Do Fleas Bite People Too
Yes! Fleas are after blood and can bite people or latch onto our clothes or shoes. However, they really do prefer animals. Pets are ideal hosts because thick fur provides plenty of shelter for fleas to latch onto skin and feed, or lay eggs.
If fleas do bite you during an infestation, it will likely be around your ankles, or in folds of skin. Flea bites can cause an allergic reaction in the form of hives.
life cycle of the flea depends on a lot on environmental conditions. Fleas flourish in warm climates and usually die in the winter season.
Flea eggs are small but can be seen if youre looking closely. They are smooth and white or light in color. A single adult female flea can produce up to 2,000 eggs in her lifetime. These eggs may be laid in your pets fur, deep in the carpet, or in tall grass.
In ideal conditions, fleas will evolve from egg to adult within 2 to 3 weeks. Adult fleas can live up to 100 days.
Fleas are ready to feed within a day of hatching, and begin to suck blood within 10 seconds of landing on a host.
If the weather isnt ideal and there isnt a host to feed on, flea larvae may remain dormant for months while waiting for better conditions to develop. This is a key reason dealing with infestations can be so difficult.
What Do You Do When You See Flea Dirt On Cats
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If your poor little kitty is starting to scratch a lot, the first scary possibility that comes to mind is that fleas cause it. Indeed, it’s very likely that what’s bothering him is fleas. So what is flea dirt, and what should you do when you see flea dirt on cats? In the following article, we will examine the issue of flea dirt.
Six Of The Best Ways To Get Rid Of Fleas On Your Cat
The adult fleas you spot on your cat represent only around five per cent of the total number already living in your house.1 Flea eggs, larvae and pupae are likely living in the environment, scattered over carpets, upholstery, bedding, and just about everywhere else in and around the home.
Fleas breed quickly, so a flea infestation can rapidly take over your life. Fleas can easily get out of hand if you dont move fast to rid your cat and home of these stubborn parasites.
Follow these six steps to get rid of cat fleas and prevent them from moving back in.
Treating your cat is always the first step in beating a flea infestation. And if you use an effective preventative product regularly, youre unlikely to have a problem in the first place.
There are lots of different flea treatments available. Read on to find out which ones may be best suited to your furry friend and remember, you can always ask your vet for their recommendations.
Spot-on flea treatments are easy to use and they can provide an effective way to remove fleas on your cat and protect them from fleas in the first place.
Fleas can cause serious skin disease in cats, so if your cat has patchy fur, sore skin, or seems generally unwell then ask your vet to check them over.
Flea collars have moved on technologically, as newer models offer an effective and easy way of treating flea infestations.
Flea powders are not a long-term solution to an infestation. Once your pet has shaken it off, its no longer active.
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Signs Your Cat Has Fleas
So, what exactly does a flea infestation look like?
If your cat starts grooming much more than usual, scratching or has itching or loss of hair at the base of their tail, fleas may be the cause, Dr. Bales told The Dodo.
You might also notice your cats more restless than usual, shakes her head often or has scabs appearing on her body.Surprisingly, you probably wont actually see many fleas on your cat since cats are such expert groomers. And sometimes fleas reside in carpets or grass and only jump on your cat to feed. Its more likely youll see flea dirt on your cat, which looks like coffee grounds in her fur.
Even so, youll want to keep an eye out for the culprits themselves. Fleas are small, flat insects that are dark brown or black, Dr. Conrad said. They are usually easiest to see on the areas of your pet that have thin hair, such as their stomachs or legs.
You can use your fingers to part your cats hair to look for fleas and flea dirt, or run a flea comb through her coat to see if you can rustle up either the bugs or the evidence they leave behind.
How Fleas Attach To Your Pet
Fleas can survive for up to two weeks without a host your pets can come in contact with them in backyards, dog parks and kennels, not to mention contracting them from another animal that has fleas. Once an adult female flea attaches to your pet, she can lay as many as 50 eggs per day and live up to 100 days . The female flea will start laying eggs within a day of attaching to your pet, Kratt said, and within two to 16 days, those eggs will hatch into larvae, which then grow into pupae this is the cocoon stage, the last developmental stage before the adult flea emerges.
