Ideas On How To Treat A Feral Cat With A Tick

edteach

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I know I went over this and I thought I had it taken care of. But cole has a tick on his head and he was still several days from the 1 month frontline treatment time. So I went to treat him and he came over to eat I reached down and pet him on the head and then tried to put the front line on. He jumped and I grabbed him and he did some scratching on me and ran. Now I can not seem to get close to him. Not sure on what to do. Man its been a year and a quarter and this cat is still very skittish. I would have thought he would have really relaxed. It does not help I took him to the vet a month ago and he was peed off at me for a while. Taking care of a feral is harder than a regular cat.
 

FeebysOwner

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Until some of the feral 'expert' members come along, it could be that the tick is bothering him and that is why he ran from you, especially if you petted him near where you found the tick. Are there any particular treats or foods he especially likes that you might lure him with? Otherwise, it would seem to me that you are going to have to grab him with a blanket and put the Frontline on him.

However, you might want to evaluate whether the Frontline is still working for him - either because the dosage is not enough for his weight or the ticks in your area have developed a semi immunity to it. I would be looking to another product just to be sure.

And now, after having put in my 2 cents, you can wait on the 'experts' to better help you out!!
 

marmoset

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I hope to get the answers to this too. I can't get close enough to frontline my ferals- even two ex-ferals inside:(
 

FeebysOwner

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Capstar (which can be given in food) will work to kill fleas, but not the eggs. After Capstar, I beleive there is another product called Program which is also in a tablet form that can be crushed up in food. I don't know if either do anything for ticks. But, the trick is with both of these products, you have to be able to feed each cat separately in order to ensure proper dosing.
 
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edteach

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Ticks is the main problem. I spent a few days just taking him food and trying to pet him. I would take the frontline out and have it in hand if he would let me pet him. I know now don't try to pick him up he gets scared and then its a few days to calm down. I could not dig down to his skin but dripped it on his fur. I see the tick is gone off of his head. Warm weather should let me spend some time with him. The other thing that seemed to calm him down was I took out a long line feather toy and he went nuts. After a couple of days that and not grabbing him seemed to get him back to a normal place. Thanks for the input. Feral's can be a trip.
 

walli

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I have been using Comfortis for my Feral it's a pill, I have learned to cut it into pieces instead of crushing it into the food,
she wouldn't eat the food with it crushed into it, I cut it in pieces and put it in her dry food, It seems to upset her stomach a bit tho. Looks like it may work for ticks also, I am not fond of this medicine but its all I got right now.
Please read up on it and make your own decision, it worries me a bit that it upsets her stomach.
I am just now learning about compound medicines for animals, there are place that can make medicine into treat form.
might be worth looking into, not sure if they do parasite meds.
 

msaimee

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Let me tell you something about ticks. They gorge themselves on blood, get bloated, and drop off. As long as the cat is being fed well and is healthy, a tick won't cause any harm. I never tried to remove ticks from my ferals, they always got bloated and fell off. You can actually do more damage by trying to remove the tick, and can cause the cat and yourself unnecessary stress.
 
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