Cat-Possibly has Warbles?

Question

I was petting my cat today and noticed a bump. He is half indoors, half outdoors and I thought somehow he'd gotten a tick. I look in his fur to pull it out and noticed it wasn't a tick at all. It was a strange worm-like bug that was gray/white and stuck out more than a bump and then it moved. I felt around his neck and found another one. I called a friend who told me it was a warble. Is this definatly a warble (I don't know anything else it could be)

I'm taking him to the vet tommorrow, what exactly will they do to remove it. Will they keep him overnight...?

Answer 1

They should not have to keep him over night. The best thing for them to do is surgically remove it. They need to make sure they get the entire warble out, if part of it is left in there it could cause serious infections. Definately do not try to pull it out. Also the cat should be placed on antibiotics to ensure the infection will be cleared

never use peroxide or neosporin this will also cause the larvae to go deeper

Answer 2

Not sure what warbles is, may be a regional name for a the bot fly larva which is laid on animals. The grub grows under the skin......it has a little hole and it breaths thru it, sometimes you may see it move and reposition itself. They are not uncommon. Dr. will check your cat, may or maynot do bloodwork, use an appropriate general anesthetic or may use a local anesthetic at the site.....they may enlarge the openning and pluck out the grub. Might just squeeze below the grub and pop it out. There a couple of ways to do it. They will mostlikely give some antibiotics just to prevent secondary infection. Its gross, but everything should be fine.