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What Does Flea Dirt Tell You
Flea dirt is an indication of an infestation of fleas. It is an alarm bell that should not be ignored. If you see it on your cat you need to take immediate action before the matter spirals out of control.
Now you know what the big deal is, let me explain how to get rid of the fleas as well as the flea dirt. As well as how to prevent fleas from coming back to cause you problems and more. Keep reading
Fleas Are Gone But Dirt Isn’t
Flea dirt will stick around on your cat even after you have killed all of the fleas. Although the dirt is not as dangerous as the fleas themselves, this unwanted reminder of the fleas may irritate your feline friend’s skin or cause stomach upset from grooming. The most effective way to get rid of the flea dirt is to give your cat a bath. Unfortunately, this is often easier said than done, so be prepared for a struggle. If you have just given her topical flea medication, wait at least 48 hours before trying a bath. If the bath is too stressful for you or for your cat, try rubbing your cat with a damp towel or brushing her with a soft, moist brush. Both of these methods will help clear the flea dirt from your cat. In mild cases of fleas, your cat may take care of the flea dirt herself through her regular grooming.
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Understand Cat Flea Symptoms Of Common Diseases
On top of causing irritation and infection, fleas can carry disease. While tick-borne illnesses are often more dangerous, there are a few flea-borne diseases that could affect your cat.
Vet Tip:
If you notice symptoms from a flea bite, consult with your veterinarian right away. The sooner you get your cat treatment the sooner theyll get back to normal health.
Wash Your Own Bedding And Anything Soft
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How Do Fleas Affect My Cat
Many cats live with fleas but show minimal signs. However, problems can occur.
Some cats develop an allergy to flea bites, especially if they are repeatedly bitten. Flea allergic cats groom or scratch excessively after being bitten by even a single flea, and often develop skin infections secondary to this self-trauma. Lesions most often appear at the base of the tail. Excessive grooming may also result in removing all evidence of a flea infestation on your cat. To eliminate this possibility, your veterinarian may advise rigorous flea control even though no fleas can be found.
Adult fleas live on animals and feed on blood. A single adult flea consumes many times its weight in blood over its lifetime. If a kitten, or a debilitated or older cat, has a lot of fleas, the blood loss can be severe, resulting in anemia.
The flea acts as the intermediate host for one species of tapeworm. This means that the tapeworm must complete part of its life cycle within a flea. Flea larvae become infected by eating tapeworm eggs, and if a cat swallows an infected flea while grooming, the tapeworm larva will develop into an adult tapeworm. Any cat with fleas is likely to also have a tapeworm infestation .
Why Do Fleas Appear
Fleas are tiny insects that live in the environment and can spread to animals and people. They do not fly but run a lot and jump at great heights . With the heat, their activity increases, so it is more common for them to appear in summer or areas of high temperatures.
Fleas jump from one animal to another this is how the infestation begins. Adult fleas inhabit the mammal and lay eggs that fall into the environment. The eggs hatch into larvae that feed on the fecal matter of existing fleas and develop pupae.
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Use Flea Prevention Products
The products that were mentioned earlier such as flea combs, sprays, collars, topicals, and chewables can also be great for flea prevention. They can create a protective barrier around your cat that can either repel fleas or kill any that make their way onto your cat. Never treat your cat with anti-flea products made for dogs the ingredients are different and can be fatal to cats.
It is important to note that pet parents should never useflea medallions . They can dip into the water dish when your pet drinks, adding chemicals to the water.
Always talk to your vet about using more than one product on your cat at a time. The chemicals in different products dont always mix and may be harmful to your kitty. Dont use flea shampoo or other chemical treatments on kittens because the strong ingredients may harm them. Only use products labled safe for kittens based on their age and/or weight.
How To Get Rid Of Fleas On Cats
Imagine that you are an indoor/outdoor cat. Your life is pretty simple and fun. Except for a few chase from the neighborhood dogs, you have got it made. However, there are a few minor annoyances that may come your way. One of these is getting flea-infested. So you always ask if how to get rid of fleas on cats?
