Our cat has strange crab shaped ticks/ fleas. today we found 2 really strange suckers on her head. anyone hel

Question

2 months ago we had a different cat. one day we saw a little spot on the inner side of his ear that looked like a tiny black crab. we thought its just a mole. a few days later it moved a little and we looked closely. we found to our horror that it was a living thing sucking our kitty's blood. we tried to take it off but it was stuck to his ear badly. after 10 or 15 mins of pulling we finally got it off and saw that it was a crab shaped insect full of blood. unfortunately that cat disappeared after a month. now we have another cat. this one also started having those insects stuck in her ear. we tried taking them out but they were stuck on her like anything. a few days ago my hubby noticed a small bump on her head. he thought she got into a fight and has a small wound. anyway, today he saw that bump which had tripled in size. and he noticed that they were not bumps. there were two cocoon shaped things stuck on her head. we thought they are the cocoons of those crab shaped insects but when we tried pulling them out (they were as large as a peanut) and they didn't come off. then we rubbed some insecticide on them with cotton swab and they finally came off after trying for 20 minutes. and when we looked closely they were not cocoons. they were some kind of insects with tiny red legs and a sucker instead of mouth. bloody h**l. anyway we burned them all. took all the crabs off too. but what are those things????? can anyone tell us what they are and how can we rid our cat of those forever????? plz help plzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

sounds like ticks and they can be treated by a vet. the heads(teeth) can stay inside and cause bad infection surgical spirit loosens them they are common in fields on sheep etc. The chance of them coming back are a lot unless can is sprayed or otherwise treated with insecticide and a vet is your best bet. wild cats will pick up all these parasites in the wild grass. they could be fleas, ear mites etc etc so get the vet to once over your cat as a precaution.

Answer 2

Is it a brown dog tic? Their front legs look a tad like crabs pincers!

http://www.baronservices.us/pestsolution...

Edit: Or... I'm not sure if they live on cats but what about crab lice? They live on blood.

http://www.gate.net/~mcorriss/PP2.JPG

Either way never pull them off, burn them off or use rubbing alcohol to kill them.

Answer 3

yep! you've got ticks. listen well to these peoples answers cause they are very correct. and be careful, cause they can go after you too.

Answer 4

What you do is get an eye dropper and fill it with rubbing alcohol. You drop it on the back of the ticks and they will release from the skin without leaving any sucker or teeth in the cat skins.

Ticks!

Answer 5

well, they sound like ticks.  not sure where you live, so it's tough to determine what kind they would be and what kind of problems can come from them.  try keeping your cats inside, or at least away from wooded/ grassy areas to avoid getting more ticks.  the biggest problem ticks bring is the possibility of lyme disease, which can be fatal.

just try to keep the cats inside if you can and do regular checks.  if you spot anymore get them off immediately.  i'm sure its tough with cats, but the best way to get them off when their heads are burrowed in the skin is with tweezers that you've heated up over the stove, or a flame.  you get them hot and grab onto the ticks body, it'll pull it's head out and you can kill it.  Do NOT just pull the body,because you'll break off it's head and it'll get stuck under the skin.

good luck.

Answer 6

You have lice.

Answer 7

The first sounds like ticks which can easily6 be prevented. I don't know about the second.

You can buy Capstar and Frontline Plus online at Drs. Foster and Smith which will definitely kill all the fleas on your cat and prevent re-infestation.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/

Use the Capstar right away. It will kill all fleas on your cat with in an hour. It is imperative that you do not skip this. Frontline Plus is only effective if the flea bites the cat. Fleas have a 3 week lifespan and only feed for a few days of those three weeks, so you must use Capstar to kill all live fleas on your cat and prevent any that have already fed from laying their eggs. After you capstar add on the Frontline Plus with in 12 hours and it will keep fleas off your cat for 30 days. No vet visit required and totally safe. Any eggs that hatch will be killed when they feed by the Frontline.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pr...

Frontline contains fipronil, which spreads via the body oils killing fleas within 24 hours and ticks within 48 hours. Ticks are generally killed before they bite, decreasing the risk of tick-borne disease transmission. Approved for use on kittens 8 weeks and older.

Frontline Plus also contains (S)-methoprene, an Insect Growth Regulator, which prevents an insect from maturing or reproducing. Approved for use on kittens 8 weeks and older.

You can use FRONTLINE flea and tick control once a month and it's completely waterproof. Provide your cat with the best flea and tick protection, right from the start.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pr...

Capstar - Treats flea infestations on pets. Starts killing adult fleas on the pet within 30 minutes. One dose lasts 24 hours. Use when pets are likely to be exposed to fleas. Also may be used prior to surgery, boarding, or grooming. Active ingredient is Nitenpyram, which interferes with the normal nerve transmission of insects, effectively killing them. Not a preventive. For pets over four weeks of age. Package of 6.

Answer 8

MY TIP?

Buy a flea/tick treatment from your vets, this will prevent the ticks from feeding for a month. Your cat will need treated every month to avoid them feeding on your cat. Do NOT pull them off. You can get a tick hook from your vets, which you insert under the tick, twist clockwise, and give a gentle tug. This should also remove the head of the tick, as it is important not to leave this in your pets skin. The previous poster's comment about lyme disease is correct. The other poster- saying burn it off- you are clearly an idiot. NEVER burn ticks off, as they often try to burrow deeper into the skin.  

Answer 9

try shaving all of its furrrrrrrrrr