Where does a domestic cat get fleas and what danger do they carry for an animal

Hello. You should have seen how upset my niece was because of the news that fleas were found in her beloved cat.

It seems that she did not leave the borders of the house, and she was constantly looked after and washed. But an unpleasant meeting with this small parasite could not be avoided.

They got rid of fleas quite quickly, but most of all they were worried about another question: where did the domestic cat get fleas? How could they appear if there is no animal on the street? Now I will try to answer all the questions posed in detail.

Where do fleas come from?

Affectionate, gentle, soft kitten, his whole family loves him. Everyone tries to surround with attention, care. But sooner or later it becomes noticeable that the cat begins to bother something, it constantly itches, it gives him terrible discomfort. Everything is extremely explainable; fleas appeared in a domestic cat. The sooner the issue with this problem is resolved, the easier it will become for your pet.

What are they

Many pet owners, as NitHome knows, have the wrong opinion that fleas are the lot of stray animals. They simply panic if they discover that their beloved cat has fleas. The phenomenon is widespread and quite normal, even if it sounds strange.

Therefore, it is worthwhile to figure out what to do, where do fleas from a domestic cat come from and what is the best way to help your pet? Fleas are parasitic blood-sucking insects, of which there are more than 500 species.

A wingless creature with a flattened body, three pairs of legs. An interesting feature is the ability of a flea to starve for a long time. They can safely do without a power source for up to a year and a half.

Methods of infection

Insects can appear on the body of a perfectly clean cat, says NitHome.Ru, which does not happen on the street at all, does not come into contact with other animals.

The fact is that a female flea lays up to 8 eggs at a time. They are not attached to the wool, as is the case with nits, but simply fall out, appearing on the carpet, in the master's bed, on the bedding of the animal, on the floor.

The larva may be inside the cocoon until a convenient moment appears. The animal, playing on the floor, lying on the litter, catches a larva, which instantly activates as a living individual.So here you can explain the reason why the domestic cat once had fleas. So the parasite larvae lived somewhere nearby.

Preventing the infection process, says NitNome, is almost impossible. After all, parasites can "climb" onto an animal from their own litter, from the floor in the house, from grass, from asphalt, from sand or from trees.

You should not look for a source of infection for a long time, wondering: where does a home, such a clean cat fleas come from? It is better to carry out therapeutic or preventive measures instead.

Can a cat have fleas if it is home?

Absolutely, it can be argued that fleas in a domestic cat and cat can easily appear. Some reasons have already been considered here. Guests can bring on their clothes, just jumped into the house from the landing, will be brought in by the wind, but there are many options and each of them will be correct.

Individuals brought from the street and their larvae do not pose a danger to humans, but they must attack the animal. Even if this is the only insect, in a few days there will be ten times more such “tenants”.

Larvae can develop everywhere, even outside the body of the animal. Do not ask yourself once again the question: are there fleas in domestic cats? There are and will certainly appear if the owner is not attentive enough to his furry pet.

How to identify a parasite

The fact that a cat has fleas is not difficult to understand. The animal becomes restless, itches all the time. She still plays actively, eats well, but often itches. Recently appeared parasites are visually difficult to determine in the first days after infection. They can be detected in a few days, when excrement is noticeable under the hair on the body.

Do not forget that parasites multiply rapidly. A week later, this is not one flea, there are many more.

If you do not take emergency measures, pays attention to nithome.e.Ru, then dozens, hundreds of parasites will appear quite quickly. Veterinarians characterize this state of affairs as the second stage of the disease. In this case, the animal behaves uneasily:

• constantly itches;
• gnaws at his body;
• bites, wanting to destroy the parasite;
• refuses food;
• meowing plaintively.

This state of the animal does not change day or night. If stray animals respond calmly to the presence of insects, flea dermatitis and psychosis may develop in pets, according to NitHomeРу. These are already more serous diseases that require long-term treatment.

Indifference on the part of the owner carries dangerous consequences. A cheerful, energetic, fluffy lump suddenly begins to hide, refuse food. Traces of scratching are clearly visible on the body, bleeding wounds may appear, in the tail area the cat simply pulls out pieces of hair.

