Deer Tick Questions - HELP

[coniferously]

Hello all!
I have a stray cat we have been feeding and taking care of the last few months, his name is Dakoda, Koda for short. Just a week or so ago he allowed me to stroke him for the first time, which was amazing as he basically ran away at the sight of any sort of movement prior to that.
Well, a day or two after he became friendlier with myself and my boyfriend, we noticed a grey-brownish almost corn kernel looking thing on the side of his face near his whiskers. I had never seen a tick before so I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking at. After researching ticks, it appeared we had a deer tick situation. I have no idea how long it was there previously to us being able to get close enough to him to see it. He wasn't super comfortable with us at that point still, so there was no chance we could remove it. So we decided to wait a little and see if he would let us invade his privacy any time soon to get it off his face.
Recently, he has been coming inside once in awhile and aquainting himself with our other 15 cats. He didn't let them too close to him, but he wasn't very aggressive either. He actually has been doing quite well with the others. We actually think he is a relative of two of our other rescue cats from the neighbourhood as he looks just like them and has a very similar temperament.
Anyway, today we actually were able to extract the tick from his face, and I do believe we got the entire thing. We put it in alcohol and after it died we flushed it down the toilet.
He had been acting very normal prior to the extraction in every aspect, and really just up to about an hour ago. We did let him back inside and he laid on my lap and fell asleep like he normally would, the only difference now is he isn't too bothered by my other cats like he used to be (just earlier before and after the tick extraction) and he just seems sleepy. We actually have him in my room right now, and will keep him in all night for the first time ever, but it is weird because he doesn't mind at all and has been sleeping on my pillow for the last 20-30 minutes. We usually make him stay outside at night (or rather he prefers not being locked in a room because he isn't used to that yet) and really his indoor house visits only last a maximum of thirty minutes at a time, maybe twice a day for the last few days. I'm not sure if he is just getting comfortable in the house and with the other cats (his two suspected relatives are very good cats and love other cats) because he just hasn't been able to relax entirely since he lives outside, but now he is finally able to do that, or if this has something to do with the tick.
I live in northeastern Ohio, just in case any diseases are relative to my location. Any questions about how he's acting now, please ask. I'm not really sure how else to describe him other than relaxed/comfortable or almost carefree. I am genuinely worried though, so any help means a lot!

Also, this was the tick..

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• coniferously
• Nov 12, 2016

And here is Koda..

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• coniferously
• Nov 12, 2016

Attach44187_20161112_215035.jpg

• coniferously
• Nov 12, 2016

Attach44188_20161112_215048.jpg

• coniferously
• Nov 12, 2016

 

[Geoffrey]

I am a human doctor, not a vet and any advice that I give you should be checked with a vet. 

In Australia, animals who have been bitten by ticks are in great danger of suffering paralysis, as well as being infected with bacteria.  I suspect that the Deer Tick may have the same effect; in humans they can cause a severe disease called Lyme Disease that causes a rash and fever. 

I do not know how you removed the tick, but manipulating the body of the tick can cause the tick to inject the poison that can cause paralysis.  If your cat is showing a change in behaviour, I suggest that you take the cat, and the photo of the tick, to a vet as soon as possible.  If Koda shows signs of early weakness in the limbs, then you should take him to the vet as a matter of urgency.

With  all best wishes,

Geoffrey

 

[Norachan]

It might not be anything to do with the tick, but a vet visit wouldn't hurt anyway. If he hasn't been checked over by a vet yet it's wise to have this done before he starts hanging out with your other cats, just in case. And, of course, he will need to be neutered if he hasn't been fixed already.

I live in a Japanese forest and my cats sometimes pick up deer ticks too. I've found the easiest way to get them off is to put a tiny drop of liquid flea or worm medicine directly onto the tick. This kills them and they drop off intact. Ask your vet if they can recommend a flea medicine that stops ticks from biting the cats too. Frontline Top Spot repels ticks and fleas.

 

[coniferously]

It might not be anything to do with the tick, but a vet visit wouldn't hurt anyway. If he hasn't been checked over by a vet yet it's wise to have this done before he starts hanging out with your other cats, just in case. And, of course, he will need to be neutered if he hasn't been fixed already.

