A cat owner has been left puzzled after noticing what appeared to be a 'pimple' growing on their cat's throat, prompting others to urge them to take immediate action.

As pet owners, all we want is for our furry friends to be happy and healthy. However, while some pets are great at communicating their happy emotions to us humans, it can be hard to pick up on signs or symptoms that might indicate they're not feeling great. Because of this, it's important to perform health checks on your pet once in a while, just to make sure that everything is as it should be.

This is what one cat owner decided to do, which led them to find something unexpected. Taking to Reddit's 'Cat help' forum, the worried cat owner shared a photo of their black cat and asked about a 'pimple' they'd discovered.

"Should I be concerned? My outdoor cat has this long pimple looking thing..." they wrote on the post.

They went on to explain that the cat in question was a one and a half or two year old male cat, that had been fixed and does spend a lot of time outdoors.

"It's been growing on him for 3 days now and has the feel of a long corn kernel. Is there anything I can do for him and should I be worried?" they asked, saying that they hadn't contacted the vet due to being a 'broke student', but said they would save up the money for any treatments needed.

"It looks like a tick," one person said, to which another user replied: "My immediate thought."

Another user, who claimed to be a vet, agreed that it looked like a tick, and continued to warn the cat owner that cats can also be affected by diseases carried by ticks, with many being more serious than Lyme disease, which is the most common disease for humans to get following a tick bite.

The cat owner soon took to the comment section to reveal what the mysterious 'pimple' had been, after getting advice from other users.

"I CANNOT THANK EVERYONE ENOUGH for the detailed answers!!! I had to wrestle with him but I looked up a video and yanked this sucker out. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!" they wrote as they shared a photo of a large tick between a pair of tweezers.

They went on to say that they'd also cleaned the area with water and soap, and was planning on bringing her cat to the vet as soon as possible.

"Glad to see that you managed to remove it with your head, but still order a tick remover just in case, there is always a risk of regurgitation with the tweezers, even if cats are less fragile than us when faced with this kind of creature and its bacteria." one person commented.

Others went on to urge the cat owner to keep up to date on any flea and tick treatments, as the cat spends so much time outside.

According to the Blue Cross, ticks are rarely dangerous to cats, but can pass on bacteria and microbes when they bite, which cause diseases, such as Lyme disease and babesiosis. Because of this, it's recommended to use a tick treatment on your cat that will either repel ticks or kill them quickly if they attach.

'I noticed 'pimple' on my cat and was baffled when I realised what it was' - The Mirror