This is the place of the greatest localization of parasites, says NithXoym. As a result, a severe third stage of the disease. It’s not the time to be interested in where these fleas come from, the animal needs operational help.

Prevention

If fleas appear in a domestic cat, emergency measures must be taken. One random flea is easy to handle. But if there are more, then this is fraught with disastrous consequences for the animal. There is a characteristic symptomatology:

Therefore, as soon as your cat has got fleas, take emergency medical and preventive measures. It is necessary to regularly bathe the animal with special shampoos, use sprays, drops. Make sure that the cat is constantly in the anti-collar collar.

In pet stores there are two types of modern collars: chemical and biological. Chemicals are much more effective, but not suitable for kittens and animal allergies.

The apartment must be regularly cleaned using various antiseptics. Work on the place where the animal sleeps. It is better to wash the litter.

The cat entrusted the man with his life. She gives him affection and tenderness for caring. And if your cat or cat has fleas, then the sooner measures are taken, the calmer the life of the pet will be. If the animal suffers from allergic reactions to various drugs, it is best to consult a veterinarian about the choice of means to kill insects.

Preventive measures are equally important. Do not think long about whether your cat may have fleas? They can, and will certainly start, if the appropriate processing of the wool is not carried out. As long as cats exist, such bloodsuckers will live. And it does not matter if your pet is on the street or not.

The main habitats of fleas

First of all, you need to deal with the frequently asked question: can there be fleas in a domestic cat and why do they appear. So, of course, fleas can occur in a cat sitting at home, because the paths of penetration of these blood-sucking parasites into the apartment are very extensive.

Let's look at where fleas come from:

1. The apartment is on the ground floor and fleas brought rodents living in the basement.
2. Often cats run out into the porch and can pick up one or two fleas left by other pets at the house. Once in the apartment, fleas begin to multiply actively.
3. Fleas could move into your home from neighbors.
4. In kittens, fleas appear from their mother - cats.
5. A cat can bring fleas from the street on itself. After all, even one flea can turn into a whole horde. Fleas breed quickly and actively.
6. A person can bring fleas from the street on shoes or clothes. And it’s not even necessary that you have a cat, fleas can feed on human blood while actively reproducing.

Fleas are a very common type of blood-sucking insects, they can do without food for a long time, that is, without a cat. Flea eggs and larvae develop in the environment and do not need blood until a certain age. That is why it is important to bring fleas out of the apartment, otherwise they will not leave you or the cat alone.

The most preferable for fleas are places such as a bed, a carpet, upholstered furniture, soft toys, bedding and houses of cats and kittens, a kitchen sink, crevices and baseboards. Keep this in mind when you begin to take fleas out of the apartment. This knowledge will help get rid of them quickly.

Fleas in a domestic cat - methods of prevention and treatment

When fleas appear in a domestic cat, breeders have a question about where insects come from and how to deal with them. Infection of animals with parasites is very expected and predictable due to the presence of a dense hairline in which the bloodsuckers feel just fine. There are many ways to prevent and treat flea-infected furry pets.

Parasite description

Fleas are wingless insects, the most popular feline parasites. Two days after the flea’s female enters the animal’s body and the bloodsucking process begins, she lays about 50 eggs per day (in total, a female can lay up to 2 thousand units).

After a week, larvae appear that feed on adult waste products and cystode larvae and can spread helminthic infections. After about three weeks, after going through all the stages, the larva turns into an adult insect.

Such a parasite in its final form has a brown oval body flattened on both sides with a characteristic luster, covered with villi, six legs (three on each side), the last pair of which is hopping; jagged crests on the head - ctenidia; oral apparatus of piercing-sucking type; body length in the range from 0.8 to 4 mm - depending on age.

The insect is so masterfully hiding in the animal’s hair that it is extremely difficult to catch it, and it is almost impossible to crush it with your fingers.

Where do they come from

Infection of pets occurs elementary:

If meeting with uninvited guests is undesirable, you should always keep the house clean, wet with chlorine-based products, inspect your pet more often for insects, their waste products and larvae, keep street shoes in places with a well-washable surface, away from your pets .

