What to do if a cat has fleas

Even if you regularly wash and comb your pet, a flea cat may appear at any time. Every host should be ready for this, so that in a panic we should not think about what to do in such a situation.

It should be remembered that fleas are far from the only parasites that can be found in the fur of an animal (you should not forget, for example, about ticks and eaters). Therefore, before you start fighting with parasites, you need to make sure that it is the fleas that are bothering the cat, and not some other insects.

So, fleas in a domestic cat are small parasites about 2 mm long, with a shiny dark brown body. Their main distinguishing feature is the ability to jump far and very quickly: from the place where the flea sits, it literally disappears. Her jump is impossible to see with a look.

It is easiest to notice fleas when combing an animal directly in its fur. Typically, parasites are very agile and quickly escape from the place where they were found.

Below is a photo of a flea cat in wool:

It is interesting

On cats, many species of fleas parasitize - actually feline, as well as dog, rat, rabbit, human. All of them are very similar in appearance, and it is possible to distinguish them from each other only under a microscope.

Fleas are distinguished from biting lice by the fact that they are held exactly on the skin and not on the hairs. In addition, lashes can not jump. Ticks, which often attack walking cats on the street, are well distinguished by legs that are widely spaced apart from the body. In addition, the tick has 8 legs, and any flea has six.

If the cat itches, but there are no fleas, it is possible to suspect the presence of itch ticks - it is impossible to see them with the naked eye, but they cause even more severe itching than fleas.

Feedback

Over the summer, our cat crossed everything that was possible to pick up. At first there were ticks, after them even injections were done. Then the fleas jumped all over the apartment, even bit the child. Already in September, we see that the cat is constantly scratching, but there are no fleas. It turned out - scab. It was also pricked with something.In short, I already understand the cat's parasites better than a veterinarian.

Sasha, Tver

It is important to keep in mind that fleas do not live permanently on the animal. They can bite the cat, suck its blood, and then by all means jump off and hide near the place of its rest, in order to attack the pet again after a while.

Here (under the litter, under the carpets and parquet, behind the plinths) fleas breed. Their larvae live in garbage, feeding on decaying organic matter and excrement of adult insects containing large amounts of undigested blood.

The photographs below show the eggs and larvae of fleas under the cat’s bed:

 

What are dangerous fleas for cats?

Infection with fleas is fraught with several troubles for your cat:

• Itching, biting and constant skin irritation. With a serious infection, a flea cat starts to lose weight quickly, constantly worries, itches and tears out the hair when combing with paws. Subsequently, the cat may develop allergic dermatitis.
• There is also the risk of contracting dangerous diseases. Among them are salmonellosis, brucellosis, various trypanosomiasis.
• Especially high probability of infection with a pet worms. Fleas are intermediate hosts of several dozen types of worms., and if the cat parasites accidentally nibbles and eats the cat, it will almost certainly be infected with these endoparasites.

For the same reasons, fleas are dangerous for humans. At the same time, they carry such deadly diseases for people as plague, encephalitis and anthrax. Therefore, when detecting the first symptoms of a flea infection in a cat, you should immediately begin to treat the animal.

 

Symptoms of fleas in a cat

You can find out if your cat has a flea by a few characteristic symptoms:

• constant anxiety of the animal, combing its hind legs behind the ears and trying to bite fleas out of the fur;
• red spots with small papules in the hair - traces of parasite bites;
• flea excrement around the animal's resting place, as well as in different places of the apartment. They look like tiny black dots the size of a fraction of a millimeter. Most often they come across in the trash when sweeping an apartment.

But the most obvious signs of fleas in a cat are the parasites themselves, which are easy to detect in the fur of an animal upon careful examination.

Important!
If fleas appear in the apartment, they will bite all animals in it, including rodents. With the same ease they will attack a man.

As soon as it becomes clear that the cat did have fleas, you should immediately begin to deduce them, not giving chances to parasites to multiply indoors ...

