A question involving my cat

[Starwulf]

Ok, so recently me and my wife have been noticing that there are these weird bugs on our cats neck. They aren't fleas(we've seen him with fleas before, these are NOT fleas), they are actually quite sizable, but they neither fly, nor jump on him, they just crawl. There aren't a lot, but there are several of the damn things. We tried to get rid of them with expensive flea stuff anyways that my parents gave me as left-over from a treatment they used on their dog(a paste like substance that we had to rub into his fur right behind his neck(in, apparently, a spot they can't reach to lick), but it didn't do anything.

They kind of resemble over-sized gnats if anything. Can't afford to take him to a vet(and before anyone says we shouldn't have a cat if we can't afford it, we didn't even get the cat, where we live is(and has been) a common dumping ground for people to drop off dogs and cats since I was 5 years old and before. We just thought he was particularly cute, so we let him inside and feed him, then let him back outside so he can do his business and what not. He doesn't stay in overnight or anything) to figure it out, but we are rather tired of seeing them on him, and would like to figure out what they are and how to get rid of them.

[Serpentine]

Even if you can't afford to pay a vet, it may still be worth talking to one, or your local RSPCA-equivalent - they may at least tell you what it is for free.
Can you give a more detailed physical description? Size, wings, number of legs, etc.

[grimbold]

Even if you can't afford to pay a vet, it may still be worth talking to one, or your local RSPCA-equivalent - they may at least tell you what it is for free.
Can you give a more detailed physical description? Size, wings, number of legs, etc.

serps is on point

I don't know if their are any entomologists (i think thats the word) ITP but more description might help in identifying the little guys

[Leecros]

My first guess would be Ticks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick)...because they're seemingly everywhere, but as grimbold says, more description might help with identifying these little guys.

[Abies]

If they bite, (as there is blood in them when you squish one), I'd say they are keds. I have not seen them on cats before, just dogs. But they are only found around the neck area where the cat can not groom well it is a possibility.

[Savannah]

That's really not something that can be diagnosed over the internet. Try contacting your local animal shelter and asking if they know of any low-cost veterinary clinics in the area.

[Anxe]

I second ticks.

[Starwulf]

Definitely not ticks, we pull those off of him all the time(Both the big ones and the smaller ones). The bugs are like...well, they are black, and have longish but narrow bodies. No wings though, and they don't burst with blood when you squeeze one. On the off chance that they were fleas(just abnormally large ones. Again, we've dealt with fleas before, and this are a good deal larger), we just gave him a bath and used flea shampoo that we had to let set on him for 5 minutes. That was...very unpleasant. Didn't realize how strong a slightly larger then average cat can really be when they are reaaaaally mad. On the plus side, we pulled 2 bugs off of him, and 5 more came off in the bath. Hopefully what didn't come off was killed by the flea/tick lather, but we won't know for 1-2 days(that's how long the lather claims it takes to kill fleas. Even if they aren't fleas, it should still kill them I'd think).

After drying him off as best we could(still very wet), he's been sitting on the floor in the same spot in the livingroom for the last 20 minutes, licking himself and licking himself and licking himself.

[Vacant]

Do you have a camera? If so, maybe you could post a picture of one/some of the bugs, I think that'd make them a little easier to identify.

[Spiryt]

Damn, are vets that expensive over there?

Here it would probably be done for equivalent of like 15 $

Obviously only diagnosis, while treatment is way more expensive part, but it's always something....

[averagejoe]

The Mod They Call Me: As it is against the forum rules to give professional advice, anyone answering the question posed on this thread is in violation of the forum rules. As such, it seems prudent to lock it.

On a personal note, I am sorry about your cat, and hope he's okay.