Particular attention should be paid to prevention in the autumn-spring period, when fleas are most active.

Signs of the appearance of parasites

• sudden anxiety of the animal, intensive combing of the body with hind legs;
• bleeding combs appear;
• the presence of excrement of parasitic insects in the form of small black formations similar to earthen grains;
• sometimes a cat can even make mournful sounds. The reason for this is quite painful insect bites;
• very small white flea eggs can be found on the litter where the pet just scratched itself. If you press them down with your fingernail, a characteristic sound will appear.

To detect traces of insects staying, it is enough to examine the places most comfortable for fleas - in the groin, in the ridge and at the base of the tail.

Single treatment of a cat is an ineffective insect control measure. They hide all over the room: in crevices, in things and on the pile of carpets. A thorough cleaning is required. Sometimes it even requires the involvement of professionals.

Treatment

The market for parasite control in domestic animals is growing at a tremendous pace. The choice is overwhelming. You must always consider the age, weight and degree of infection of the animal.

Mousse (foam) against fleas. It is well tolerated by animals. Economical in consumption.Usually a very small amount of such a tool is enough to process the entire cat.

Sprays against fleas. Effective, but not too convenient to use. Animals often lick them off themselves immediately after application. This is harmful to their health. Sprays must be applied in stages, and the cat will experience stress every time. Apply the product first on your hand and only then on the animal’s hair.

No need to spray the cat, like a plant from a spray, to prevent the drug from getting on the mucous membranes. The direction of processing is from head to tail, and not vice versa. Do not buy products containing organophosphates. Kittens, before they reach three months, can not be sprayed!

Anti-flea collars. It should be worn after the main treatment and as a preventative measure. Some collars contain a substance that is harmful to the cat.

The choice of an insecticidal agent should be approached with great responsibility, carefully read the instructions, study contraindications. If even the slightest doubt arises, you should consult a veterinarian who will tell you how to be.

For the treatment of homes, various insect control agents are suitable, they can be found in any hardware store. Sprays are very popular. They are practically safe for people and animals.

The danger that insects can carry

If these blood-sucking insects are found, measures should be taken immediately. Why parasites can be very dangerous for both cats and humans:

One of the important steps in the fight against dangerous parasites is to know where they come from and do good prevention. Such measures may include: regular cleaning, maintaining hygiene of the pet and the use of an anti-flea collar.

Amazing question

Infection with fleas of a domestic cat is not a sign of inattentive treatment of the owner or poor care of her.

No one can insure their pet against fleas, and this disease is not the prerogative of stray dogs and cats only. Many wonder where the flea comes from. In fact, fleas can even be found on domestic guinea pigs, but they are more common in cats and dogs.

Infection of domestic animals with fleas often occurs when they communicate with infected animals, with long-term presence in the habitats of wild animals (in the burrows of animals during hunting), etc.

Fleas in domestic cats can appear from the owner, because in the autumn-winter time fleas migrate to the basements of houses, while they can also be in the entrance, getting on the shoes of its residents. It is in this way that fleas often appear in a domestic cat or dog.

Also very often thoroughbred cats take part in contests and exhibitions at which a large number of animals gather, among which it is possible to find an infected cat or dog.

Upon contact with such a beast, it is also possible to catch fleas.Regardless of the pathways of infection with fleas, owners should remember that fleas are better to prevent than to treat, so special preventive methods must be performed in advance.

It is necessary to monitor the humidity in the apartment, since fleas do not develop well at a humidity below 50%, keep the cat or dog clean, and strengthen the immune system with proper nutrition, and do not forget to periodically inspect the animal.

Thus, infection with fleas of a domestic cat is not a sign of inattentive treatment of the owner or poor care of her. A flea can be brought into the house from the street on shoes, without even knowing about it. Therefore, carefully inspect your domestic cat, so that at the first suspicion of infection with fleas, timely measures to destroy them are applied.

