There's a good reason to keep your cat tick-free: The tiny, blood-sucking insects are notorious for transmitting diseases, especially Lyme disease. Most often, ticks hang out in plants a few feet off the ground. Then they drop onto passing animals, like your cat or dog.
The best way to keep your cat from getting ticks is not to let him outside, or at least to take him out on a leash and keep away from tall grass. However, if you have an outdoor cat who likes to roam, neither of those solutions will work. What you can do is dust or spray your kitty regularly with some type of flea and tick treatment that has pyrethrins in it. Make sure the repellant you get doesn't have permethrin in it; it's highly toxic to cats. Another part of your offense against ticks is to make sure your property is rodent-free. Rats, mice and other little pests can carry ticks and transfer them to your pets, inside the house and out.
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Your cat is less likely to get a bad case of ticks if you check him regularly. Whenever he goes outside -- particularly in warm weather -- you should inspect him for ticks. If you find one, get it out fast. The safest way to remove a tick is to use tweezers in order to grab the tick at the skin line, as close to the bug's head as you can. Pull gently and straight out. Remember that ticks are resilient; once it's out, you have to kill it. Try putting it in a jar with alcohol and closing the jar. That will ensure its demise and allow you to hang on to it in case the cat develops complications that have to be identified. If your cat does get sick or weak within a week after the tick incident, take him to the vet.
