Is my friend's cat infested ?

[enigma]

My friend has told me that her male cat appeared to have some kind of strange growth on it's fur and on closer inspection , she realised that the hairs she thought was growing out of it , appeared to be some strange parasite ! It was skin coloured , had legs up at the top of it but appeared to have no legs , was quite long and was half buried into the poor animal's skin. I do not know much about pets and can't help her but I was hoping that someone could shed some light on this. I have strongly urged her to get the poor thing to a vet as this does not seem good at all and I worry that the poor wee mite may have become infested but my friend does not seem phased by this as she feels that she got the offending parasite out of it's skin. If need be , I'LL take it to the vet. I welcome your comments so that I can show her what you have to say.

[SteveD]

Sounds like the cat has ticks. Thake it to a vet. I think that, when you remove them, the tick's jaws can break off and remain in the skin.

[cobweb]

Yes i agree with StevieD it sounds like a tick or some other horrid parasite which must be removed by a vet. Whilst the tick stays burrowed into the animals skin it is living off of the animal and the greater risk of infection from it/harder it will be to remove. Please insist your friend takes the cat to a vet for a thorough check up.

[Kit]

SteveD is right, you have to get the tick to drop off as their mouthparts break off if you pull them out. If your friend has pulled the tick out, then the cat needs checking by the vet to make sure that this hasn't happened. They don't always need a vet to remove them though - our cat used to get sheep ticks a lot, and the vet recommended slathering the tick in vaseline. It blocks up its breathing holes, and after a day or so it suffocates and drops off. Unlikely to be an infestation though - ticks drop onto cats opportunistically, not like fleas that live on them.

[IggyB]

lots of info out there about getting these little blighters out, see http://www.takingthelead.co.uk/3/Diseases/ticks.htm or http://www.petplanet.co.uk/petplanet/health/ticks.htm for more general info. incidentally I've managed to get a few tick in my time, mostly behind my ears its a truely orrible thing and went to the docs first of all, but the second time (i'm obviously very tasty) my good old mum just pulled them out (very carefully so as not to leave the head behind) - so it is doable and if your friends done it before she may well be doing the right thing

[enigma]

Thanks guys. I've talked my friend into taking the poor wee mite to the vet , so all's well that ends well. Many thanks for your answers.