Common Flea Infection Pathways

Fleas attack cats promptly and are in no hurry to leave the warm coat. They must be destroyed, it is necessary to act decisively and quickly - a protracted disease greatly undermines the pet’s health and is difficult to heal. Professional actions of a feline host lead to the complete destruction of parasites without contacting a veterinarian.

The most common infections are:

• Walk on the ground, grass, asphalt.
• Meeting with a sick animal.
• The introduction of fleas into the house by a person (on shoes, clothes).
• The remains of flea droppings in the apartment (on carpets, furniture).

What does a cat flea look like?. This is a small insect, the body of which is strongly flattened from the sides. There are no wings, the flea moves in leaps - the developed hind legs help in this (there are six legs in total).

Powerful jaws bite through the skin easily, and the parasite drinks blood until it is completely saturated. His stomach at the same time increases several times.

Larvae feed on organic debris, excrement of adults. After 12 days, an adult insect craving cat blood grows out of a tiny white egg.

How to find out that a cat caught fleas

Based on the behavior and appearance of the pet, it is easy to determine whether it has been sick for a long time, and based on the findings, make a decision about going to the veterinarian, as well as about possible treatment options.

Early days of the disease. Immediately after infection, it is only an attentive owner who can understand that an animal is sick. The behavior of the cat is almost unchanged, it is playful, calm and eats well. Only scratching can be alerted, than usual, but a domestic predator does not always tidy itself up in humans.

Symptoms of the disease in the second stage. The behavior of the cat is changing:

The number of fleas reaches 200, they can be found by spreading the fur, and sometimes they are visible from afar. The body of the animal is dotted with combs, bites, and bleeding wounds. A pet is physically and mentally ill.

Disease progresses. A cheerful furry friend turns into a sullen slaughtered animal:

1. significantly losing weight;
2. weakens greatly;
3. stops playing;
4. wool falls out;
5. in some places bald spots form;
6. allergic dermatitis develops.

The cat in this period is a small ball of enormous pain. Save the animal immediately.

What are parasites dangerous?

There are other reasons why you need to get rid of these insects:

• they always cause worms - worms often grow inside fleas;
• parasites bite a person’s legs - and this is not only unpleasant, but also fraught with inflammation and the development of allergies - people do not tolerate flea saliva;
• fleas are carriers of fungal diseases and infections (including plague);
• the cat can become bald forever - the fur coat will not grow even after a complete cure;
• the pet starts having mental problems.

What is fraught with infection of kittens. Insects in kittens are many times worse than fleas in cats. The children's body is not able to cope with the invasion of parasites, and the consequences of a protracted disease are always sad:

How to get rid of bloodsuckers

The release of a pet from harmful insects occurs simultaneously in two directions:

1. The cure of the animal.
2. Cleaning fleas from the surfaces of a house.

If you restrict yourself to the first stage, the disease will return soon: fleas will crawl out of secluded places and attack the cat.

How to handle an apartment. All surfaces on which parasites can theoretically be placed are subject to complete processing: floor, carpets, upholstered furniture, cat litter, crevices at baseboards. Dilute the product in water according to the instructions and spray from the spray bottle. After three hours, thoroughly vacuum the area.

How to treat a cat. The healing process includes the following steps:

How to choose a tool

There is no fundamental difference between the drugs, focus on the addiction of the pet and the state of your health. If the house has allergies or children - spray prefer shampoo.

When deciding how to get a flea, listen to the advice of vets:

1. Use only funds for cats - similar preparations for dogs will lead to the death of the animal.
2. Use only one remedy, not all of the chemicals purchased in the complex.
3. Calculate the dose and slightly reduce it - the cat's body is already weakened, your beauty may not tolerate a large number of insecticides.
4. The most harmless are drugs based on luferonone, the most dangerous - with permethrin.

Useful Insecticide Use Tips

Be sure to ventilate the apartment after processing the animal, and even better - do the work on the street.

How to apply anti-flea drops. Drops against fleas are a long-acting agent that lasts for six weeks. They are applied to the body of the animal in those places that the cat cannot lick: between the shoulder blades, at the withers. Spread the hair and try to get directly onto the skin of the animal.

