Fleas On Cats - What You Should Know

Fleas – An External Parasite That You Need To Be Concern On

External parasites lie on the skin of your cat and feed on both his skin and blood, causing discomfort and, in some cases, sickness. They are a common problem for cats, particularly those that go outdoors, but your cat is easily treated and will recover quickly.

What You Should Know About Fleas On Cats

Many cats are highly sensitive to fleas. Some cats will react to the presence of a single flea not only by scratching vigorously but also by losing great patches of hair. Fleas tend to be more prevalent around the eyes, ears and anus, and a cat will scratch, suffer hair loss and be thoroughly miserable.

When combating fleas, and it is combat, you will need to treat your cat repeatedly as well as ridding his quarters and/or your living quarters of fleas. You must fumigate the area again within 10 to 14 days after the first treatment as that is when the eggs hatch and a new crop of fleas emerges.

Some of the newer flea remedies include monthly pills or skin drops that are available only through your veterinarian. Other remedies include flea collars, powders, sprays and baths. Always ask your veterinarian about the advisability of combining flea remedies, or you might poison your cat.

If you have indoor cats and a dog that goes outdoors into an enclosed yard, you can either hire a professional flea exterminator to spray your yard monthly, or you can purchase the equipment and do it yourself. If there are no fleas in the yard, the dog can not bring them into the house.

While it is not difficult to rid your indoor pet and your house of fleas, it may be impossible to rid an outdoor cat of them.

Fleas not only carry tapeworms but may give your cat feline infectious anemia (FIA), a disease that can result in anemia and a very sick cat. Symptoms include pale gums and a high temperature, but your veterinarian will take a blood test to make a definite diagnosis, and will then prescribe the necessary treatment for your cat.

What You Should Know About Flea collars? If your kitten goes outdoors, he may pick up fleas. You may want to purchase a flea collar to help prevent an infestation, but other treatments can be more effective.

The following foods should never be fed to cats:

- Chocolate - theobromine, a component of chocolate, is toxic to cats and dogs. If your cat ingests chocolate, contact your veterinarian.

- Onions – In quantity, onions can cause a blood disorder called Heinz anemia.

- Raw fish, poultry or eggs – Uncooked animal products frequently carry bacteria or parasites that can cause serious illness. In addition, components of raw egg white and raw fish can destroy important vitamins.

- Bones – Bones may splinter, causing choking or perforations of the gastrointestinal tract

- Dog Food – Nutritionally, dog food is wrong for cats. Feed dogs and cats separately.

Fact Sheet of Fleas and Ticks - Everything You Need To Know

Here is a fact sheet of fleas and ticks to guard yourself against these harmful parasites on your pets. What makes these fleas and ticks thrive? How can you break their life cycle? What can you do to protect your pets from them and fully get rid of them? These are just some of the questions that every pet owner wish they have the answer to. With this brief fact sheet, we will try to provide means to arrive at the answer to these questions.

First and foremost, fleas are referred to as parasites because they suck on the blood of the host animal. Whenever they do, the flea's saliva often causes an reaction on your pet's skin that leads to the development of rashes. Consequently, your pet dog or cat scratches excessively to alleviate the itching. More than the allergic reaction it can cause your pet, fleas may also serve as carriers of more deadly diseases such as tapeworm.

There are basically four stages in a flea's life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. A flea's life cycle can range from 2 weeks until a year, but it mostly depends on the environment. Other factors that contribute to the development of a flea's life cycle is temperature, humidity, and the availability of food. In order to survive, fleas prefer areas with high humidity and temperature.

Ticks, on the other hand, are also parasites. There are several recognized species of ticks but most of them target dogs. And although only a few of the known tick species cause problem to both humans and pets, the few who does can transmit serious diseases not only to dogs, but humans as well.

Here are some characteristics of both fleas and ticks that every pet owner should be aware of. Again, fleas thrive in warm and humid areas. Hence, you might notice that they are prevalent during summer or hot months. During this time, you have to double your efforts in protecting your pet and maintaining the cleanliness within your house or your direct environment so as not to make it conducive for them as breeding grounds.

Ticks prefer to live in heavily wooded areas such as tall grass or brushes. Therefore, you can expect them to live outdoors such as your backyard. When your pet dog likes to play outdoors in your backyard, you have to keep it clean so as to make sure that your dog is safe whenever they go out. Not to mention that both fleas and ticks produce several eggs at one time, 50 and 100 respectively. Therefore, they can easily increase in numbers and you have to prevent this from happening.

There are a few measures that you can take at home to ensure that your home is safe from both fleas and ticks. And now that you know that fleas even survive during winter months, you need to employ year-round protection on your pets and home. You have to start by keeping your pet beddings clean regularly by using detergent or insect repellent. Constantly vacuum your home to get rid of any immature fleas, or maw your lawns as often as you can or if need arises.

Also, regularly check your pets for any signs of flea or tick infestation. Groom them daily by taking a bath and combing their hair to keep away any existing fleas or ticks. Now that you have this fact sheet of fleas and ticks, use this to your advantage and put an end to your battle against these harmful pests!