If left untreated, this can pose some serious health risks. And fleas, don't forget, are bloodsuckers. If your cat is young or frail, losing too much blood to fleas can be fatal. A flea infection can also act as a gateway to other, more serious infections.
If not treated, you cat may suffer patches of hair loss or reddened, irritated skin. Fleas can also carry other parasites. Frequent vacuuming and/or washing of pet bedding, carpets and furniture can help control fleas. Cats and dogs can share fleas.
Anemia. If a large number of fleas bite and feed on your cat, your pet can develop anemia, which means your cat is losing too much blood. This is a serious medical condition, especially in kittens and elderly cats, that must be promptly addressed through veterinary care.
If a cat or kitten has a severe infestation of fleas, there can be significant blood loss. Blood loss results in anemia. Anemia causes weakness and poor oxygen supply to vital organs. You can see organ failure and death in severe cases of anemia.
When it has a host, an adult flea can live about 100 days. But how long can they live without a host? Those fleas typically live only one to two weeks. The entire lifespan of a flea, from egg to adulthood, can last a few weeks or even a few months.
Fleas are never something you want to see in your home, especially if you are a pet owner. While fleas aren't too difficult to get rid of, it is still important to be knowledgeable about them to treat the infection correctly since they won't go away on their own.
I've Got Fleas – Won't They Just Go Away? Unfortunately, no, they won't. Most fleas can live for between two and three weeks on a host organism, but some flea eggs can survive unhatched for up to an entire year. So even if the fleas you have are dying off, there will be plenty of eggs left to replace them.
Licking, chewing, or excessive grooming. Fur loss or bald spots. Skin redness, rashes, scabs, wounds, or other lesions. A pattern of multiple small, pinpoint scabs (known as miliary dermatitis) is common.
YOUR CAT BECOMES ANXIOUS
If you notice your cat becoming increasingly aggressive, irritable, upset or frantic, fleas may be the cause. Take a closer look at your cat's fur and skin and seek the care of and advice from your veterinarian.
Even if you find a single flea on one cat, it is considered a flea infestation. For each single live flea found, there are thousands more waiting in the carpet, bedding, and lawn. Even a small number of fleas should be taken seriously.
If you find fleas on your pet, don't panic, it's rarely a reason to seek emergency veterinary care. Yes, fleas are unpleasant for pets and humans. Not only can they cause your pet discomfort and irritation, they can also carry some nasty illnesses as well as infest your carpets, beds and other areas of your home.
If your cat has a severe flea problem, several rounds of treatment over several months will be needed to eliminate the problem, because the life cycle of the flea is about 3 months.
First, treat your cat with a product designed to kill fleas. Bathe your cat or kitten with a specially formulated flea shampoo to kill fleas on contact. Flea sprays can be a good option for water-averse cats. Repeat treatment as needed and recommended on the label.
What do cat fleas look like? Cat fleas are dark brown and 1-2mm long. You might spot them in your carpet or notice tiny black specks of flea waste in your cat's fur during combing.
Fleas often gather at the neck and shoulder blades of your pets. The base of the tail and along the back of the legs is a favorite hangout for them, too. Those are also places animals will bite to get to the fleas.
Another sign that cats might have fleas is restlessness and behaving abnormally, as fleas are very irritating to a cat. Shaking the head and scratching at the ears is another indication that your cat might have a flea problem, as fleas like to hide in those areas.
Flea eggs have a soft shell called a “chorion” that has an off-white color, similar to a grain of salt, though they are more oval in shape. Because flea eggs are easy to mistake for dry skin or sand, it's usually not the first thing pet parents notice if their pet has a flea problem.
The most common way for fleas to enter your household is on the family dog or another pet that comes inside from being outdoors. Cats can also get fleas from neighbor pets and local wildlife, such as birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, racoons, possums, squirrels, and skunks.
If you're looking for an easy way to protect your pet, you may be wondering, "Do flea collars work on dogs and cats?" The answer is yes. When used according to label directions, flea collars can protect your pet from itchy, annoying flea bites.
Fleas generally cannot live in human hair. While most species prefer to live on the furs of animals, they can use humans as temporary vectors. In such cases, fleas can infest and bite humans. You may get infected if there is a serious case of flea infestation in your environment.
Getting rid of fleas is a difficult process due to the long lifecycle of a flea. Moderate to severe infestations will take months to control and require a four-step process for complete elimination: Sanitation. Thoroughly clean areas where fleas frequently breed.
- As a general rule if you can pick fleas off an animal relatively easily; they are already slowing down and are busy dying. Healthy fleas are too fast to catch. Nothing can stop new fleas jumping from the environment onto a flea treated animal, and it can be hard to tell where they have picked them up from sometimes…
Flea season can last anywhere from 6-9 months to all year round in some states. Fleas love warm temperatures, so your season can start early in spring and last until September, October, or November.
A study conducted by The Ohio State University demonstrated that up to 96% of adults and all immature stages of fleas can be killed by vacuuming. Vacuuming should be performed on carpeted as well as wooden floors and along with the floorboard twice weekly. This is a spray that contains permethrins and pyriproxyfen.