What to do if the cat became ill during processing. Stop exposure to the drug immediately. Wash the cat thoroughly, remove it to clean air and let it drink water. If the animal has not felt better within two hours, run to the familiar Aibolit.

How to get rid of fleas folk remedies

Our ancestors, like us, could not imagine life without cats, but they treated them not with drugs from a veterinary pharmacy (they were not then), but with available improvised means:

Wormwood. Fleas do not like her smell and jump away from the danger zone. Grind the dry grass and rub it into the cat's fur coat. Remember then to peel your pet's skin. Put a bag of wormwood in the animal’s bed.

Frequent comb. Caring owners clean most fleas without using chemicals, painstakingly combing out insects.

A wonderful tool that forever rid the fluffy beauty of harmful insects, has not yet been invented in any country. As long as there are cats, cat fleas will live. Therefore, the question of the health of a pet lies entirely on the conscience of its owner. In caring owners, pets shine with health and happiness. Treat the cat on time.

The main sources of infection of a domestic cat with fleas, their danger to animals and humans

Often, owners of fluffy couch potatoes who never leave the apartment are confused about where the fleas came from. According to the owners, an animal can become infected with uninvited guests, but only if it walks on the street and communicates with stray relatives. Nevertheless, a cat is also capable of contracting bloodsucking parasites, which never leaves the premises.

The biology of external parasites is such that both adults and larvae are incredibly tenacious. Thus, a sexually mature flea can do without food for about a year, and the larva develops even outside the host's body. The ability to survive in adverse environmental conditions makes these parasites one of the most common among bloodsucking insects.

In addition, high fecundity (one sexually mature female lays about 2 thousand eggs per life) contributes to the fact that fleas are one of the frequent guests on the body of an animal.

It is enough that at least one adult individual or its larva gets on the pet, so that the parasite population in a short time will bring a lot of trouble to both the cat and the owner. Infection of domestic cats occurs in the following cases.

In direct contact with an individual affected by fleas. The most common source of infection is stray, stray cats and cats. The flea population of street animals can be so high that the animal is "teeming" with insects.

When visiting a domestic cat on the street, entrance. It is not necessary that there is direct contact with a sick animal. A pet can become infected with flea larvae that are on grass, trees, objects, soil, etc. Given the high survival rate of adults, cats often “bring” a mature insect or larva after walking.

Blood-sucking insects attack a person not only on the street, but also in the entrances, where the density of the flea population can be very high.

Rodents (mice, rats, etc.) can also be the carriers of blood-sucking insects. Infection occurs when hunting a pet. Kittens and young animals become infected with external parasites from a mother-cat.

Having an idea of ​​the peculiarities of the biology of fleas, their survival in the environment, ways of infection of a pet, the owner of a domestic cat will be able to prevent infection of his cat with blood-sucking insects.

How to determine that a pet has a parasite

It is important to understand how fleas in cats look to distinguish them from other parasites. Cat flea - Ctenocephalides felis, is a small, 2 - 3 mm in size, blood-sucking insect with an elongated body, usually dark brown or black.

Insects feed on the blood of their host, and most often they adhere to species specialization, i.e. parasitize on its appearance (cat fleas on cats, dog fleas on dogs, etc.). However, the same cat fleas often bite a person, but quickly leave his body in search of their species host.

The development cycle of an insect from an egg to an adult is about 2 weeks. In this case, eggs and larvae can be stored for a long time in the external environment. Most often, they accumulate in the litter of an animal, on carpets, in clothes, in the gaps between furniture, under baseboards.

How to understand that a cat has fleas? It is not difficult to identify this if you carefully look at the behavior of the pet:

This cat behavior should encourage the owner to conduct a thorough inspection of the furry coat. To do this, arm with a rare comb (comb). Spreading the hair with a scallop, blowing through the hairs, you should carefully inspect the skin.

Fleas will not be visible on the hair of the pet, namely on the skin. In addition to the detection of sexually mature individuals, excrement in the form of black dots or large black dust is also found on the skin of the animal.

