Why It's flEASY to Miss Your Cat's Fleas

All pets need flea and other parasite control, but cats are special. Whether your furry feline friend lives exclusively indoors or not, he or she needs flea control. Cats can (and often do) host fleas even when they are indoor-only pets.

What Happens When Cats Have Fleas

Most of the time, cats with fleas will groom the fleas away, sometimes compulsively. They might barber their fur to their skin, brushing it down or buzzing it off to the skin, especially around their tails, bellies, and legs. Sometimes, a flea-infested kitty will have groomed so excessively, they’ll have licked off all the fur except what they can’t reach on their heads, necks, and parts of the thorax! Cats who are more sensitive to flea saliva will develop signs of a flea allergy, such as miliary dermatitis or rodent ulcers. They can even develop eosinophilic granuloma complex lesions, which are super-scary-looking and require treatment to resolve.

How Common Are Fleas in Cats?

More than 9 out of 10 feline skin issues seen at Tanglewilde Veterinary Clinic are linked to fleas and a lack of effective, regular use of flea control products.

Why Cat Owners Don’t See the Evidence of Fleas
Sometimes, owners will see fleas on a very young kitten or on an older, ill cat that is not grooming normally. Cats like to keep their fur clean, and healthy cats will groom fleas and flea feces from their skin and fur quite efficiently. Their clean appearance contributes to a cognitive dissonance in owners. Cat owners know they’re not using flea control, but they don’t see the fleas, and they don’t believe that fleas could cause skin issues, when they’re not visible.
If our veterinarians can find evidence of fleas, such as flea tapeworms dried on the fur of the perineum, crawling around a kitty’s bottom, or in stool samples, or even a little flea “dirt” (which is really flea feces), we can more easily demonstrate the flea life cycle and prove their presence.

The flEASIEST Hosts Around!

As you can now see, cats are super-special flea hosts. With a cat, it’s flEASY to get fleas in your home, and it’s flEASY for cats to host a huge family of fleas. If you act on it properly, it’s also flEASY to get the problem under control. As with most health concerns facing pets, it’s flEASIEST to simply prevent your cat from getting fleas in the first place. Whether indoor-only or not, every pet needs a safe, effective, and personalized parasite control and prevention plan to stay happy and healthy.
Schedule an appointment with Tanglewilde Veterinary Clinic to discuss a flEASY parasite control and preventative for your kitty today!