufactured tick repellents contain carcinogenic chemicals, names that are hard to pronounce and ingredients most of us dont understand what they are and do.

Any veterinarians experienced in more holistic and natural alternatives recommend feeding garlic to help prevent ticks and fleas during those months.

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How To Know If My Cat Has Ticks

If your cat is an outdoor cat, you will need to regularly check its fur for ticks. You should also monitor the cats behavior for any changes as this can be a sign that something is wrong.

It can be difficult for a human to find small ticks in the cats fur, hence the myth that cats dont have ticks. But if you do see one or two ticks you should remove them immediately. However, if there are a lot of ticks on your cat, it can cause serious problems. In this case, you should take your cat to the veterinarian.

Observation of your cat is important. If the behavior changes and deviates from the normal, then something is wrong.

In the case of unnoticed tick infestation and illness from tick bites, weight loss, fever, loss of appetite and lethargy can result. There are many different symptoms that can indicate whether the cats reaction is a simple tick bite or a serious problem as they can transmit and spread these diseases.

In severe infestations, cats show several symptoms like itching, anemic conditions, lethargy, and weakness. In some situations, ticks cause paralysis, and the paralyzed cat shows severe tremors.

Best Tick Repellent For Cats

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A tick infestation in a cat is not only dangerous to your pet, but also to you as the cat owner. Cats like resting in peoples laps, sleeping on the couch, or even in your bed. This makes it very easy for ticks to spread in a home. Cats can pass on a disease called Bartonellosis to humans through ticks.

There is also a risk of infection with Lyme disease if the ticks are carriers. Using the best tick repellent for cats is the best prevention and much easier than treating a tick infestation or curing a cat suffering from a tick-borne disease

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A Quick Comparison Of Our Favorites

Infused with natural insecticides, this product is reviewed as highly effective in killing fleas on contact. Customers also praise its delicious smell, citing that it reminds them of Christmas time! Using multiple natural oils as the active ingredients, there is less risk of your cat having any skin irritation problems from harsh chemicals.

In addition, this product is designed to not interfere with the active ingredients of other flea treatments. It can be used successfully on its own as well as alongside other products for worse infestations. It not only works on fleas but also repels other problematic insects from your cats such as mosquitos and black flies.

Natural Chemistry flea spray is our recommended best overall natural flea treatment and repellent for cats.

This product from Vets Best only contains a small handful of ingredients, all 100% plant-based. It utilizes the natural insecticide properties of both clove and cottonseed oil to rid your cat of fleas and ticks.

It is also a great general shampoo for keeping your cat clean and smelling fresh in conjunction with serving as a flea treatment. Natural soaps help remove dirt and debris while vanilla extract deodorizes.

This bacteria found in soil is toxic is insects but safe for both cats and humans, making it safe and efficient for flea treatment and control.

Natural Pet Remedies For Flea And Tick Control

The following is a post by PetMD, provided by DivineCaroline.

While we may not be able to roll back the global warming trend, there are easier, softer ways to treat parasites, and ways in which we can avoid some of the pests.

A lot of people are reluctant to use chemical flea treatments because of the possibility of a toxic reaction with the skin. If it isnt safe for my children, how can it be safe for my pet, they ask. Unless it is a full blown flea infestation, you may have good results by using gentler and safer methods for flea eradication and control.

For dogs, a daily dose of brewers yeast in their kibble will help to repel fleas. You can also add brewers yeast to your cats food.

Fleas are also known to be repelled by citrus. A freshly squeezed orange or lemon can be rubbed onto your pets fur, with no harm to your pet if it is licked off, and fresh smelling fur to boot.

Remember the old cartoons where dogs would jump into water to relieve themselves of fleas? Water really does work. Since fleas do not grasp onto the hair shafts, they fall off in the water and drown. A good dip in a tub of water will wash away most, if not all of the fleas on your pet.

Proper technique is important for removing ticks and fleas, so make sure that you are acquainted before you do it yourself. Now that you have a few alternate means of combating fleas and ticks, you can feel confident that your pets will remain bug-free throughout the year.

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