Flea “dirt,” actually flea feces, will fall off the cat’s skin and land on the towel. While using the flea comb, keep a white paper towel under you cat. Since fleas take a blood meal from your cat when they attach, a special trick can determine if the black fleck you found on your cat is a flea. Getting the live fleas into the water quickly will kill them otherwise, they might jump off the comb and back into your home. While you are combing your cat, get down to the skin with the comb, then empty the contents of the comb into a bowl of soapy water. ![]() The comb’s teeth are designed to catch and pull fleas out from under the hair coat. It’s a good idea to use a flea comb to brush your cat’s fur along the back and legs to see if you can catch the fleas in this narrow-toothed device. If you suspect your cat has fleas, the first place to check is the skin around the base of the tail or under the armpits and in the groin region. Most often, cats will have few or no symptoms, so it is important to have your cat checked routinely when they go to the veterinarian for routine healthy checkups and when they are not feeling well. Overgrooming is another thing to watch for, as excessive licking and hair loss can be signs of itchy skin. 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. If your cat starts to scratch and bite at skin and fur, that is highly suggestive of a flea problem.Īnother sign that cats might have fleas is restlessness and behaving abnormally, as fleas are very irritating to a cat. The tiny flea jumps onto your cat and finds a warm, moist, safe environment in your cat’s furry coat. The fleas most likely on your cat are newly hatched adult fleas that come from your house or yard, where they wait until your pet is nearby. Cats can also get fleas from neighbor pets, new environments, and other local wildlife such as birds, rabbits, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, and skunks. The most common way for fleas to enter your household is on the family dog or another pet that comes inside after being outdoors. Once fleas get into your home, they multiply rapidly. It’s important to remember that even indoor cats get fleas. These tiny flecks are flea dirt, which is the feces from the flea. Fleas can be seen in cats as live insects or small brown-black flecks that look like dirt. The adult flea is only about 1/8 of an inch long (1-3 mm) and looks like a small black fleck. This is irritating to the cat, as the bites can cause severe itching, allergic reactions, and inflammation.įleas are small, wingless, flat insects with three pairs of legs. They can jump onto passing animals and burrow down into the fur to the skin, where they stay hidden while biting and ingesting blood. How to Tell If Your Cat Has Fleasįleas are very active insects. ![]() ![]() ![]() The use of a flea prevention year-round is the best strategy for keeping your cat and your home flea-free. There are more than 200 types of fleas that can be found on animals in the United States. Many people believe that their cats are safe from fleas after the first frost, but unfortunately, this is not the case. Even though fleas are a risk to your cat year-round, they are most active during the warmer months, starting as early as March.
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