 

Means to rid the cat of fleas

Today on sale there are many tools that allow you to quickly bring out fleas at the cat. The following drugs are most popular with pet owners:

• Drops from fleas on withers - Frontline, Bayer, Advantiks, Hartz, Blochnet, Bars. The most commonly used means of Hartzi Frontline, as the most effective. Their main advantages are ease of application, high efficiency and long-term residual effect (from several days to several weeks). The disadvantage is a high probability of developing an allergy in an animal.
• Flea sprays - suitable for elite cats, and can also be recommended for use for those animals that have flea drops and collars that cause allergies. Sprays can remove fleas at a time, but have virtually no residual effect.The most famous manufacturers are Bars, Hartz, Advantix.
• And finally, flea shampoos are effective, delicate, but relatively difficult to apply (some choosy cats are not so easy to wash). In addition, flea shampoos have no residual effect and are generally quite expensive. Good for domestic cats who are rarely on the street, and Mr. Shampoos are commonly used. Bruno, Dr. Zoo, Phytoelite.

Flea collars as a means for removing fleas are usually not considered. They are considered the means for preventive protection against fleas of an animal not yet infected.

However, if the collar is put on a cat, the fleas will run out of it after a short time. It is important to keep in mind that the collar can cause an allergy in the animal and a violation of the coat on the neck. In general, insecticide acaric collars are well suited for cats, often in large quantities on the street.

Other means such as special powders, injections and flea pills are used quite rarely and have no significant advantages over the already described preparations.

Feedback

“We returned from a vacation and decided to blow our Leo off. They left him in the yard for the holidays - he got used to him, spent the night on the windowsill in the entrance, fed his neighbors.But when we saw him on arrival - a typical street flea cat. Full, clean, but all in parasites. They bought him a Leopard spray, propshikali once - the fleas disappeared. Then they bought a collar of some kind, very expensive, put it on him, and it was enough until the winter itself. Now every spring we will buy a new collar. ”

Alena, Moscow

On a note

A collar on your cat, often on the street, also protects your pet from being caught by services involved in the extermination of pets. He immediately makes it clear that the cat has owners.

When choosing a remedy for fleas, you should always consider the physical condition of the animal. A cat suffering from fleas at the same time from an infectious or somatic disease should be treated only with benign means for kittens, or not treated at all, waiting for recovery.

 

The correct removal of fleas in a cat

The order of breeding fleas in a cat depends on the specifics of the product itself from the parasites.

1. When using flea drops, liquid is applied from a tube to the skin of the neck at the base of the skull and is thoroughly rubbed into the skin. In this case, the drug itself enters the blood vessels under the skin and spreads throughout the body,poisoning trying to suck up the blood of fleas and scaring them off with a smell. Some tools require rubbing in several points along the spine.
2. Flea spray must be applied to the entire hair of the animal from head to tail and for several hours not to let the cat lick and wash. After that, the animal should be redeemed. Part of the spray penetrates the fatty glands and is subsequently released from the skin over a period of time, scaring away fleas. 
3. With flea shampoo cat should be bathed the same way as with any other shampoo. It is only important to ensure that the foam does not get into the animal's eyes.

If suddenly in response to the use of a flea medicine, the cat has signs of poisoning - shortness of breath, incoordination, excessive drooling, vomiting - it is necessary to stop using the remedy and show the cat to the doctor.

And after the removal of fleas from a cat, it is necessary to pickle an apartment from them - almost certainly the parasites and their larvae had time to choose corners for breeding in it. If after treatment of an animal the parasite is not cleaned from the animal, the fleas will soon start biting people or the same cat again. And the previous steps will have to be repeated anew.

To learn how to remove fleas from an apartment, read in a special section of our site - “Fleas in an apartment”.

 

Useful video: major mistakes when treating a cat with flea preparations

 

How to conduct a cat test for sensitivity to components of the drug against fleas