How to Tell If Your Cat Has Fleas

Disease Prevention πŸ“… November 10, 2020 πŸ‘ 7707

πŸ“ Summary

Cats love squeezing into corners, and fleas love corners too, so without preventive deworming a cat picks them up easily. Fleas bite and itch, and they can also carry other parasites and infections. Knowing the signs and treating the home as well as the cat keeps them gone.

1 What Fleas Do to a Cat

Fleas are blood-sucking external parasites. Once they settle on a cat they disrupt daily life in two ways: they can transmit infectious and parasitic diseases, and their bites irritate the skin and make the cat itch.

2 Signs Your Cat Has Fleas

The main sign is itching. The cat scratches, bites, and rubs at itself, which leads to hair loss and raw spots, and in bad cases the skin breaks and bleeds. Left alone, those spots turn into infected, weeping wounds, and some cats develop an allergic reaction that shows up as eczema.

3 How to Get Rid of Fleas

A medicated bath helps, followed by a thorough disinfection and cleaning of the home. Flea sprays or treatments from a pet supply store also work, but flea eggs are very resistant and hard to kill, so you must spray repeatedly, roughly once a week for a full month, to break the cycle.

4 Prevention

Keep up a regular deworming routine, disinfect the cat’s living space often, and wash its bedding and toys. Consistent prevention is far easier than clearing an infestation.

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