To find out that a cat has fleas, you can apply the following effective method. To do this, the animal must be combed thoroughly with a comb with frequent teeth (pooderka) and shake its contents on a white sheet of paper. On a white background, insect excrement will be clearly visible.

Catching a blood-sucking parasite is very difficult. The insect is small in size and jumping. Hard chitinous cover, flattened laterally body make it difficult to destroy the caught specimen. You can crush a randomly caught adult only on a hard surface, crushing it with a fingernail.

Are parasites so dangerous?

Unfortunately, not all owners of domestic cats understand the danger posed by cat fleas in pets for themselves and for humans.

Danger to animals. Unpleasant facts why fleas are dangerous for cats:

We recommend reading an article on how lichen is transmitted from a cat to a person. From it you will learn about ways to infect a cat, depriving a pet of symptoms of a pet’s disease, what to do in order not to get infected by the owners, and what to do if the infection has already occurred.

Danger to humans

As a rule, cat fleas live on their direct owners - cats. But they can cause troubles to households, periodically attacking them. The danger of external parasites to humans is as follows:

1. insect bites cause an allergic reaction, swelling, itching (this is due to the fact that with a bite, the parasite injects an anesthetic substance, which is a strong allergen for humans);
2. fleas are potential carriers of diseases dangerous to humans, such as typhoid fever, hepatitis, plague and even anthrax;
3. in addition to infectious diseases, bloodsucking can infect a person with eggs of roundworm, flukes and other helminths.

Thus, the danger of cat fleas for both a pet and a person is obvious. Therefore, the owner of a domestic cat should know how to determine that a cat has fleas, and do not hesitate in processing the animal from blood-sucking insects.

How can fleas appear in a domestic cat?

Cat fleas are the most common blood-sucking insects in the world, due to their high survival rate. They are able to adapt to any environmental conditions and reproduce very quickly.

Even the most thorough care of a pet will not be a 100% guarantee that it will not catch parasites. To protect the pet, it is important to know where the flea and the symptoms of the cat may come from, by which it can be determined that they appeared.

Some pet owners are convinced that a pet that does not come in contact with street animals cannot be infected with fleas. But this is a fundamentally erroneous opinion, since transmission from one animal to another is only one way of infection. And parasites, like their larvae, can be located on grass, soil, trees and other objects, next to which a cat walks.

If the pet goes on street walks, then the probability of infection is almost 100%. The likelihood also increases if a dog or other animals live in the house.

But even if the animal does not go for walks and is exclusively within the house, there are many options for infection. For residents of the ground floors of apartment buildings, the problem of infection is especially relevant.

But even in apartments that are on the upper floors, with a complete absence of walks and contacts with other animals, a domestic cat has every chance of becoming infected:

• through street shoes or clothing of family members (usually flea larvae are transferred in this way, but there can also be adults);
• during an accidental exit to the entrance, especially when you consider the jumping ability of fleas and their ability to move over considerable distances;
• when visiting a veterinary clinic, since homeless infected animals are often brought here;
• in case of participation in competitions or exhibitions where the risk of infection increases several times, since owners of animal participants may not pay due attention to antiparasitic treatment, and some may not even suspect infection;
• when visiting guests who also have pets infected with parasites;
• during transfers in public transport: even when using special transportation, fleas can get inside through openings in the case.

Eggs of parasites fall on various objects in the house, where they ripen over time, and adults immediately seek a host for themselves. For a certain time, they can become a person with whom, sooner or later, will bring them to a pet.

Symptoms of infection

If you carefully monitor the behavior of the pet, then it is easy to detect infection with parasites:

Such signs are a clear signal to carefully examine the animal’s body: take a comb with rare teeth and, spreading the hair, examine the skin, since fleas are visible on the skin, not on the hair.

The parasites have a flattened lateral body of a dark brown color.In addition, you can see flea excrement in the form of lumps of black-brown color, as well as bite marks.

Fleas are also intermediate carriers for tape worms: having bitten a parasite, a cat may well get infected with helminths. Therefore, when they are detected, it is necessary not only the destruction of insects on the pet, but also the thorough processing of all rooms.