:catguy:

I live in a Japanese forest and my cats sometimes pick up deer ticks too. I've found the easiest way to get them off is to put a tiny drop of liquid flea or worm medicine directly onto the tick. This kills them and they drop off intact. Ask your vet if they can recommend a flea medicine that stops ticks from biting the cats too. Frontline Top Spot repels ticks and fleas.

Oh yes, of course! We typically don't bring cats into direct contact before they've been checked out, but he has been so cold outside and we felt so bad we just had to let him in. A vet visit will be happening very soon for his shots and a schedule for his neutering. He just has never been in contact with people before so we didn't want to rush him into a cage and into a car and then to a vet where he will be poked at by strange people. Poor thing would probably freak out so much.
Thank you for your input though! He slept on my pillow all night. So he slept about 8 or 9 hours straight. We just woke up and so has he. He's up and walking around and sitting by the bedroom door, so maybe he wants to go back outside. He's never seen a litter box before so my guess is perhaps he's got to go potty.
However, he doesn't want to eat or anything at the moment, which is kind of strange for him. And he isn't standing by the door, he is laying down. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I'm going to keep an eye on him.
Again, thank you for your input, it means a lot!

 

[coniferously]

I am a human doctor, not a vet and any advice that I give you should be checked with a vet. 

In Australia, animals who have been bitten by ticks are in great danger of suffering paralysis, as well as being infected with bacteria.  I suspect that the Deer Tick may have the same effect; in humans they can cause a severe disease called Lyme Disease that causes a rash and fever. 

I do not know how you removed the tick, but manipulating the body of the tick can cause the tick to inject the poison that can cause paralysis.  If your cat is showing a change in behaviour, I suggest that you take the cat, and the photo of the tick, to a vet as soon as possible.  If Koda shows signs of early weakness in the limbs, then you should take him to the vet as a matter of urgency.

With  all best wishes,
Geoffrey

Yeah, he isn't showing any major signs of anything at this point, just a little less timid and uptight than he usually is. If he doesn't eat then we will have to force him to the vet. They're closed today unfortunately, but hopefully we can get him there soon if it seems to get very urgent. I'm not sure if the risks here are as high as they are in Australia. Like I said, I've never even seen a tick in my life on any of the strays we have taken in. So his was a definite first. I'm hoping he is alright and I'm just being paranoid. Thank you for your input!

 

[di and bob]

Not all ticks are infected with anything, I have pulled hundreds off of cats over the years and none of them developed anything from the bite. Just be observant, these things take time to develop. and if symptoms (anything abnormal, such as lethargy) develops bring him in. Try not to worry, I would be much more worried over a bat bite. Bless you for being so concerned.  All the luck!

 

[coniferously]

Small update: Koda wanted back outside, so we let him back out, assuming he needed to potty. In the meantime, I had put his normal dry food (that he denied this morning, perhaps because he had to use the bathroom or perhaps because his food was inside in a strange location compared to it always being outside where he's used to) outside along with some wet food to see if that would entice him to eat. He came back from wherever he ventured off to and promptly ate some of his newly acquired wet food. He did not eat the entire can's worth, but he ate a pretty decent portion. He's now in the outdoor house we made for him, sleeping, yet again. Is it normal he's slept all through the night (8+ hours) and now he's sleeping again? I feel like he usually just sits outside the screen door and looks into the house in the mornings. Maybe he just wants to sleep because it's so cold outside? I'm really not sure. I hope I'm just being very paranoid.

 

[coniferously]

Not all ticks are infected with anything, I have pulled hundreds off of cats over the years and none of them developed anything from the bite. Just be observant, these things take time to develop. and if symptoms (anything abnormal, such as lethargy) develops bring him in. Try not to worry, I would be much more worried over a bat bite. Bless you for being so concerned.  All the luck!

Thank you so much! You've made me feel a little bit better. I'm naturally very observant and protective over my cats and any cats I come into contact with, so if I pick any abnormalities up from my cats, I tend to freak out a little. Thanks again for your words of wisdom, my heart isn't racing /quite/ as fast!

 

[coniferously]

Just wanted to update on Koda:
Later yesterday after we let him back out from spending the night in our room, he slowly began acting more and more like his normal self. It seems he was just very comfortable in the house and needed to catch up on some well-deserved sleep. He is now 100% back to normal. Thank you all for putting up with me and my hypochondriac-fueled episodes!