The most fun that you can have is when you are stalking critters in the bushes. The problem is that that’s where you are most apt to pick up the unwanted guests.
As the owner of an indoor/outdoor cat, you want to make sure that your pet doesn’t suffer from parasites.
This is important for both you and her. The only problem is that many of the flea remedies on the market are toxic or noxious.
You want a natural remedy that will keep both you and your cat protected. The following list mentions some natural treatments for how to get rid of fleas on cats. We hope that this is helpful to you.
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Is Flea Dirt Dangerous
Well, sort of, because it’s a big red flag alerting you to a greater problem: the flea treatment you’ve been using on your dog or cat isn’t working properly.
“Fleas carry many, many potential diseases which will induce illness in cats, dogs, and humans,” Hall says. “As high as 80 percent of fleas collected from cats have been demonstrated to carry at least one organism which can trigger illness in cats and humans.” So a flea infestation that leaves poo behind might also cause:
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Bartonellosis , which is carried by fleas and found in flea dirt. If a cat is infected with this, a human can be, too.
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Flea-borne parasites, like tapeworms, can also occur when your pet swallows an infected flea.
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Hall says fleas are also responsible for transmitting severe illnesses to humans such as typhus and plague.
However, an invasion of these nasties large enough to leave flea dirt on dogs or cats isn’t necessarily the cause of their allergies.
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What Is Flea Dirt
“Flea dirt is actually the feces of adult fleas,” Hall says. “If you find flea dirt on your pet, it means that your pet has fleas, and they only produce flea dirt after they’ve been on your pet long enough to consume a blood meal and digest that meal.”
What does flea dirt look like? Hall says if you suspect these little buggers are out of control, you can do a flea dirt test:
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Find a spot where your dog or cat sleeps the most.
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If you see flecks that are dark redtoblack in color, flick some of them onto a white piece of paper.
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Apply water. If it leaks a red color, it’s flea dirt. “This is because flea dirt is made up of animal blood that’s not completely digested,” Hall says.
Ugh. Gross.
Usually there’s a concentration of it on bellies and near behinds, but it’s often harder to spot on cats than dogs because kitties groom more regularly. Here are some photos of what flea dirt looks like.
“Flea dirt means there are adult fleas living on your pet,” Hall says. “Adult fleas only make up about 5 percent of the total flea population as eggs, larval, and pupal stages of the fleas are also in the environment.”Ew. I’m not scratching, you’re scratching.
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Tackling Fleas In The Home An Overview
Frequent vacuum cleaning will help to reduce, but not eliminate, fleas in a house. Vacuum bags should be immediately and carefully disposed of. Anything heavily infested, such as bedding, should be disposed of. Treatments can then be used to prevent re-infestation in a number of ways:
- Treat all the household pets with an insecticide to kill the adult fleas on them. Only ever use products specifically licensed for the treatment of cats, as some of the dog products can be highly toxic to cats .
- Treat the house to eradicate fleas at all other stages of their development. Treatment of the whole house is essential, including soft furnishings, carpet pile, gaps between floorboards and other difficult to reach areas. Vacuum clean first and then use an appropriate flea insecticide to kill the immature stages.
- Cocoons are very resistant to treatment, and therefore repeated treatments of both animals and the household may be needed to completely eliminate all fleas from a home.
- Products with insect development inhibitors may be used on pets to help prevent immature fleas from maturing or reproducing. For these to be effective all animals in the household must be treated. Some environmental products also target developing fleas in this way.
Can Flea Dirt Make Cats Itch
Flea dirt is believed to cause itching in cats with Flea Allergy Dermatitis . This disease is caused by the fleas saliva but is believed to still cause itching when there is flea dirt, without fleas being present. This is why you may see your cat itching when there appears to only be the flea dirt left.
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When To Contact Your Vet
If you think your cat has fleas, call your vet practice for advice. If they have had a vet check recently, its likely youll be able to collect a flea product without them being seen, but if they havent been examined in a while, or have developed skin problems due to fleas, they will need an appointment.