Can My Indoor Cat Gets Ticks?

November 4, 2025

Ellen Vogel, CFMG, Elite FFCP (Veterinary)

 

Some cats have access to the great outdoors on a catio or leash, and some are allowed free access to being outside. However, many of us keep our cats indoors. With indoor only cats especially, we often wonder if we really need to be giving them preventatives since they aren’t being exposed to fleas, ticks, mosquitoes and all those other parasites. Or are they?

I have never had one of these parasites knock on my door and ask permission to come in. Yet every now and then I will find one on a cat, on me, or somewhere in my home. We need to ask if finding one parasite is that big a deal, and if so, whether my cat(s) should be given preventatives. The answer is yes – it IS a big deal. In this article, we’ll explore ticks and the dangerous afflictions they carry.

There are a number of tick species found around the world. The problem is not necessarily the ticks themselves, but the diseases they spread. Many of these diseases are zoonotic, meaning they can infect multiple species, including our cats and ourselves. Preventing ticks on our pets is one step that will not only prevent our cats from being infected but also help us from becoming infected.

I recently visited www.tickencounter.org, a website maintained by the University of Rhode Island. They feature an interactive map allowing you to locate specific regions (groups of states) in the U.S. where ticks are lurking. Surprisingly, there are plenty of species in every region. As you click across the months of the year, some of the species changed but there were multiple species active every month throughout the country.

Many of us have heard of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Do not let the name fool you: This disease is widely found in the United States, not just in the Rocky Mountains. The Gulf Coast tick is another misleading name. These ticks are found along the entire Eastern Seaboard of the U.S., carrying their contingent of diseases.

The most commonly known disease ticks carry is Lyme disease. While it is not typically found in cats, it can be quite debilitating in humans. It is a bacterial infection that can have long-lasting consequences for people who are infected. Early symptoms may start as long as thirty days after a tick bite, so you may not even remember having been bitten. Lyme disease is most commonly transmitted by deer (also known as black-legged) ticks.

Cats and humans can also get Rickettsia parkeri, a bacteria transmitted by ticks. This is also a spotted fever disease and can cause fever, headaches, rashes, and muscle aches.

Another common and potentially lethal disease to cats is hemobartonellosis, a result of bacteria (hemoplasmas) that cause severe anemia. Symptoms in an infected cat may include lethargy, pale gums, rapid or open mouth breathing, and inappetence. Cytoxzoonosis is another more rare infection carried by ticks via the protozoan cytauxzoon felis, which also causes severe anemia and is usually fatal.

The variety of ticks is a long list, with different species carrying different names and different diseases. There are lone star ticks (which is but one moniker of Amblyomma americanum), American dog ticks, black-legged (deer) ticks, and Gulf Coast ticks, just to name a few.

How Do Ticks Get Into a Home?

Usually, it is on humans or other pets, such as companion dogs. Ticks are found lurking in grasses and branches, waiting to detect movement. Once an animal or human walks by, the tick gets on board for their meal. The tick may attach itself to its host by using its specialized mouth that nature has made to both attach and feed. If the tick happens to get on your clothing, it may eventually find a place to attach to you or it may find a pet. When coming in from outdoors, you should consider waiting to give your pets a hug if you have been in an area that may have ticks. Changing your clothes and immediately washing or drying what you wore outside will help stop ticks from attaching to a human or an animal resident in the home; more on that below.

If you find a tick on yourself or if you find one on your cat or another pet, the tick needs to be removed – and it is critical to get the entire tick. They attach with pincers on their mouth, and it is typically through their saliva that disease is transmitted. The entire tick, including the head, must be removed. Tools can be purchased online, at pet supply stores, and other locations to help remove ticks completely. If you are unable to remove the entire tick, including all of the head, you should have it removed by a medical professional, either a veterinarian for your cat or a human doctor for yourself.

The best way to prevent tick-borne diseases from infecting you and your pets is by preventing tick bites. There are products on the market to control ticks on your pets. While some products are designed repel ticks from the pet, others are designed to kill a tick that has attached before it can transmit disease. Some products will also inhibit ticks from laying eggs and from larvae maturing to adult ticks.

You will also want to prevent ticks from getting on you and other members of your family or household. Using a bug repellent labeled to repel ticks is one step. In the United States you should look for one registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is also recommended that you wear long pants and sleeves, covering as much skin as possible when in areas that ticks might inhabit. Before entering your home, you should check your clothing and remove any ticks found. As an extra precaution, ticks missed on clothing can be killed by placing the clothes in a tumble dryer for at least ten minutes on high heat.

Research is ongoing to identify where ticks live, the months they are present in various areas, and what diseases they may be transmitting. The website for the program at the University of Rhode Island is Tick Encounter. Here you will find information on submitting photos and on tick testing. The Ohio State University Veterinary School accepts ticks that have been removed from cats and dogs. For more information on their program, visit the Show Us Your Ticks website. There are many other sites describing programs available to assist in tick identification and testing.

Prevention of tick-borne illness is the best course of action. If you or your cat is bitten, knowing the type of tick will allow your health care provider to determine what possible infection may have been transmitted should you or the cat fall ill.