Care with outdoor cats as tick cases are still rampant.

We are lucky to have  a choice of tablet and chew products for prevention of tick paralysis in dogs (Nexgard, Bravecto, and Simparica), but these cannot be used in cats. There is no reliable registered product for this purpose in cats. We feel that the closest we can get to protection in cats is with the collar product “Seresto” which has a label claim only for flea prevention. Other alternatives include confining indoors, daily searches, close clipping of the coat, and less well regarded topical sprays.

Cats develop respiratory signs earlier than dogs, and in some cases their difficulty breathing precedes their leg weakness. As we only have dog derived tick antiserum to treat them, with its greater risk of shock or anaphylaxis,  cats give us many challenges in their treatment. Remember, the earlier you get the patient to us, the better the outcome.